U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

December 12, 2020

Hinako Shibuno

Champions Golf Club

Flash Interview

Q. Course played tough today, how are you feeling?

HINAKO SHIBUNO: I had, I made mistake at the very beginning and because I'm not doing well today my premise wasn't good today, so all the holes seems to be very difficult for me.

Q. Was that more of the conditions or you?

HINAKO SHIBUNO: I myself was very nervous.

Q. When you won in England it was your first trip outside of your home country that you had played in a tournament. Have you played outside Japan since then in golf tournaments and how many?

HINAKO SHIBUNO: Last year, after the British Open I played once overseas and then this year I played out of the country, out of Japan six times, this is the seventh.

Q. Why were you so nervous today?

HINAKO SHIBUNO: Well, because I was on top of everybody, that's why.

Q. When you were coming to play in America did you try to change your game at all to play on the LPGA?

HINAKO SHIBUNO: Well, nothing changed or anything, but when it comes to approach variations, in the United States there's some approaches that are not required in Japan, in terms of approach, so I did, I cautiously practiced different approaches for the U.S. courses.

Q. Considering there were no fans allowed here, you had an awful lot of people following you. How much did you notice that and what was that like?

HINAKO SHIBUNO: Well, last year when I won the major, there was a large number of people out in front of me and because of the audience that gave me power and also it's easy for me to get on a momentum as well. However, now there's no people, no audience and it's very difficult for me to get on a momentum, because when I get a run of birdie, when I get the birdie, it's silence.

Q. You became an instant celebrity in Japan and were all over television, on game shows and everything else. How did that affect your game and how did you refocus to put yourself back in this position at a major?

HINAKO SHIBUNO: Appearing on the TV show and stuff like that does not affect my golf performance at all. However, once I became a celebrity, and celebrity status, it makes me difficult to be myself. So just recently I was able to get rid of my shell, so to speak, so that I can be myself again.