AUGUSTA NATIONAL WOMEN'S AMATEUR

March 31, 2021

Olivia Mehaffey

Quick Quotes

Q. I know you're disappointed with a couple of bogeys coming in, but the back nine is a lot harder than the front and giving people a lot of trouble today. Three over is not bad.

OLIVIA MEHAFFEY: I thought it was tougher than last year. I felt that from the practice round. The wind was a little bit swirly at times. It was really hard to judge. I hit a nice shot into 17, and the wind kind of picked up, and it was short. I thought it was pretty difficult today.

Q. You were coming in here playing quite well. You almost won the Symetra event, last week or the week before. Are you disappointed that your score wasn't better today?

OLIVIA MEHAFFEY: The way I've been playing recently, I've been on some average runs and some really great runs. I'm just trying to be patient. You never really know what's happening. I was out of the tournament and shot 10 under the last time a couple weeks ago to kind of get back in contention. So it's one of those games at the minute. You just don't know what it's going to be tomorrow.

It's more important about not putting yourself completely out of it today. I think I grinded quite well today. I didn't have my best stuff at all.

Q. Is that partly because of the pandemic and the schedule being so inconsistent that your game is maybe more up and down?

OLIVIA MEHAFFEY: I went through some changes recently. I think -- and then some time off. Yeah, it's just at the minute, that's how I feel. Sometimes it's easy, and you feel like you're kind of just on autopilot. It's not necessarily like that right now, but I know I can go low. Yeah, it's a three-day tournament. As long as you don't put yourself out of it in the first day.

Q. Last year you were qualified to play, and you went through to play in the ANA, which you eventually got to do later in the year. Are you kind of excited to have gotten a chance to come back this year? You got the best of both worlds, getting to the ANA last year and then this tournament?

OLIVIA MEHAFFEY: Definitely. I didn't think I'd have this opportunity again, so I feel very lucky. Obviously, I turned the exemption down, and to get back here, it's amazing. I think, even if I had the choice, this would have been my choice. I got to experience the ANA and that was amazing, but this tournament is so special. It's definitely great to be back and to be part of it.

Q. Would you expected last year to have turned professional by this time had things been normal?

OLIVIA MEHAFFEY: Absolutely. I told my coach I'm going to take the fifth year if there's no Q school. No Q school, so I took the fifth year. That's how it worked out.

Q. What is the plan after this for turning pro? Will it be after NCAAs?

OLIVIA MEHAFFEY: Yes, after NCAAs. That's the plan. See how the Visas go and exemptions and that kind of thing. There's kind of a few factors that will go into when exactly I'll turn pro.

Q. Why do you think the course has been so bunched? It seems like everyone is from even to four over.

OLIVIA MEHAFFEY: It's like that. It almost has that U.S. Open feel. It's like a grind. There's a few holes out there, where I'm quite long, and I had quite a few long irons in there today. It just has that U.S. Open, like the greens are quite firm. It's a little bit wet around the chip shots on the green. It feels like a U.S. Open. That's kind of like the way I think the scores are going to be this year.

Q. You were through this, playing through the cut line two years ago. What's that experience like knowing what's on the other side?

OLIVIA MEHAFFEY: I think this almost makes it harder. We're not playing for money now, so I don't know what that feels like for the pros. It was definitely the most nervous, I think, coming down close to the cut line before. So it's nice to have that experience, but I know what it's going to be like tomorrow, and I think it's going to be tough.

Q. Do you think you'll be as nervous, having already done it once?

OLIVIA MEHAFFEY: Maybe not. Who knows? I can't tell you that. I know I will be nervous at some stage. I quite like it. It means it matters and you care, so that's a good thing.

Q. Who is your caddie this week?

OLIVIA MEHAFFEY: Actually, the guy who caddied for Jennifer [Kupcho] in the final round, Brian [McKinley].

Q. How did you connect with him?

OLIVIA MEHAFFEY: My coach, Jorge Prada, he caddies for the LPGA and caddies at Augusta also, and he kind of told them, put a good word in and get a good caddie.

Q. Who did you have two years ago?

OLIVIA MEHAFFEY: I had my old coach.

Q. Any good tips from the caddie so far?

OLIVIA MEHAFFEY: I need to get to Augusta.

Q. Is he the caddie there, or is he here?

OLIVIA MEHAFFEY: He's the Augusta National caddie.

Q. With the temperatures expected to drop tomorrow, do you change the game plan at all or switch up your strategy at all? Is it a pretty long setup?

OLIVIA MEHAFFEY: I just think it's going to be a grind. It was a grind out there today. We had pretty good conditions. Tomorrow you just have to go into it knowing, even though it's not necessarily pretty, it's going to be cold and quite windy, I believe. So I think it's going to be tough tomorrow.