ANA INSPIRATION

April 1, 2021

Shanshan Feng

Mission Hills Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, here with the leader right now Shanshan Feng. Shanshan, we have not seen you since the end of 2019. What has life been like for you and what has the last year been like for you?

SHANSHAN FENG: Well, I mean, last year was a difficult year for everybody, and I just made a decision at the middle of the year to go back to China and maybe take some time off with my friends and family at home.

And I really enjoyed the whole time over there, but of course I missed play. So I started to practice like maybe a few months ago. Tried to come back little earlier but I couldn't because on the visa.

But ANA was the earliest I could make and I'm so that I can be here. Doesn't matter how I really played. My goal was to actually enjoy the whole process, whole time on the course with my boss -- I mean my caddie, Mercer -- and also my teammates in the group.

So I really enjoyed the whole time.

Q. You come back saying you didn't have any high expectations, but then being able to fire a bogey-free 67, what was going so right for your game this first week at major championship.

SHANSHAN FENG: I would say that I'm mentally very fresh because this is my first tournament in, I don't know, 13, 14 months I guess. So I am mentally very fresh and I feel like my body is maybe back to like 25. Not quite 18, but back to maybe like 25, so able to get through the 18.

I'm feeling good, yeah.

Q. Shanshan, nice to see you again.

SHANSHAN FENG: Good to see you.

Q. When you come back to an event like this, you just seem to be happy no matter what. We can't tell if you're 5-under or 5-over. What is it about your mindset at this point that has you in that frame of mind?

SHANSHAN FENG: I would say that I was very looking forward to come back, but of course after like 14 months being away from the tour and haven't been in any tournaments I didn't know how I would do on the course.

I was kind of nervous last night, but I said to myself, I said, Hey, it's okay. Think about you're just an old rookie. Everything is new for you here and just have no expectation. Bring out your -- try your hardest, 100% on every shot, and enjoy the process.

That was what I did actually. I did have some luck on the course today. I mean, on that 17th I didn't really have a very good chip but actually went in, hit the pin.

So it's been very nice on me for my first round coming back.

Q. How have you worked to get where yourself tournament-ready? What's been the process to get you back to this point?

SHANSHAN FENG: Well, I'm saying that I'm an old rookie, but it's not like I've never been in tournaments before. So I know what it takes to play well in the tournament, and I really did work on like to get my distance back because I did lose some distance.

At the same time, just commit to myself to say, Hey, even though maybe I'm not as long as the other girls are, but actually the course plays shorter that way because my balls release so much. (Laughter.)

So always try to find a positive sides about my game, and I think my boss, Mercer, and also my family, manager, team, everybody supporting me on my back. So I just didn't have much pressure on the course.

Q. Des mentioned on 6 you hit it going towards the water and you just said, Bye-Bye.

SHANSHAN FENG: (Laughter.)

Q. And he explained just how much you missed you. Take us through just how much you missed being out with your family out here.

SHANSHAN FENG: Yeah, I mean, like on the 6th hole I didn't hit it very well and it was going towards the water and I was like, Oh, bye-bye. I thought it was going in the water. It was pretty lucky that it stayed short so I was able to get on the green for another par.

And yeah, like the whole process, I really enjoyed like the whole five hours. It was super and I really loved my team partners today with Nelly and also Mel Reid. They are both very good players and always very pleasant on the course. Very positive, so I think this really helps me a lot.

Q. What did you think about 18 wide open in the back there? How did you play it today?

SHANSHAN FENG: I know, it's a little different, right, because normally we have the big grandstand behind so we can -- if the tee is up we can try to get two on.

But I talked to my caddie, Mercer. We decided not to go forward because the greens are pretty hard. They're pretty firm. So like even though I can get it there, but the thing is it's not going to stop.

So I would just take it as a three shot just like what I did today.