HUGEL AIR PREMIA LA OPEN

April 21, 2021

Morgan Pressel

Wilshire Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Morgan, what a great round here at Wilshire. How do you feel after the first round?

MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah, it was a good round out there. I love this golf course. I feel comfortable on it. Played well here in the past. I like the creativity that it requires, especially approach shots into the greens and around the greens with short game.

Yeah, my ball striking was solid. Didn't put myself in too many challenging positions. I did twice and made two bogeys, which of course can happen out here. For the most part played pretty solid.

Q. Seems a lot of players were struggling to find birdies but you found so many today. When do you think the momentum kicked in?

MORGAN PRESSEL: I just think I had birdie opportunities starting on the first hole so I really -- and then I hit it really close on 11, our second hole of the day. Kind of off to a good start. Just kept the ball rolling.

I feel like this golf course is that way. You can hit it close and give yourself some birdie opportunities or you're scrambling to make par, and the edge is very thin.

So I was on the right side of that edge today.

Q. What do you think the strategy will be for players this week?

MORGAN PRESSEL: I just think it's leaving yourself in the right positions around the greens is very important. You can kind of be -- for lack of a better word -- totally dead on some of the greens depending where the hole is and if you end up in the wrong spot. So course management is so important and executing the shots.

Q. And we've got to ask about Golf Channel and just your gig there. How has that been and are you looking forward to doing it soon again?

MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah, I'm going to be back on Golf Channel, Team Golf Channel come Kingsmill, so looking forward to it definitely. It's fun doing a little bit of both and kind of having one foot in each world. It's also a challenge, but definitely enjoying it.

I'm up for the challenge. It's something different.

Q. We definitely heard that you are a natural out there. Speaking of your golf game, I guess now you're focused more on the golf game. Anything you're working on particularly?

MORGAN PRESSEL: I'm always working on my golf game. Always a work in progress. Yeah, I'm just really trying to stay a little bit more balanced, work on my footwork a lot, and I just -- I always am a little bit too much into out, so I feel like I've been working on that for 15 years, trying to not be quite as much into out on my swing plane.

Q. And last question is just here in the gorgeous L.A. area, today the sun is not shining as brightly. What is it about LA if you do like it that you like?

MORGAN PRESSEL: I do enjoy being here. It's usually beautiful weather. It's definitely different this year, as everywhere is with the pandemic and the regulations here in L.A. County.

But I do, I enjoy -- first of all, I love this golf course. That's probably the best part about coming to a tournament is when you have a golf course that fits your eye. Yeah, I usually -- I mean, my favorite things to do around here are enjoy some of the great food and energy around L.A.

Unfortunately not this year. Next year we'll come back. Hopefully next year we'll be able to enjoy everything that L.A. has to offer like we have in the past.