BANK OF HOPE LPGA MATCH-PLAY

May 27, 2021

Gaby Lopez

Shadow Creek

Quick Quotes

Q. Gaby Lopez, 4&2 winner today over Jennifer Chang. Got your first win here Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play. How did it feel to come out on top today?

GABY LOPEZ: Yeah, I hit the ball much better today than I did yesterday. The golf course is playing extremely tough, really, really firm off the tee, on the greens, so being able to hit as many fairways and greens as possible, I think it's probably the key in this golf course.

Q. Obviously the sun is out a little more so than yesterday. Was the course any different than yesterday afternoon at all?

GABY LOPEZ: Yeah, for sure. I think it dried out, especially with the wind. The greens are extremely firm. I mean, I was hitting wedges into maybe three holes, and, I mean, the ball was releasing probably 15 yards.

So, yeah, I needed to adjust a little bit quicker on that. Being able to get the number, landing number, I mean, it's a guess how much it's going to release, but I been able to commit to those numbers. And just hitting your golf shots, I think it's just the most important thing.

Q. You had a pretty dominant start, 1-up right off the bat on one and then Chang got one back, and then you took five straight to go 5-up. Take us through that stretch and what the mentality is when you can go up like that.

GABY LOPEZ: Yeah, I started hitting really good shots. I hit it to probably five feet those five holes. Had an eagle on 7, which it was nice.

And then on 8 I had a birdie chance from four feet. I just had really good numbers I guess. At the end of the day if you get good numbers and the full shot to get enough spin to stop the ball in the green, and a good break, you get a little lucky to get it close.

Yeah, I mean I tried to keep the gas pedal down, and I got myself in a little bit of trouble on the back nine. I was in the rough a couple times. Being able to stop the ball from the rough, it's quite a challenge.

And, yeah, Jennifer hit a couple good shots. I applaud her. She is a great player. I'm proud of her, you know, of her age and being able to play on the biggest stage of women's golf. Just says a lot about her game.

Q. What was it like kind of seeing the next generation type player?

GABY LOPEZ: It's awesome. Being able to see all the young players, how much the game is growing for the LPGA, it's tremendous. I mean, being able to play in a venue like this, Shadow Creek is such a treat. To me just feels like a major championship. We get treated so well it feels, like Angela said, like PGA pros. We get a car, we get pampered all the time.

So I'm just really happy that women's golf is taking a closer look to amazing golf courses, and how much we can perform on this golf course says a lot about our game.

Q. Am I allowed to share with the winner gets? Not yet. We'll save that. When you hear what the winner gets you'll be even more impressed. Take you through if you could the eagle on 7. I forget who I was talking to earlier, but they said -- they got an eagle as well. They were told to pick it up because somebody dunked it in the water. You didn't have to pick it up, did you?

GABY LOPEZ: No, I played it out. I hit a perfect driver to, I don't know, maybe 194 yards to the pin. I hit a 5-iron that landed perfectly well, soft, soft-ish, and I maybe made 10-footer for eagle. I'm that player that feeds off those momentums, and being able to celebrate that with my caddie, just brings the best out of me.

And, yeah, I mean, I think this golf course, if you basically feel it's a stroke play tournament you're going to be well, like you're going to play well. You're going to probably have a good chance to win because it's playing so tough. Being able to concentrate on your putts -- it just gets distracting, and being able to play your game, hit fairways, hit greens, and two-putt all day, you're going to have a good chance.

Q. Jennifer made bit of a run like you said on the back nine. How much does the toughness of Shadow Creek, the heat out here, somebody making a run in match play at you, and then you to find two victories over the final three holes today, how much does that show some veteran strength that you have?

GABY LOPEZ: Yeah, it's a golf course that you got to be present all day. Like I said, if you get a little bit in trouble your opponent can just press the gas pedal down and get pars and birdies. It's easily to get that momentum going when you're playing well.

So, yeah, she did play well. She played great. Like I said, I'm proud of her, her age and how much she gained so much experience in this type of golf course. At the end of the day, tomorrow our group has a chance to -- anyone can go to the next round, and that's I think the exciting part of this format, that you get the chance or three rounds and not one round.

So I think it's a great way to make the match play more interesting.

Q. You got Inbee tomorrow. You and Inbee competed at the 2020 Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions in a playoff which you eventually won. Is that something you can look back on and say, Hey, I know how to beat the queen?

GABY LOPEZ: Well, I don't know if I know how to beat the queen one-on-one in 18 holes, but I know for sure that if I stick to my game, if I play Gaby's game, I'm going to have a pretty good chance. That's all I can control.

She played great today. I don't know how much she won by, but she's playing great. You can expect anything from her, so being able to focus on my game and get my chances when I have them, and make some putts, I think that's all it takes.

Like I said, tomorrow anyone has a chance. I'm just going to hope for the best for mine and I'm going to work and I'm going to play my best tomorrow.

Q. With a win you or Inbee, you win, Inbee wins, and then depending on the outcome of the other match between Celine and Jennifer, Celine has a chance to join you or Inbee in a playoff. When you have that scenario, a win-in-advance kind of scenario, is that pretty pressure-packed, or is it kind of freeing to know that just go out and do your best?

GABY LOPEZ: I think it just frees you up, especially to me. With so many possibilities and you not knowing exactly what's going to happen, because it's probably the worst thing in golf is assuming what's going to happen, the result. You're over a putt and you're assuming your opponent is going to miss it and you just got to hope she's going to make it.

You just make your stroke and make it. So I assuming in this golf course in this type of match play it's probably just the worst thing you can do, and being able to like I said, play your game, play your putts, you can't really hit a putt if you have to make it too strong because you make the hole so small.

At the end of the day, it's hitting the right putt, hitting the right break, the right speed so you get the chance to make the ball in the hole. It's hard out here and you got to play your own little battles.