MARATHON CLASSIC PRESENTED BY DANA

July 8, 2021

Stacy Lewis

Quick Quotes

Q. Stacy Lewis, how are you?

STACY LEWIS: I'm good. Thank you.

Q. Had a good round out there, 3-under. I know it's always good to be back here among fans, family. Tell us a story of your round today. How did you feel?

STACY LEWIS: It was a frustrating finish, but overall it was really solid. I didn't see 10-under out there this afternoon, I will tell you that. I thought the wind was tricky. A lot of crosswinds. Holes where it was either a little bit of help or a little bit of hurt, and was just kind of hard to get it just spot on and get it right.

But all in all it was really solid. You know, dinner doesn't taste as good tonight with a bogey on a par-5, but really it was a really solid day.

Q. You mentioned the 61, and that does bring Paula Creamer. She was in here right before. I said you're the only person who can better that. But what does it mean, what does it say about Nasa's round and the receptivity of the course to have a 61 out there, and certainly a lot of good numbers, yours included?

STACY LEWIS: Yeah, this golf course plays its easiest when it's soft. With the rain we got last night it played this morning and it was still soft out there. I just thought the wind was trickier this afternoon, especially late. It never really died down out there.

So I mean, obviously very impressive round of golf.

Q. This is always a bit of a home game for you, lots of family here. Does that make it easier, tougher, or by this point you know what you're getting yourself into?

STACY LEWIS: Yeah, for a long time I put a lot of pressure on myself. Now it's not that anymore. I just want to play good golf. That's where I am in my career. I just want days that are easy, where I have a lot of tap-ins. You know, I want stress-free golf. That's what I'm striving for these days.

So a lot of fairways, greens, and if I do that, the score is going to be just fine.

Q. Outside of the closing bogey, which I know you don't like, was it a fun, stress-free day?

STACY LEWIS: It was. Yeah, it really -- gosh, didn't really have to stress over too many short par putts, and hit a couple shots in close for birdie.

I mean, really solid. I'm just happy with the -- we're trending in the right direction coming off -- played pretty well in Dallas and was able to kind of keep things going here.

Q. Before we turn it over to Kyle, I want to ask, you got the Grace pin on your hat. I know your family was instrumental in making some of the ribbons. I wanted to ask you about that give-back there and your thoughts for Baby Grace.

STACY LEWIS: It's been really hard. I knew about what was going on last weekend, and just I might start crying. I just know what that feels like. Just obviously so thankful. Mine was crying and upset and in a bad mood this morning, but she's healthy and happy, and so it's been a hard few days for I think us moms. Just to know what Jane and Pete are going through is really hard.

But the ribbons you talked about, on another note, my mom and a couple of my cousins were the ones that cut the ribbons and wrote "Grace" on there and got it all going. We had some really cute safety pins that looked like diaper pins that were supposed to be coming but we couldn't get them here in time, so we were stuck with just the flat pink ribbon.

We're obviously all thinking about them, and they got a long road ahead of them. This is not short-term. We're going to be thinking about them for a long time.

Q. This goes back to it sounds cliche, and I didn't truly understand it until recently, but it is a family out here with this, when Brittany had Emery so early, when other things go wrong in lives that we're all in this together.

STACY LEWIS: Yeah, we are. I've known Grace since she was this big. She came to the U.S. Open last December. She was a month or two old. She's just -- it's just crazy how quickly life can change. That's what we just -- you know, golf is what it is, but if you're happy and healthy, that's what it's all about.

Q. Amen. We all put together good rounds for her today and we continue to keep her in our hearts.

STACY LEWIS: That's right.

Q. What is it like starting a round and before you get to the first tee you're 10 shots behind the leader? Do you just think, I'm going to go out and shoot whatever I shoot?

STACY LEWIS: Yeah, I think in the past I would've said, oh, my gosh, I got to go birdie the first and second and third hole. You just got to go try to hit good golf shots and know that a 10-under takes a lot of things going your way, a lot of good bounces, putts going in.

So it's one of those things you just try to chip away at it, and hopefully she comes back to us a little bit tomorrow and doesn't shoot another 10-under. That's kind of what you're hoping for.

You know, you just know that the golf course is playable, that you can go make some birdies. The greens must be receptive. The scores are good. Just changes your mindset there.

Q. And then, I don't know, it seem like one of the harder things in golf to do is follow up an out-of-this-world round with another really good round. Doesn't seem like it happens a whole lot. Why is it so hard to follow up a 61 with a 65 or something like that?

STACY LEWIS: Usually when you shoot low numbers like that you get in those modes where the ball just starts going in. Every bounces goes your way. Just you're hitting good shots and you're not thinking about what you're doing to do that.

So then all of a sudden the next day you kind of hit one funky shot and you think you need to fix something. It just becomes harder and harder and harder. If you can get in those modes where you're not really thinking as much and just playing, that's when you play your best golf.