MARATHON CLASSIC PRESENTED BY DANA

July 10, 2021

Esther Henseleit

Quick Quotes

Q. Esther, you told me in the cart on the way up here, I feel ten years older after that round today. Take me through day three.

ESTHER HENSELEIT: Yeah, I mean, my ball striking was so bad today. I think I hit one good iron shot today, so it really was a grind out there. I made a lot of up and downs. Holed a few good putts, and it just wasn't that easy out there for me today.

Q. Couple bogeys in the beginning there, especially on the front nine. Moving to the back nine you kind of were on cruise control a little bit. What was it? What kind of clicked for you midway through the round?

ESTHER HENSELEIT: I was just like, Yeah, okay. I mean, after yesterday from this part on I was like 5-under, so I was like, Okay, I think I can do the same today and just try to focus on myself, try to give myself chances. Yeah, don't make stupid mistakes.

And I somehow finished with two birdies and finished with a quite good score.

Q. Take us through the two birdies. What does that do for your confidence heading into the final day tomorrow?

ESTHER HENSELEIT: Yeah, they were great. I mean, hit two good drives. The one on 17 I wasn't sure if I could get there or not and I didn't really hit a good one; had is quite tough pitch over the bunker. Had to be a bit spin-y. Almost holed it, so that one was nice.

And then on 18 I hit it long with the second and also needed like a high soft one; also made a good one. Had like a two feet birdie putt and made that one.

Q. When you go into the final round and someone like Nasa is running away so much. How do you focus and play your game? How do you approach that?

ESTHER HENSELEIT: I mean, I can only influence what I'm doing, and I'm just trying to focus on myself, as I did the last few days. Just to kind of grow with the experience and learn from it and enjoy myself tomorrow.

Q. Do you feel there is a chance you can go win the tournament even though she is going to go in with a six, seven-shot lead?

ESTHER HENSELEIT: I mean, we all know golf. Everything is possible. We'll see. I will try to attack her and do everything I can, shoot many birdies tomorrow and then we see how it is in the end.

Q. You were saying your ball striking wasn't where you wanted it to be. What do you take away from the positives of this round into tomorrow?

ESTHER HENSELEIT: Well, I know that I can play 4-under with terrible ball striking, and that really gives me confidence. I'm not really worried about it because yesterday it was so good. I think I just need to like get that feeling back, have a good rest tonight, and then I'm ready for tomorrow.

Q. You're right up there with the leaders. Like you said, it's golf, so anything is possible. You said yesterday how much you relish being in contention. You'll be in one of the final groupings tomorrow. How proud are you that you've been able to work to get to a moment like this?

ESTHER HENSELEIT: I'm extremely proud of my progress the last few weeks. Yeah, I just want to like reward myself for playing this good. Yeah, get a good finish tomorrow and take that confidence to the European swing.