U.S. GIRLS' JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

July 16, 2021

Rose Zhang

Columbia Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Up-and-down match. Talk us through it.

ROSE ZHANG: I didn't have my "A" game out there for sure. I was trying to keep my driver in check, but unfortunately that's not what happened, so I had to save a lot of up-and-down, and on the front nine Paula played amazing, so I just had to try and keep up and stay patient.

But Paula is an amazing player and I expected nothing less from her, so I just went out there and tried to claw back.

Q. How does it feel to win when you don't have your "A" game? Does that give you a different kind of confidence?

ROSE ZHANG: Yeah, it does. I had to grind out there, and I know I had the grit in there, but it was just execution that really kind of faltered me a little bit today. But I feel really accomplished with how I played in that circumstance, and tomorrow I'm just going to go out there and just play my game again.

Q. In the quarterfinals you got down early too; how do you think that prepared you for the semifinal when you were down?

ROSE ZHANG: Well, it was the first time I was down on any match in the first three matches, but just being able to stay patient and then when I'm 1-down and kind of adjusting my way back to being tied and then leading is very important in match play. You just need to use the momentum that you had on that one hole to just keep going.

Q. What can you take from today and apply tomorrow?

ROSE ZHANG: Yeah, I think it's just a little bit of mechanics and a little bit of fatigue, but I just need to make sure my tempo is good to go. I got all the -- just have a great impact, and just simple things, fundamentals that I need to work on tomorrow on the range. That's about it. You really can't think that golf is super easy every single time. I just have to go back to the basics.

Q. Extra holes, you've played in some pretty high stakes extra holes matches before. Is that something that you're able to drawback on, and is there anything different about that sort of sudden death style?

ROSE ZHANG: Yeah, sudden death is definitely very different. It's an all-or-nothing kind of match. It's a match on its own. After 18 we just have to be aggressive and think the other player is going to hit next to the hole and you just have to execute even better.

It's very different in that term, but overall I think there's always some pressure in sudden death, and you just have to cope with it.

Q. You've played in a USGA 36-hole final before. What can you pull from that?

ROSE ZHANG: Yeah, it's just being able to be patient out there, don't get down on yourself when you're down in the match, and 36 holes is a lot of holes, so you really need to just slow down and execute every single shot that you possibly can and give yourself any opportunities.

I think 36 holes is very suitable for a final match, and it really determines the victor.