U.S SENIOR WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 28, 2021

Pat Hurst

Brooklawn Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome back. We are joined by Pat Hurst, major winner and six-time winner on the LPGA Tour and upcoming Solheim Cup captain. It's your first Senior Women's Open. Talk about being in the field this week.

PAT HURST: Yeah, I haven't played for a couple of years, so it's a little nerve-racking, but we'll go out and have a good time out there.

Q. What has Juli told you about this event so far?

PAT HURST: You know, she doesn't divulge too much information, but no, we'll play our practice rounds together. This will be our third day playing together, and it's just like old times. It's a matter of getting the ball in the fairway, on the greens and making the putts.

Q. Speaking of Juli, you got roasted last night. Talk a little bit about that.

PAT HURST: No, it wasn't that much of a roasting. I think a lot of it was on her, too. It was both of us. We have a lot of stories. We've traveled around the world together for the last probably, what, 15 to 20 years, so there's a lot of stories that we have that we can talk about, amongst others, so it was a good time last night.

Q. This is a unique event. There's sort of a camaraderie, a reunion feel, but everyone also wants to win. Talk about that dynamic out there.

PAT HURST: Yeah, it's nice to come back and see the girls or I should say the women playing because it's the same swings, same personalities, same everything, and it's the camaraderie is really -- we're all pretty tight and it's a lot of fun just to get caught up on what everybody is doing.

Q. I know you've watched a lot of golf of late. What's your preparation been like for competition?

PAT HURST: There has been none, so like I said, we're going to have a good time out there and we're just going to go out and hit fairways and hit greens and hopefully either one-putt or two-putt, so we'll see. Time will only tell.

Q. Have you been practicing at all?

PAT HURST: Not much, but I've been busy.

Q. You have a job.

PAT HURST: I do have a little job, but it's almost here, so we'll see how that goes.

Q. Speaking of that job, who's impressed you of late, and how big is the pool of players that you're looking at now?

PAT HURST: You know, again, I just look at the top 20 in the points list. It's hard to stop anywhere just because they're all playing so well. Now we have one more major left, so that kind of helps me a little bit. But I won't get out until the British again, or the AIG.

Like I said, looking at the top 20 and just seeing how they're playing, and when it gets closer to that final decision, I think we'll go over the stats a lot more then.

Q. First because of your birthday and then because of the pandemic you had to wait two years for this. Do you find now that you're here that all those old competitive juices start to get going again?

PAT HURST: I have to say golf is hard. I used to love -- I love practicing, love playing, and I haven't done it that much lately. I'm not prepared, but again, I'm going to go out and play the best I can.

I have to say that it's nerve-racking.

Q. You and Catriona are obviously playing together with Sarah tomorrow. It's a captains' group. Are you all going to be able to focus on the group or are you going to be comparing notes about what everybody is doing?

PAT HURST: Oh, I mean, I don't think we'll be comparing notes out there. There's really nothing to do with the seniors out here, but we'll definitely be -- we'll talk about the event, I'm sure. Sarah I don't really know, so it's going to be nice to play with her and get to know her a little bit and hear her thoughts on Curtis Cup.

Q. What's Brooklawn been like for you so far? Have you see much of the golf course yet?

PAT HURST: Yeah, I played 18 on Monday and then I played 12 yesterday -- I played 11 yesterday. I'll play 7 today. It's a fun golf course. I think it's set up pretty good. I mean, it's tough. You've got women that can hit it 200 to 250, so it's really hard out there to set it up, but I think they did a great job so far.

Q. You've watched a lot of major golf this season so far; are you really excited to kind of get back to playing some major golf?

PAT HURST: I think I'd be more excited if I was more prepared, but it's fun to get out there, like I said, with the people that I've played with in the past, and just to get caught up with what everybody is doing. This isn't our main job anymore, so it's a lot of fun just to get out there and get caught up with everybody.