U.S SENIOR WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 30, 2021

Dana Ebster

Brooklawn Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Dana Ebster, yesterday you came out and played and no one really knew who you were. Today everyone loved you. Did it feel different out there?

DANA EBSTER: Yeah. It was awesome. On the first tee when they announced my name, because I'm not used to that at the club, and we got out there and they announced it and everybody cheered, and after I hit I looked at my son and I go, Oh, my God, I got goosebumps. It's so awesome. I just love it.

Q. You're used to playing with your ladies group on Friday.

DANA EBSTER: Yes.

Q. You're playing out here and playing incredibly well. What part of your game is working right now?

DANA EBSTER: I'm driving the ball straight, which is really good, although I did miss a few fairways today. I'm hitting the greens, which I don't normally do, but today they've been good, so I'm happy.

Q. You said you wouldn't do anything different, but did it feel different today with the crowd and just because you were...

DANA EBSTER: It felt a lot different. There were more people. There were people that were like happy that I was here, which I was like, Oh, my gosh. People came up to me as I was walking down and they were hugging me going, We loved your interview. I'm like, Oh, my God, you watched it? I didn't know that it was out there. (Laughter.)

But it was really cool, and people came up to me, and I love that, because when I'm at the club, at Turlock Golf and Country Club, they always come out and they're like really happy, they support me, and I love that they come out and ask me, How are you doing today, and I'm like, Oh, great.

So it's awesome.

Q. Was it harder or easier to focus today based on all the extra...

DANA EBSTER: You know what? Today I felt it was a little bit -- I was a little more nervous than I was the day -- yesterday. Yesterday I was just like, Oh, my God. This is awesome. This is what I worked so hard for.

Today I was like, I got to do another day of this. Which was fun, but my stomach -- I had the lady drive me up from the chipping green a couple times. I'm like, I got to go to the restroom. (Laughter.) Sorry.

Q. When you left here yesterday did you have a lot of messages on your phone?

DANA EBSTER: Oh, my gosh. My phone was blowing up. I mean, I heard from people that I hadn't heard from, which was awesome because I didn't -- I had lost contact because I had lost my phone so I lost some of their numbers.

It was so nice to see everybody supporting me. And my godson, Teresa Ishiguro, who is playing today, she came out and followed me -- what did I say?

Godmother, my son's godmother. Sorry. I need a translator. My son's godmother came out and watched me, and, oh, my gosh, it was awesome. She had qualified. I was here. And you know, just that support was great. Of course my family and friends, I'm so thankful for everybody here.

Q. I don't want to make it worse, but you're going to be in contention for a major championship on the weekend on national television?

DANA EBSTER: Oooo-weee, yep.

Q. How do you block everything out and focus on golf? Is that easier once you're out there?

DANA EBSTER: You know what? Again, I feel like -- you know what? I feel so fortunate to be here that I just -- I just want to enjoy everything. I just want to be -- the only thing that's -- the interview stuff is a little tough, but I enjoy being out here.

And like I said, I love golf. I love to play. I'm so excited to play. I'm not sure if I'm going to be with Annika tomorrow, but probably not. But I'll be in one of the other groups, which I'm super excited about because I've seen their names and watched them play, and I'm like, Hey, this is going to be cool.

I think I'm going to be the problem because they're going to look at me like -- I'm going to look at them like, oh, my gosh, I'm so excited to play. They're going to be, okay, relax. It's just golf. (Laughter.)