U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 6, 2021

Jensen Castle

Westchester Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. How many more outfits have you had to buy?

JENSEN CASTLE: Everyone keeps asking me that. I actually didn't go buy any. I kind of just mixed and matched. My teammate wore this yesterday so I didn't wear it, so now she's not here I was like, okay, this is my last full outfit. Tomorrow I'll have to mix and match.

Q. Have you had to make some adjustments to your hotel reservations or anything?

JENSEN CASTLE: Oh, yeah. It's kind of interesting, so I came up here with one of my friends, Hailey, and then she left, and then Tom and Jody, two of my friends, they met me up here, and then they know someone up here so we stayed there.

So I spent three nights in a hotel and now I'm staying at a friend's on an air mattress.

Q. Mixing and matching your residences along with your attire.

JENSEN CASTLE: Right.

Q. Do you know what town you're in?

JENSEN CASTLE: Right now?

Q. Where you're staying.

JENSEN CASTLE: I don't know right now either. Greenwich.

Q. Evaluate your experience this week coming in with no expectations, coming off an injury, and now you're in the semis.

JENSEN CASTLE: Yeah, that's crazy. Like no expectations. I touched a club about four, five days before, and doctors didn't even really want me to play in this. I was like, I don't really see myself giving this opportunity up. I qualified; it is what it is.

Soon as this is over I'll probably sit out two or three weeks until the season starts. So I came here not packing enough clothes, golf balls neither, but it's been great. Getting in on the playoff is really cool. Very like pressured situation, especially with my teammate. It was a special moment for sure.

And it's just been great. I've been taking it one match at a time. I don't even know who I play tomorrow.

Q. Could be Rachel or Kan.

JENSEN CASTLE: Yeah, I didn't even look at that.

Q. Rachel Heck or Kan Bunnabodee.

JENSEN CASTLE: Yeah.

Q. Is that an easier thing for a player? Obviously there is a pressure in the playoff. There are tense moments. Once you get out of that does that free you up when you're the 63rd seed and you just go out and freewheel it mentally?

JENSEN CASTLE: Maybe, yeah. I didn't -- I was just -- it was a match. I didn't know what number I was and it didn't matter. Definitely for some players knowing that I just barely got in last night on two extra holes or whatever, definitely frees some people up.

Q. What does this start do for you? What does that do for you out there?

JENSEN CASTLE: Well, barely went in and I forgot about it. I proceeded to (indiscernible) over the green on the next hole. It's one shot at a time. Sometimes you can build momentum in match play, but at the end of the day, I mean, it's the one shot.

Q. When you build a big early lead can you breathe a little bit?

JENSEN CASTLE: Yes. I mean, I didn't realize I was 6&5. Like I thought we were going to the next hole after that match. That's how out of it I was. She was ready to hug me. I'm like, right now? It's just staying in the moment and enjoying it.

All the volunteers out here, all the people behind the scenes, just thanking them and enjoying the moment.

Q. You've had obviously Marissa and Laney up here this week. What have been the reactions from you other teammates maybe already down in Lexington for school or heading that way?

JENSEN CASTLE: I've got a lot of texts from them. Marissa and Laney have texted me the most just because I think they were here and they know what's going on and the experience itself and how big it is.

Everyone is supportive. It's funny. My coach is in Sweden so she keeps sending me 2:00 a.m. text messages when she wakes up Sweden time and is like, Hey, let's go, or whatever, but it's been great.

Q. Is there any -- like match play everybody talks about there is a little bit of gamesmanship, but you don't see that much here. Is that typical? Just maybe making people putt out short things or moving off -- you know, that silliness kind of.

JENSEN CASTLE: The mental game part of it?

Q. Yeah.

JENSEN CASTLE: Luckily I haven't seen any of that. I mean, golf is more than that. I gave her a five- or six-footer. She couldn't miss, but it's not like that. The best player wins. It's not no mental game behind it. That's not golf, you know what I mean?

Q. How about the fact that you guys got a little bit of a rest from a long day yesterday to wait to tee off this afternoon and tee off again tomorrow afternoon? Is that a little bit of a break for you guys considering it's such a long week and there is a grind to it?

JENSEN CASTLE: Yeah, that's awesome. I also, when I finished yesterday we thought it was 36 today. That's how out of it we were. So, yes, the break between last night and this morning, getting to sleep in, relax, especially after the 36 was very, very awesome.

Q. Are you sore with your injury or no?

JENSEN CASTLE: No. That's what so funny. Everyone keeps asking me that. I'm on some antiinflammatories and I am taking Tylenol, which I don't normally take medicine in general.

But my adrenaline is so high during the round I don't feel it over the ball. I only feel it walking in between shots occasionally when my heart rate gets up and my breathing, but other than that I've iced it after every round and I'll ice it after this.

Q. Is the course getting harder?

JENSEN CASTLE: You know what, I think so. I think it got faster. I got to the putting green this morning and I blew one eight feet by. I was like, Oh, my gosh. It's definitely getting harder.

But we're all here playing the same course at the end of the day.

Q. It was a little hotter today than it's been. You play in Kentucky where it can be sticky and you played in the Southeastern Conference where it's hot and humid all the time.

JENSEN CASTLE: Yeah, Columbia is the most humid. There is in wind in Columbia, so this with the breeze is actually enjoyable. Luckily being raised and growing up in Columbia with no wind I learned that humid is the best way to learn.

Q. How do you keep your mindset? You're very focused on the next shot, but are you always that way? Is that something you've had to work on recently?

JENSEN CASTLE: I wouldn't say recently. Over the past few years I've slowly like one shot at a time. I only think about golf and shots when I'm over it, before it. Between I'm not thinking of golf. I'm thinking of everything but golf, joking around, what's for dinner, if I'm going to get clothes tomorrow, stuff like that.

So it's very in the moment and I only see the shot when I'm behind it.

Q. Do they have a washing machine and dryer in that house you're staying in?

JENSEN CASTLE: They do. I've already done my laundry, so...