U.S. WOMEN'S MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

September 28, 2021

Lauren Greenlief

Berkeley Hall Club (North Course)

Quote Quotes

Q. I guess I'll start with the morning, your match with Ellen. Talk me through that. I know you had the lead and then she came back and tied it on 12. Talk me through the round there.

LAUREN GREENLIEF: The match with Ellen was a blast. Ellen is a close friend, and I admire everything she's done in golf, and you can definitely tell why she's won so many championships when you play against her. She played tough the entire time. She hit a ton of wedges in there to just like pup range for birdies, so she hung in there. I was able to make a couple good saves at the end to get it done, but I thought that was a match in the morning to kind of get my head in the game for the rest of the way because every match kind of after the first one is normally pretty tough, so I think to have to grind is really good for me.

Q. And then this last one, you had the four-shot lead and Jacqueline came back and made it interesting on you at the end. What was the mindset? What was going through your mind when she was coming back?

LAUREN GREENLIEF: I was just trying to hang in there and keep hitting good golf shots. When you have a 4-up lead, I think as long as you keep good shots, you normally get it done. She made a couple really good birdies, made a great putt down the hill on 16, so I just wanted to keep hitting good golf shots.

Q. You're in the quarterfinals for the third straight time and four out of the last five years, so this is nothing new for you. You're a veteran in the quarterfinals. How does it feel to be back in there, and how would you rate the state of your game right now?

LAUREN GREENLIEF: It feels really good to be back. I've put in more work on my game in the last probably 10 weeks than I have at any point in my entire golf career, so I feel like I'm striking it well, and I started to roll some putts today, so I'm really encouraged by that, but I think at the Mid-Am it's a marathon, not a sprint, so just one shot at a time, one match at a time.

Q. Tomorrow you'll get Shannon Johnson, the 2018 champion --

LAUREN GREENLIEF: Another friend.

Q. Have you played her before? What's that going to be like?

LAUREN GREENLIEF: I have not played Shannon in a match before, but I've played a lot of golf in tournaments with Shannon. It'll be fun. It'll be a tough test. I think we're both going to -- no one is going to let up. We're both going to give it our all, so I think it'll be a fun one.