LPGA QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT STAGE II

October 22, 2021

Mila Chaves

Plantation Golf and Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. You followed up a nice under-par round yesterday of 4-under with another under-par round today. How important was that for a four-day no-cut event?

MILA CHAVES: Yeah, it is huge. I just know that I had two consistent rounds and I can make another under-par round today was nice. I struggled a little bit on the front nine and then I came back with a nice 3-under on the back, so it was really nice.

Q. Your third year on Symetra this year; what's something that you've learned over the three years to help prepare you for this moment and to continue to make a leap over the weekend?

MILA CHAVES: Yeah, it is a little bit different, I think, Q-school. This tournament, I'm just trying to play it as a single tournament and do my best, and yeah, I played my last tournament of the season pretty well, so coming after that into this was really nice to know that I had a good tournament where I put some under-par rounds together. It was really nice, yeah.

Q. You had a T11 at Twin Bridges earlier this year and that matched your second lowest, second best performance in your career. You had a T2 in 2019 at Fire Keepers. Those moments are you finish at Fire Keepers, you have a good finish at Twin Bridges, what is it about those weeks that you're finding can benefit you long-term for maybe consistent results?

MILA CHAVES: Yeah, all of those weeks, what they have in common is I'm hitting greens and fairways, and I'm in my best head space, I guess. My mental game has been really good. It has been in the last couple weeks, and I feel very strongly mentally, I guess. I just came into this tournament, just I want to do my best, and I'm just focusing on that. That's what I found out; when I play my best, it's just like I look at the target and I go for it. I'm not thinking that much.

Q. Something clicks mentally for you?

MILA CHAVES: Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Q. Is there a point in time over the last couple weeks where that click happened?

MILA CHAVES: Yeah, for sure. It helped me out a lot that I started working with a mental coach for sure. Just talking about it, it is great. I needed help, and it is great when you find someone that can talk to you and you understand and you can put that into your game.

Q. Who do you work with?

MILA CHAVES: I'm working with Patricia Fuentes. She's from Argentina. She's a sports psychologist. She has a few PGA and Latin American guys that she's working with, too.

Q. Anyone in particular?

MILA CHAVES: She has a bunch of Argentinian guys. She used to work with Fabrizio Zanotti which is another player that is on the European Tour, so I know her a little bit from him, too.

Q. And then what sparked you to reach out?

MILA CHAVES: Knowing that I figured out that I needed help. I have a great swing coach, and that aspect of my game needed help. I'm glad I reached out, and yeah.

Q. Is it mainly just on the golf course that you seek it, or do you have instances off the course where you're maybe living in the golf world, as well?

MILA CHAVES: What is nice, I can talk to her about anything. Sometimes something that is off the golf course, it can affect your game, too. But mainly this year was just trying to simplify everything mentally, and knowing that my game is there and my swing is there, it's just trusting the process, yeah.

Q. You played Bobcat-Panther. Looked like you'll have Panther tomorrow and then Bobcat. Is that a nice feeling when you're playing two different courses, is it nice to see the same course two days in a row?

MILA CHAVES: Yeah, it is nice. I think I struggled a little bit with the speed of the greens today, just coming off Bobcat and then in the morning here. So it was a little tricky, so I think that will help me tomorrow to be a little bit more consistent with my green speed for sure.

Q. Who is the swing coach?

MILA CHAVES: Hernan Rey, another Argentinian guy.

Q. So you've got a lot of --

MILA CHAVES: I'm from Paraguay. Paraguay, it's not a very popular sport, so instructors, there are not many. Argentina, they're very big, and Hernan, he has an academy in Florida, and he's been here for a while now. Yeah, and he's a coach of Fabrizio, which is the guy in the European Tour from Paraguay, and I just got to know him that way, yeah.

Q. And if I saw right, I think I saw two or three other Paraguayan players here this week. If I remember right, there has only really been you as far as when I was on Symetra. I don't think there's anybody LPGA-wise?

MILA CHAVES: Yeah, Julieta was 2019.

Q. So Julieta is kind of the poster child of Paraguayan golf, but what is it that is drawing more Paraguayans out on the circuit?

MILA CHAVES: It's really nice because I played with Sofia and Fernanda Sophia so much in amateur golf for the team, for the Paraguayan team and I'm like three years older than them and they're great players, so they're just right off college, and they did really good in their amateur careers. I'm pretty sure they're going to do just fine on the Tour, too.

It is just like this group, we just had a really good group of girls in Paraguay, my age, a little younger that are coming, and there's a few other ones that are probably going to come after us, too.