CME GROUP TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

November 18, 2021

Mina Harigae

Tiburon Golf Club

Flash Interview

Q. Mina Harigae, really solid 7-under 65. Bogey-free. Had an eagle on 17. Almost holed it on 8. Take us through those couple of highlights.

MINA HARIGAE: Yeah, I think that eagle on 17 really kick started my round. I was playing fine, but I think once I holed that chip shot out I was just kind of on cruise control and really comfortable out there.

And then on No. 8 it was just kind of a perfect 120 shot for me. It would've been cool if it went in.

Q. What club were you hitting?

MINA HARIGAE: 9-iron.

Q. What's your season been like overall? You got off to a hot start here at CME. You've played on the Solheim Cup team. You've had a lot of really good thing happen to you this year compared to last year, you were on the Cactus Tour and kicking butt and taking names. What's been your biggest learning curve this year?

MINA HARIGAE: You know, this year has been so great. I played really well over the summer. I'm really proud of myself for being able to -- knowing that I had a chance to make the Solheim Cup and just continuing to play well. The Solheim Cup was the best experience of my life for sure.

It was just the fans, the atmosphere, hearing the cheers, it was amazing.

Q. What would winning $1.5 million mean to you?

MINA HARIGAE: Well, that would be life changing. That would be amazing.

Q. What would you buy with $1.5 million?

MINA HARIGAE: I would buy a house for sure, and a bunch of Jordan shoes.

Q. You don't get those for free?

MINA HARIGAE: I get the golf shoes, but we have quite the collection of just the regular Jordans at home.

Q. How many Jordans would you say you have?

MINA HARIGAE: I personally don't have that many. Maybe like six regular pairs. Yeah, six or seven. But my fiancée has like 30.

Q. Where do you keep them all? Is there a special area in the closet?

MINA HARIGAE: We have like a loft area upstairs. We just put all our golf stuff and all of our shoes.

Q. Like do you enjoy basketball? Do you like...

MINA HARIGAE: Yeah, I do enjoy basketball, but I think the shoes just look so cool to me. Just when I see a really good pair, it's hard for me to pull the trigger sometimes, but when I can't stop thinking about a pair, that's when I'll definitely get one.

Q. What's the most you've spent on a pair of Jordans?

MINA HARIGAE: Not that much. $250 is my max so far. I might splurge a little bit depending on how this week goes.

Q. A little more on your Solheim Cup experience. You talked about the fans and all that. Is there anything from the playing aspect that you draw on?

MINA HARIGAE: Just honestly being able to pull off the shots that I did during my matches and making some clutch putts, I think that gave me a ton of confidence. Almost as if I can do that there in that kind of atmosphere I can really do it anywhere on any course in any tournament.

Q. Again, you've had kind of a crazy year so far. What is something you've learned about yourself in your game as far as qualifying for the Solheim Cup? I followed you last year on the Cactus Tour. You've kind of come into your own in the last year.

MINA HARIGAE: Uh-huh.

Q. How have you managed to do that?

MINA HARIGAE: You know, I think just being in a really good frame of mind, being okay with -- you know sometimes golf is up and down. Like it's so easy to ride on a high, and then after riding on a high you kind of, you know, come back down a little bit.

I was a little deflated, but being able to say, Hey, it's fine. I'm not worrying about whether I'm going to play well again. Just kind of just going with it and really just trying to be comfortable in my own shoes, being comfortable how I prep for tournaments. Basically being okay with myself.

Q. How are you going to ride the high of a 7-under 65 for the rest of the week?

MINA HARIGAE: I'm not sure. I think I'm just going to really keep just a level head. Hopefully I can do it again over the next three days, but I'm just going to take everything as it comes and just kind of roll with it.