PALOS VERDES CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY BANK OF AMERICA

April 30, 2022

Marina Alex

Palos Verdes Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, Marina, want to start off with the highlight of the round that eagle on No. 7. What was going so right there?

MARINA ALEX: Just had a really good number into the green. It was just a perfect hybrid and popped like twice short of the green, just rolled in there.

I had what was a marginally easy read for these greens, so just got a good stroke on it and it was really good momentum in the right direction.

Three-putted the hole prior. It played tough today. The greens have really firmed out I feel like. Playing in the afternoon is different. Noticed a lot of low scores out of the morning probably when it was a bit softer and less wind.

It'll be probably the same tomorrow. Just going to need to kind of grind out.

Q. How much is it a challenge as the wind picks up here at Palos Verdes Golf Club?

MARINA ALEX: Yeah, the greens are pretty tiny and they've really gotten quite firm so it's been hard to hit shots close. Your par-5s you can definitely take advantage, which I -- 7 has been okay. I've really done a poor job on 14 and 15 -- 14 and 16 this week.

I think tomorrow my goal is to do a bit better with those holes. Just have better birdie opportunities; I really haven't at all this week, and I know the girls are taking advantage of those holes coming down the stretch, so I definitely want to put myself in a better position there.

Q. What do you think of the poana greens two weeks in a row?

MARINA ALEX: They're tough. Wilshire kept theirs really tidy like the whole week. There is a lot of foot traffic out here. Makes reading putts difficult, and it also makes shots into the green difficult, because there is a lot of -- I feel like it just kind of firms out and gets very glassy, so it's just lots of skidding going on. It's tough to judge some chips and putts.

It's just an element of it. It's difficult. Everyone has to deal with it. Some of it's a little bit of luck and you just kind of have to move on. If you miss a putt that you think you should have made there are a lot of variables into why that didn't happen, and it's not always you.

Q. Will probably be the same conditions tomorrow. I know you said you want to take more advantage of par-5s, but? What will you focus on now that you've got a little bit of rest before the afternoon tee time?

MARINA ALEX: Yeah, just make sure I come out with a good amount of energy tomorrow. Ends up being a long day. Try and sleep in, but everyone is up marginally early, so you just have some time to kill.

So I just want to make sure I maintain a good level of energy throughout the whole round.

Q. Knowing that not a lot of low scores were in the afternoon, you'll doing a tiny bit of chasing because the leaders are just a bit of ahead of you. Are you down for that chase?

MARINA ALEX: Yeah. No, I'm excited. I feel like I'm in a good position. It's nice to be in these positions and just take every opportunity that you can get and do the best that you can with it.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow.