BANK OF HOPE LPGA MATCH-PLAY

May 25, 2022

Kelly Tan

Shadow Creek

Quick Quotes

Q. Here with Kelly Tan. Tell me, you just had the most sound victory of the day so far. How does it feel to have your game being so good and to get of the course early?

KELLY TAN: Yeah, I thought I played really well today, gave myself lots of chances. Yeah, we played against Danielle today and just didn't seem like she -- looked like she was in a little bit of pain, which felt a little bad.

Me and my caddie just trying to focus on my game. The end goal is to win the match and we did, and I'm super proud of the way I played.

Q. Speaking of Danielle, this course is something she calls her home course. Going into the match were you at all intimidated by her?

KELLY TAN: I wouldn't say intimidated by her. I know Danielle and I know who I'm up against, and that's a great player. I just know I need to have my best stuff to win the match, and that's what I focused on.

I'm just glad that I executed it. Just a good confidence boost for myself. Yeah, I'm excited for tomorrow and the rest of the week.

Q. Anything you learned from today? Obviously hoping to replicate some of the aspects of your game, but tell me what those are.

KELLY TAN: Yeah, this is actually my first match play in the tournament. I've always wanted to play match play. It's kind of hard to practice in this condition I guess or this type of format, but I just know -- I knew a little bit about match play and I knew that it's about putting pressure on your peers.

I think I did that really well today. Yeah, that's something that what I have planned works, and I'm just going to keep that in the bank and keep doing that the next few days. Hopefully works out.

Q. I was just going to ask about that. I know this is your first match play. Did you enjoy the format?

KELLY TAN: Yeah, I love it. I think it's definitely very different from stroke play. It's hole by hole, shot by shot. Doesn't matter if you win with whatever the score is, the end goal is to win.

So you can choose to play aggressive or you can choose just play conservative depending what your opponent is up to.

So I really enjoyed it. Yeah, look forward to tomorrow.

Q. And did you like coming off the course earlier?

KELLY TAN: Yeah.

Q. Hopefully a lot of golf in front of you, so how important is it to sort of keep that in mind?

KELLY TAN: Yeah, I think it's great to get off the course earlier. It's getting hot. I know it's not the hottest day yet. I know it's going to get hotter the next few days.

It's good to just conserve my energy. Just going to go grab a quick bite and head back to my room and hopefully enjoy Vegas a little bit tonight. I have a show to go to and I'm super excited.

My in-laws is coming in so, yeah, excited to see them.

Q. What show are you going to see?

KELLY TAN: Going to go watch America's Got Talent.

Q. I know you can't really worry about your opponent but it was obvious Danielle was not at her best. What's the mentality like for you playing someone like that? Is it just focus on your own game and keep the pedal down?

KELLY TAN: Yeah, I feel like I'm a really nice person and I feel like it's very hard for me to not care. My fiancée, caddie, Dusty, did a good job of just keeping us in our own bubble which I think helped me a lot, whether it's talking to me or talking about the shots, so I'm not telling him, oh, gosh she looks like she's hurt or I hope she's okay.

Yeah, I think we work really well together and I'm super excited.

Q. What did you think when you saw the draw and saw first day you were playing the person who knows this course better than anyone?

KELLY TAN: Yeah, I was very excited to play against Danielle today. Like Lee was saying, was I intimidated? I wouldn't say I was intimidated. I'm so happy and so glad that I'm playing against her early, and to play against somebody that high up in ranking and knows the course, back to front, front to back, is super -- I guess I'm a little bit on the honored side to be paired with her and just knowing how great of a player she is and knowing that I'm paired against her, and, again, winning the match today is a huge confident boost for myself.

Q. What was the demeanor like on the course? She was obviously down right off the bat. Was there any chatter?

KELLY TAN: I wouldn't say she was down right off the bat. I didn't know she was hurting until the third or fourth hole. She was trying to fix a pitch mark and the knee was on the ground and that's when I knew something was wrong with her back.

I thought her attitude was really good. She didn't keep her head down. She tried really hard. I'm assuming she's in pain when she is hitting shots, but she did not once quit or show me any weakness in herself. So I think that's a really great trait of her.

And, yeah, for us, we just know who we're up against. She's great player. I knew I had to still play my best to beat her, so that's the whole mentality I had going into today.

Q. Thursday and Friday, got the tough one so to speak out of the way. You think there will be some kind of letdown for you or just a confidence boost today and just going to keep pushing?

KELLY TAN: Yeah, I think 100% it's the confident boost going from today. It's match play; anything can happen. It's hole by hole, shot by shot, so I just look forward to that.

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