BANK OF HOPE LPGA MATCH-PLAY

May 26, 2022

Ashleigh Buhai

Shadow Creek

Quick Quotes

Q. Here with Ashleigh Buhai after her 5&4 victory over Jeongeun Lee6 here at Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play presented by MGM Rewards. Ashleigh, tell me, are you happier to have won the match or to have won the match quickly and got off the course early?

ASHLEIGH BUHAI: I think a bit of both. Obviously happy to have won. To be fair, 6, she is such a good player. She didn't have her best game today, but it played super tough.

To make birdies it was firm, the wind was blowing, it was warm, it was difficult to judge what it was going to do out there.

So I just played cautious when she was making mistakes and I kept myself in play, and then I did hit quite a few good shots down the last few holes and kept the pressure on.

I won the holes with par, but I did what I had to do to get the job done.

Q. Yeah, I would say you played a lot of good holes in a row. You went up on the first hole and never relinquished your lead. I think only two holes you lost the whole time.

ASHLEIGH BUHAI: Uh-huh.

Q. What was working really well for your game?

ASHLEIGH BUHAI: I was steady. Didn't make -- only made one or two birdies, but it was tough; par was good today.

That's all I tried to do, is just play steady golf. I gave myself chances. Didn't make the putts, but it was stress-free in terms of they were all gimme putts and that's all I try to do.

Q. Now with one and a half points you are tied at the top of your grouping. Does that add any more pressure to your game plan tomorrow?

ASHLEIGH BUHAI: No. I mean, just got to obviously go out and try to win that match, too. That's the only way to get through. I didn't know what happened with the game behind us or who won it.

So I know I'm play Maude tomorrow, so we'll see what happens. Obviously go out there and try and win and see what happens.

Q. Moriya.

ASHLEIGH BUHAI: Okay, Moriya. Yeah, so I played her yesterday. There you go. We both got to go our job tomorrow and what will be will be.

Q. Have you thought about what you will do if you have a playoff? What's the game plan there? Even thinking about that?

ASHLEIGH BUHAI: No, no game plan. We'll have to just see what happens. Obviously just got to take it step by step and stick to what I'm doing, and the rest is out of my control.

Q. Let's talk about the conditions today. It was windy and rather warm throughout the afternoon. How are you handling that?

ASHLEIGH BUHAI: To be honest, I got a little shaky on I think it was my sixth hole. Said to my caddie, oh, I felt a little wobbly over there. Had a little sit-down, rehydrated and ate something, and kind of felt better afterwards.

It did get really warm. Like I said, the course is already playing firm and then with the heat and the wind, it did play a bit tricky.

I thought I made a lot of good swings. Didn't get the results I would've liked, but that's all you can do. As long as you make the swing, that's what you're trying to do, and the rest is out of your control after that.

Q. So 18 holes yesterday; 14 holes today. You said you felt a little shaky. What are you going to do tonight to prepare for tomorrow?

ASHLEIGH BUHAI: Obviously got to recover well. A lot of water. Probably rehydrate, get some physio treatment done, and get to bed early to wake up fresh.

Q. I wanted to ask, you have a lot of match play experience. What do you think about this format particularly?

ASHLEIGH BUHAI: I love it. I mean, as amateurs we played lots of match play, but that was a long time ago, like 14 years ago for me.

So if I think back to my amateur days, I loved it. You know, succeeded quite a lot in South Africa at it. Everybody out here is good, and the beauty of match play is No. 1 in the world can play No. 64 in the field and No. 64 can win.

It's just about on the day. There is always some upsets, and that's the beauty of this tournament I think.

Q. Do you think that helps build confidence for you?

ASHLEIGH BUHAI: Yeah, sure. I feel like I've been playing well, so still trying to maintain that. It's difficult to win any match out here, so you take it when it comes.

Q. One more question about match play. A lot of players have said that they think match play helps them play more aggressively.

ASHLEIGH BUHAI: Uh-huh.

Q. Make shots they might not otherwise take. Do you find you're one of those players, too?

ASHLEIGH BUHAI: I didn't find it the last two days, but I think it's just the way the course sets up. It's difficult to be aggressive on this golf course, especially with the firm greens.

I still feel like I've done what I would do in stroke play. Maybe yesterday once I went at it and I probably shouldn't have and it didn't come off, so proved the way I'm thinking and I need to play is the right way for me, but everybody to their own.

Q. Speaking of the course, have you ever played here before?

ASHLEIGH BUHAI: I played the tournament last year, so I knew what I was coming into. You know, went around it on Sunday. Last year played as firm as it is now, but Sunday was pretty soft so we were like, okay, this is a bit more playable.

With the heat there was no chance it was going to stay soft.

Q. Having played here last year, what do you think about the change to play the course's No. 18 as No. 9?

ASHLEIGH BUHAI: Sure. I get what they're wanting to do. It's a feature hole. Wanted to make sure everybody plays it. I know a lot of games went down 18 yesterday, so you still would've got the same effect. I don't know about today.

But both strong finishing holes and you got to hit good shots coming down the stretch no matter which hole you're playing.

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