U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

June 2, 2022

Mina Harigae

Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Mina Harigae, 7-under 64. Mina, you had nine birdies out there. Played terrifically. Walk us through your round a little bit.

MINA HARIGAE: I just I hit a lot of good shots, but I made more good putts. I was putting really well out there today.

I haven't had any tournaments or rounds so far this year where I was putting confidently, so today was the first day. Right off the getgo, No. 1 and 2, I made gettable putts. You know, seven to ten feet. That really got my confidence going.

Q. And you played here in 2007 as an amateur. Are you feeding off that experience at all?

MINA HARIGAE: I don't remember much about 2007. Only thin I remembered was putting green, the first hole, and the last hole. (Laughter.)

But I'm really happy to be back here in North Carolina obviously being a big Jordan fan, so just kind of like going off the Jordan vibes. Must be the shoes, right?

Q. That's right. You've had 37 rounds now in this championship. This is the first in the 60s. What clicked out there for you today?

MINA HARIGAE: I was just really calm out there. Could be because of the heat. I didn't want to expend too much energy, so I was basically in the zone.

Like I said, putting is what really gave me the confidence being able to hit into greens and such.

Q. So what have you been working on in your putting this year and what's led to this moment? What did you find?

MINA HARIGAE: Just little technical stuff. Just last couple months I could tell that just something was a little off but I couldn't figure it out for the last month.

Finally late yesterday Travis just did one little thing and I was like, Hey, this feels like last year again. So I think that's what really got the ball going.

Q. What was the one little thing?

MINA HARIGAE: Basically keeping my -- the top of my putter grip more level. So he just put his hand on top of the grip as I stroked and it was a lot better.

Q. What was it doing?

MINA HARIGAE: A lot of up and down, which you shouldn't do. (Laughter.)

Q. You mentioned Jordan; what's the Jordan connection? Not that you need one.

MINA HARIGAE: Just Travis and I, Travis is my fiance that caddies for me, he got me into collecting Jordan shoes. Yeah, so it started couple years ago and we just started collecting, and now kind of out of control. But I'm not mad about it. (Laughter.)

Q. How many do you have?

MINA HARIGAE: I got about ten new pairs in the last like two months, so...

But Travis has way more. (Laughter.)

Q. I was just wondering if you have a mantra you said to yourself to keep your head in the game today and if that's going to change for tomorrow, or if you just have a mantra that you like to use to keep your focus?

MINA HARIGAE: It just kind of varies between one shot at a time, just really trying to stay in the moment, just trying to listen to my surroundings a little bit more.

So it's a lot more being rather than doing. Sounds kind of weird but it helps most of the time. Helps me stay in the present.

Q. What will you draw on from your experience at Carnoustie?

MINA HARIGAE: Oh, I think definitely just being appreciative of where I am, really taking in the moment, but at the same time, not trying to put so much precedent on how big the moment is. It's another day on the golf course, another hole.

You just have to execute the shots and putts out there.