U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

June 3, 2022

Leona Maguire

Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Leona Maguire, obviously, we talked with you earlier in the week and during practice rounds and so forth, and talked about just getting ready for the course. Talk about your first two days and what progressed from yesterday until today and where you sit right now?

LEONA MAGUIRE: I think I did a really good job at staying patient, staying disciplined, committing to my targets into the greens. Played fairly conservatively, I would say. Made some nice putts when I needed to, and I had a few key up and downs and kind of kept the momentum going.

Yeah, I've never shot under par in the U.S. Open before, so I've done it two years in a row, which is nice. Yeah, just more of the same for the weekend.

Q. You kind of adjusted to the course. How is it playing? Is it a little faster and firmer today because of the heat, or --

LEONA MAGUIRE: It dried out a little bit yesterday afternoon. I think we got a bit of rain last night, so it opened up again, so greens were trickier today.

There was a few on the sides of the slopes and stuff; like that, so you had to sort of be on the right side and things like that.

Yeah, I would imagine it will get -- depends if we get rain tonight or not. I think there's a little forecast, but it's only going to dry out. They're not going to put any more water on this course than needs be. Yeah.

Q. Obviously, you are feeling good. You got a lot of good vibes going into the weekend. How do you stay focused and balanced not to get too excited, not to get too relaxed, but just how are you looking forward to it? What's your game plan when you go out and play in a major like this?

LEONA MAGUIRE: That's the challenge of a U.S. Open. You can't switch off for a second. You have to keep committing to your targets and just try and hit them in the right spots and take advantage.

There are some shorter holes, some par-5s and 8, 9, there's some good chances there and you have to take your chances there and then take your pars on the harder holes.

So, yeah, ultimately I'm still quite a ways back. It feels pretty bunched, so you never know what's going to happen. So you just try to -- I've had quite a few birdies, more birdies than I expected over the last two days, so trying to keep those bogeys (indiscernible) for the weekend.

Q. You appreciate Donald Ross designs just knowing and having played a few, and having played a golf course there.

LEONA MAGUIRE: I like Don Ross. I think they make you think. They're challenging, but fair. I think it's an incredibly fair golf course, and if you have good shots, you are rewarded. If you have bad shots, you are punished.

It doesn't even have to be a bad shot. It just has to be slightly off. If there's pins out there that tease you that you want to go for, and you know you have to aim 10, 15 feet left or right of them. Yeah, it will be no different this weekend, I imagine.