KPMG WOMEN'S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

June 21, 2022

Mariah Stackhouse

Congressional Country Club (Blue Course)

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We're here with Mariah Stackhouse. Always with the biggest smile in the room. Start off by welcoming you to Congressional. KPMG has long been a big part of your life. This is a really important event for all of us. We'll talk about news, but first off, how are you? How are you feeling as we come into this week?

MARIAH STACKHOUSE: I'm incredibly excited to be here in the field. Thank you to KPMG for the sponsor invite. It already feels grand, right? It's a major.

KPMG and the PGA of America do an incredible job running the event. Everything feels first class from the second you step to the venue.

As of today, I have played all 18 holes of the golf course. It's in immaculate shape. Played really long, really tough. Greens are big and undulating. So it's going to be a wonderful test of golf this we can.

THE MODERATOR: It truly will be, and it's also going to be a celebration for you on multiple levels. We'll start out with the big news that was just announced today, that you have joined the LPGA USGA family as a Girls Golf Ambassador. Which letter E do you get to represent?

MARIAH STACKHOUSE: I represent 'engage.' Honestly, I'm excited. I feel like that word is perfect for me. I'm incredibly passionate about getting young girls interested in the game of golf. So 'engage,' getting involved in the local communities, getting girls interested in the game, provide them with opportunities to grow skill-wise and also build camaraderie and play together. That's what golf is all about.

The more engaging the sport is, the more we do to make it fun for the youth, the faster it grows. I'm incredibly excited and look forward to my time as a Girls Golf Ambassador.

THE MODERATOR: I watched the video we posted on social, and you talked about how when you were a kid, your dad wanted to make sure you had fun on the golf course. You mentioned that.

How important is that? We want kids to compete and to learn or whatever, but how about going out there and having some simple fun?

MARIAH STACKHOUSE: I think that when you're young, especially Junior Golf, that is arguably the post important part of the game. I think a lot of parents when they recognize talent in kids, we jump ahead. That's fair to do. When you see talent in a kid, you want to push that. When you think they have an opportunity to play college golf, to play professional golf, you want to hone that.

I think it's also equally important at that age to make sure that on top of building a solid foundational skill level for the game, you're learning how to have fun with it. Golf is an individual sport, and when you are playing competitively, burn-out is a very real possibility. So as long as you're keeping that element of fun attached to the work, it's easy to show up every day and continue to want to get better.

THE MODERATOR: That's truly part of the Girls Golf program, right?

MARIAH STACKHOUSE: Yes, yes, 100%. Providing the girls an opportunity to connect with coaches, but also have fun with each other, skills, competitions, clinics, summer programs, events. That's what it's all about.

THE MODERATOR: Lovely. And so from that end, flipping up to the KPMG Women's PGA side, the pro side, we just have this amazing news that the purse this week has been doubled from $4.5 million to $9 million. What was that like for you players when you heard it from KPMG what was going to be coming?

MARIAH STACKHOUSE: I had just finished my Pro-Am this morning and was in player dining when Molly sent the email to us inside. You heard a murmur kind of going around the clubhouse. Hey, did you see that email, 9 mil, and everybody is super, super excited.

It's awesome being a KPMG Ambassador to see us joining that push for increasing and elevating women's golf, and it's been done with this championship in terms of the competition ever since KPMG has taken over. So to see the purse rise too, it's just really cementing this as one of the -- I, arguably, think -- just setup, purse now I think it's one of the premiere, if not the premiere major in women's golf.

All the players, we just love being out here, and the way we feel and the way we're treated this week is fantastic.

THE MODERATOR: It truly is. You talk about what KPMG has done outside the ropes and what the PGA of America is doing inside the ropes bringing it to venues like Congressional, like Baltusrol next year. Do you like seeing the challenging courses that have traditionally been associated with the men's game for the ladies?

MARIAH STACKHOUSE: 100%. We've all grown up watching competitive golf, men's and women's. These are the courses that we've seen the men's majors played on over the course of our childhood and early professional golf careers.

So for us to now have access to these courses to test our games on the venues that are known to be the most challenging in golf, it's rewarding and it's exciting. I know that it's fun for us to be able to showcase our talent and skill level and our ability to handle these venues as well. So it's going to be a great week.

THE MODERATOR: Again, thanks to KPMG and the PGA of America for this partnership and for doing what they need to do. Thank you very much. We're going to open it up to questions.

Q. Mariah, you talked about watching men's majors. Do you remember where you were when Rory won here in 2011? Do you remember the situation?

MARIAH STACKHOUSE: I do not remember where I was exactly. That would have been the summer after my junior year. I remember that. Arguably playing a GSGA event somewhere at home or AAGA event in Atlanta.

Even playing my Pro-Am, our group we were talking about some of Rory's -- I mean, the golf course, they've really done some changes in the finishes. But just walking around and kind of being, like, you know, in this area Rory did this or -- I mean, it was an incredible round, and that kind of skyrocketed. That was Rory's big boom into the PGA TOUR.

Just being here, being on this site, and everybody having watched that and being familiar with the history and the greatness that took place that weekend, it's cool to be walking those same fairways.

Q. Back to the test of the course, what about the blind shots, the number of blind approach shots you have out there?

MARIAH STACKHOUSE: There are a few. Especially most notably hole No. 15 up that hill. I played that nine for the first time today. I'll play it again tomorrow, but walking from the tee box, I was, like, all right, you know what, every step of the way while I'm dropping down to this hill, let me get oriented with what tree is where in relation to the green so that when I get down at the bottom of the hill, I have my bearings. Yeah, it's going to take a lot of trust to play this golf course.

Q. One question for each of the piece of news. First, about engagement. Can you give us some examples of your experience with Girls Golf and with some kids and how you engage them, how they came to you?

MARIAH STACKHOUSE: Well, when you ask for an experience with Girls Golf, I can actually relate. I actually went through the Girls Golf program playing Junior Golf myself.

So there's a course in the city in Atlanta called Browns Mill Golf Course, and I remember my parents taking me to some Girls Golf clinics and programs there growing up and always having so much fun.

They drop us off there at the beginning of the day, and we would be doing all types of clinic sessions, skill levels. At that point I was already playing pretty competitively, so it was awesome to just really kind of get that experience, that camaraderie, and that fun element back to the game.

Those are the opportunities that are awesome. Even after this event on Monday, the LPGA is honoring Renee Powell with our second inaugural benefit for her foundation, and the LPGA USGA Girls Golf will be involved with that program, so some of the girls will be out there on Monday.

I'll have about ten buddies out here on TOUR that will also be there stationed on a hole or stationed with a group and playing with the girls and the amateurs that are going to support that and fundraise for that event. It's going to be incredibly special. Those are the opportunities that I'm really excited about.

We come here, and we're in the D.C. area, and actually being able to not only play Congressional here, but being able to get involved with the girls and the golf programs right here in this local area, and you really feel like you touch the community that way.

Q. And then the news about the prize money.

MARIAH STACKHOUSE: Yes.

Q. Putting it in the context of inclusion, of equality, of diversity, all that. I mean, what is your vision? Is this a sign of what the future of women's golf should be, and what is the vision of women's golf compared to men's golf in the future?

MARIAH STACKHOUSE: Yes. When you think about equality, I think hearing about this purse raise today to $9 million, it's doubled. Us being here competing at Congressional, when we talk about equality and elevating the women's game, both of those signify us moving in the right direction with regards to seeking that equality to the men's game.

Congressional is a fantastic site. It's awesome that we are here this week performing and getting to compete and show our talents on this stage.

The purse increasing, I mean, that's just plain and simply elevating the women's game. It's showing and acknowledging the competition and really the star levels that are out here.

You saw it at the Meijer last weekend how that closed. The names on top of that leaderboard, how stacked it was, how deep the scores were. LPGA Women's Golf, it's just getting deep. It's getting stacked. It's getting better and better by the year.

So I love to see the sponsors and the venues following right along with the progression that we see on the course as well. It's awesome.

Q. As a KPMG Ambassador you have a unique opportunity to participate not only in the tournament, but in a lot of the leadership initiatives. What are some things that you pull from those as far as items that can help you with personal growth?

MARIAH STACKHOUSE: Yes, I think one of the most special parts about this event is the KPMG Women's Leadership Summit. It's not just for me as an Ambassador. I hear a lot of other players, they take a look and see the guest names, who is going to be speaking at the Summit each and every year.

There's so many people that offer inspiration to us all. You'll see certain players say on Wednesday at this time I'm going to pop into the Summit because I want to hear so and so speak. That's just incredibly awesome.

I think as athletes and the experience that we have in life, I think that transfers very often just in terms of women elevating in various spaces, what that process has been for us all.

I think they pull from the experience that we have as an athlete, but it's also awesome for us to sit and hear about their experiences as they journey to the C-suite in business or whatever areas, whether that be sports, entertainment, anything.

I love the opportunity to hear from the brightest minds in any space, and I think it's incredibly special that KPMG brings those two elements together at this tournament, and it's an opportunity for all of us to learn and grow.

Q. Then again on the golf side, having played all 18 out here now, you talk about some of the blind shots, but what do you see as the biggest challenge of this as a championship test?

MARIAH STACKHOUSE: It's interesting. When I prep for majors, I spend a lot of time focused on ball-striking because when you are in the fairways on major championship courses and not in the rough, you're going to have a much easier time getting around the golf course.

But these greens are incredibly large and undulating, so even aside from good ball-strike, you're going to hit some good shots here that are going to get a funny bounce, and you're going to end up with that 50-foot putt up a slope swinging to the left or swinging to the right.

So I've decided to double-down now, and I've got to spend at least an hour, hour and a half every day just dialing in the speeds of these greens because I think that it's going to come down to just having a good mastery of the read and the pace on these greens as well. Especially being able to lag those putts inside two, three feet. Yeah.

THE MODERATOR: Overall, this is a really exciting day to begin an exciting week. What do you think this week and this time means for the women's game?

MARIAH STACKHOUSE: Man, I mean, we're here. I feel like I've said it already in this conference, but we're here at Congressional, and it's one of the most special places in professional golf.

I think each and every one of us is incredibly excited to tee it up and go show everybody what the LPGA TOUR is made of.

THE MODERATOR: Thankfully made of people like you. Thanks.

MARIAH STACKHOUSE: Thanks, everyone.