DOW GREAT LAKES BAY INVITATIONAL

July 15, 2022

Jennifer Kupcho

Lizette Salas

Midland Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. A little bit of time to breathe here, Team Youth on Course. Jennifer, I'll start with you. In the scoring tent you were going, we shot 6-under today? I just want to know about your day overall, the six birdies that the both of you had. How were you feeling out there on the course?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: Honestly, really relaxed. I wasn't even thinking about it. We were just out there playing, and I feel like that's what we're best at, is having fun together.

I feel like we definitely did that today, and that's how we were so calm in shooting that.

Q. Lizette, three birdies on the front nine. When did you guys really start clicking?

LIZETTE SALAS: When we got here. I'm just kidding. (Laughing.)

Last year. No.

On Wednesday it kind of -- it kind of took some time to get in the groove, and I think for myself is just to try to execute that one shot as best as you can and try to give her a good opportunity for birdie.

She's such a great putter, and she made a bunch of clutch putts. I did my job on the back side when we got into some trouble. We kind of both exchanged sorries and came out with par.

The really cool thing is that once we get into trouble it's like, no worries, I got you. That's what you need in a partner, and that's what resulted in a great score today.

Q. Jen, when did the sorries occur?

LIZETTE SALAS: (Indiscernible.)

JENNIFER KUPCHO: No, on 10. On 10. 10 and 16 when I hit it in the trees on both of them. Yeah.

LIZETTE SALAS: It wasn't bad.

JENNIFER KUPCHO: It was just, like, oh, sorry. Good luck.

LIZETTE SALAS: Thanks. What a partner.

JENNIFER KUPCHO: She did great.

Q. Still, three birdies on 14, 15, and 17. Just overall how did it feel coming in to be able to close out strong like that?

LIZETTE SALAS: Yeah, I think with the winds picking up and just knowing kind of the environment we've already played in, this was -- I wouldn't say a breeze, but it was just -- we were just calm, and we kind of just wanted to separate ourselves a little bit and give us some sort of cushion for tomorrow knowing that we're playing our own ball and the scores can get deep.

So we just played really well, and that's all we could have asked for.

Q. With best ball coming up tomorrow, being able to take your best shot going in and with the rain coming in, do you think you're going to be able to go for a lot of pins tomorrow?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: I didn't know there was rain coming in.

LIZETTE SALAS: Yeah, I didn't know that either, so thanks for that info. (Laughing).

JENNIFER KUPCHO: I think -- I mean, best ball you can kind of just go at pins without a worry. I think she does a really good job of hitting a lot of fairways and a lot of greens, so I feel comfortable going for pins, as does she with me.

I mean, we'll just go out there and play our game. I mean, there's definitely going to be low scores, so not really dwelling on what everyone else is doing. Just go play our game and keep moving.

Q. Lizette, you had that outstanding putt on 17 to grab another birdie to extend your guys' lead. With that coming around to point of like closing out your third round, how are you going to look to try to translate those great putts that you had in the back half and try to translate that into the entire final round when you guys are playing best ball?

LIZETTE SALAS: Yeah, just knowing that I could -- or we could pull off shots coming down the stretch, that's going to give us some momentum going into tomorrow.

We've been closing out. Our strongest side has been the back side all week so, we're pretty confident. Just staying within ourselves and knowing what we're capable of, knowing each other's game. I think we're in good shape for tomorrow.

Q. Lizette, going off of knowing each other's games, can you expand a little bit about your games and how they might be similar or different?

LIZETTE SALAS: Well, she hits a cut; I hit a draw. Fairly straight. We both hit it fairly straight.

Honestly, we play boring golf. Fairways and greens. But she just hits it 40 yards farther than I do, so it's great when we have long holes. You know, she can be a little bit more aggressive than I can.

But our job tomorrow is to just get on the green, both of us, and give ourselves as many opportunities for birdie as possible and just smile.

JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yep.

Q. Can you guys just expand a little bit about how you guys became friends and how this team formed?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: We got put into a pod last year at Solheim and really just playing practice rounds and figuring out who we could work with in that pod really well.

It kind of just happened.

LIZETTE SALAS: Process of elimination. Just kidding. (Laughing). Just kidding.

JENNIFER KUPCHO: We just worked really well together. I wouldn't say we were friends going into the actual tournament days, but we certainly became --

LIZETTE SALAS: We became quick friends.

JENNIFER KUPCHO: Quick friends throughout the rounds.

LIZETTE SALAS: Uh-huh.

Q. Jen, Lizette talked a little bit about this back nine, how you two are strongest on this back nine. What is it about these last nine holes where you two both feel the most comfortable?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: I'm not really sure. I think for me in general I'm kind of a back nine player. I feel like in general I start out a little slow, and then once I turn on to the back nine I kind of kick it into gear. I don't know why that is, but that's for me personally.

LIZETTE SALAS: I think I'm pretty much the same. Just kind of getting into a rhythm and getting a feel for how your game is and then kind of just step into that next gear on the back side. I think the back nine kind of shapes well for both of our games, and we just take advantage of it and make it exciting coming down the stretch.

Q. Lizette, a four-stroke lead heading into tomorrow. Are you both the kind of competitors where you like that little bit of wiggle room, and how much confidence does that give you going into a final round like tomorrow?

LIZETTE SALAS: It's been a while for me, so I don't know. (Laughing).

You can ask for a four-shot lead, you can ask for any sort of lead, but at the end of the day you still have to commit to your shots and commit to your game plans.

And I think she's won twice already this year, and so she kind of knows how to handle herself in that situation.

As far as me, I'm just -- I'm going to be her biggest support as well as my biggest support and just kind of play boring golf and see where that puts us at the end of the day. We're not going to worry about what other people are doing.

Q. Great job today, ladies. Best of luck tomorrow.