U.S. GIRLS' JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

July 22, 2022

Yana Wilson

The Club at Olde Stone

Press Conference

Q. Obviously you know what comes with all these perks; you're into the Women's Amateur now and one win away from the big prize of the Women's Open?

YANA WILSON: Oh, wait, I'm in the Women's Amateur? What? Cool, I didn't know that. That's so cool.

Q. And if you win you get a two-year.

YANA WILSON: No way. Oh, that's so cool.

Q. I don't know if you've tried to qualify or not?

YANA WILSON: Yeah, I have, but I didn't qualify.

Q. So you get a mulligan.

YANA WILSON: Yeah.

Q. How about the way you played today. You faced Sara Im. I guess you know each other from junior golf?

YANA WILSON: Yeah, we were teammates in the Ping Junior Solheim Cup, so I got to know her really well on that trip. We just played the East Versus West Wyndham Cup, the tournament the AJGA runs, and it's been great competition.

Q. I guess you were 2-down early in the match and then you stuffed one on 8. Do you feel like that was the difference?

YANA WILSON: I made a birdie on 7 and a birdie on 8, stuffed one on 8. Honestly, on hole No. 7 I just tried to change my mindset. I was like, all right, I just need to start sticking shots and making putts. I kind of just did what I had to do to win, and I just kind to come back and shoot like 5-under.

Q. What did you hit into 7, just a wedge?

YANA WILSON: I hit a pitching wedge.

Q. How far was the putt?

YANA WILSON: The putt was maybe 10 feet.

Q. And on 8?

YANA WILSON: I hit that one to a couple inches.

Q. What did you hit off the tee?

YANA WILSON: Pitching wedge.

Q. Did you feel like the momentum started to change there?

YANA WILSON: Yeah, a little bit. For the most part I feel like I'm pretty good at changing the momentum, especially when I'm down. I just tried to do that today.

Q. I guess you and Gianna were four-ball partners a couple times?

YANA WILSON: We were four-ball partners for what, two years? A long time.

Q. But you never qualified?

YANA WILSON: No. We were both like 11 and 10 or something like that. We were both super young. But we almost did, and we kicked butt. We were pretty good. It'll be fun to play her tomorrow.

Q. What is this little fan club you've got going on out here? Are you staying with a host family?

YANA WILSON: No, I'm not. They actually came out on 17 the first day I was here, and they're like, go, Yana, and I'm like, oh, my gosh, that is so cool.

Q. You have no connection to them?

YANA WILSON: Well, I had dinner with them a few nights ago because one of the parents DM'd me on Insta, and it was Kenny Perry's grandchildren.

Q. They were Kenny Perry's grandkids?

YANA WILSON: Right, yeah. So we had dinner with Kenny.

Q. You had dinner with Kenny?

YANA WILSON: Yeah.

Q. What was that like?

YANA WILSON: It was fun. I learned a lot from him and he's a great guy.

Q. He's a two-time Senior Open champion and he's won on the Tour. Any advice that he gave you?

YANA WILSON: He just told me to hit fairways and hit greens, kind of what Rose and Michael have been telling me to do. It's been great.

Q. To get to the finals, I know you were close last year, you got to the quarters, you lost to Rose Zhang, but now you're in the final. A year more mature, just some things you've worked on to catapult yourself into this position?

YANA WILSON: Yeah, honestly I learned from my mistakes that I made last year playing Rose in the quarterfinals and I feel like that really helped me with this year because I know what not to do now.

It's been such a great learning experience just playing with her because there's not many times where you're going to play with World No. 1s.

Q. Now you've got a 36-hole final tomorrow in this heat.

YANA WILSON: Right.

Q. Have you ever played a 36-hole final before?

YANA WILSON: Well, I just played 36 holes the last two days.

Q. But this is one match.

YANA WILSON: Right, right. It'll be interesting. I'm very excited to see how it goes because I know Gianna is very strong. She's a very strong player, and she keeps her momentum going all the time. She doesn't really break down much. I feel like I'm the same way.

Q. What does it say, 14 and 15 year olds in the finals of the U.S. Girls' Junior? What does that say about girls' golf right now?

YANA WILSON: It's crazy.

Q. You guys don't even have driver's licenses yet.

YANA WILSON: Well, Gia is super talented and I'm very happy she made it to the finals and I'm very excited to play her tomorrow.

Q. It's an early start, 6:30 a.m. ?

YANA WILSON: 6:30?

Q. Yeah, because of TV.

YANA WILSON: Probably just sleep and eat, yeah. Simple.