AIG WOMEN'S OPEN

August 4, 2022

Catriona Matthew

Mixed Zone

Q. Obviously a bit on the back foot after the first hole?

CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, obviously the first and 10, two doubles. Apart from that, actually played quite well. Frustrating a little.

Louise played great though. Great round from her.

It was out there I think for the taking this morning. Even though it was wet for our first few, the wind is certainly less than it's been the last two days. I think I could reach kind of 12 and 15 and 14 quite easily.

Q. You had to hit a lot of fairway woods.

CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, but at least you could get there. But yeah, I think there will be some low scores today. You can see that.

Q. Is the wind dropping?

CATRIONA MATTHEW: No, I would say if anything it's getting up a little bit.

I mean, it tricky. As I say, as we should, you can have a good score and there's some other good scores out there. It's just avoiding what I did and keeping the DOUBLES off the card.

Q. What can you say about Louise's effort?

CATRIONA MATTHEW: She kept it very steady. Shot 4-under, didn't get into any trouble and took advantage of the par 5s.

Q. What did you talk about? Did you give her any advice?

CATRIONA MATTHEW: Just in general, turning pro. It's always tough first tournament and being so close to home for her. I think she said she felt a little more relaxed this week, being further away.

Q. What advice do you give her about turning pro? How old were you when you turn prod?

CATRIONA MATTHEW: I don't think she's that young is she? I was probably 23, 24. In this day and age, it's not that young. I think you've just got to go out there and keep doing what you're doing, not get too caught up in what everyone else is doing and just your game is good enough so go out there and try and do it.

Q. How did you feel over that opening shot?

CATRIONA MATTHEW: It was great actually. You know, plenty of room right, so I used it all.

Coming from here, it was a nice moment to hit the first shot of the Women's Open here.

Q. Did the girls come?

CATRIONA MATTHEW: No, one was baby-sitting today to be fair, and the other one is here now.

Q. In talking to the women playing this week, do you feel any of them felt that the golf course might be overwhelming in some places for them?

CATRIONA MATTHEW: I don't think so, actually. I would say perhaps a Lytham or a Birkdale is more demanding off the tee. I think here the fairways are perhaps a little more generous. If you hit a good shot, you tend not to kick in to bunkers.

I think here, good shots are rewarded more so than sometimes some of the other links courses. Unfortunately you can hit a good shot and it takes a bad kick into a bunker. Don't get me wrong, you still have to play well and it's a good golf course. But if you hit good golf shots, you can give yourself some chances.

Q. Louise hits the ball a fair distance. Is that something that's going to help her in the pro game?

CATRIONA MATTHEW: Absolutely. I think you see that in the men's and women's game. It's all going more power, and everyone is hitting it further. You have to get it out there now to compete.

Q. Talk about the men's and women's game. There's been some stories about this tour now following up on what's going on on the men's tour. Do you have concerns about the future?

CATRIONA MATTHEW: I mean, I think obviously, I should say, there's a lot going on in golf, mostly in men's golf. I think any talk of the ladies is certainly just rumour at the moment from what the tours say.

I think just I suppose in one way we can wait and see what happens in the men's game, so maybe in that way it makes it a little easier for the ladies.

Q. The men, at least on the PGA TOUR side were unwilling to even talk to anyone else. Obviously in this tour, you play the Aramco Series, so there's obviously some dialogue going on. Do you think that that's something that's going to continue, a dialogue?

CATRIONA MATTHEW: I think you need to have a dialogue, yeah. Yeah, I do.

Q. Going back to the tee shot and given everything that's happened here over the past few years, how much were you aware of the historical significance was there standing over the ball?

CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, when you're there, you're just trying to hit good shots. Obviously, yes, you know, being the first women's pro event to be played here, it's great, and me being local it was a huge honor to hit the first tee shot.

Q. Adding to your own achievements in the game, how special is that?

CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, it's been a busy summer. It's been good fun.

Q. What do you do for the rest of the day?

CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, go for a little nap. I might be doing a little commentary, so we'll see.