U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 10, 2022

Rachel Heck

Chambers Bay

Quick Quotes

Q. I know you were the 52 seed after match play but obviously No. 3 in the world. Did you feel like if you played well you should be able to beat anyone in here?

RACHEL HECK: Yeah, match play is a completely different animal than stroke play, so after you make that top 64 I think it completely resets and everyone has an equal chance. I didn't play exactly how I wanted to in stroke play, but I made the cut, and it's fun to reset and have a fresh mindset coming into match play.

Q. You've obviously won a lot of big events. What would it mean to win a U.S. Amateur?

RACHEL HECK: It would mean the world to me to win a USGA event, especially the U.S. Amateur. But you've kind of got to put that dream a little bit on hold for the week and take it one day, one match at a time.

Q. How confident in your game are you? How well are you playing right now?

RACHEL HECK: I feel really good about my game right now. It's really fun to have my dad on the bag. We work super well together. Anything can happen, but we feel really confident.

Q. What's your dad's name?

RACHEL HECK: Robert.

Q. On 12, how hard was that putt? I know your opponent took four -- it was up the hill on the drivable par-4.

RACHEL HECK: Yeah, I kind of practiced that putt a little bit in the practice round. You've got to hit it really hard to get it up that hill. When I watching her putt, I was like, whatever I do, just get it up the hill, and I even left it a little short, and I thought I hammered it. It's a tough putt, and that kind of stuff happens.

Q. Do you think that was kind of a turning point right there?

RACHEL HECK: Yeah, I feel like it was, that and getting a birdie to win the next hole really gave me the momentum in the match.

Q. How hard was the third shot on 13?

RACHEL HECK: Yeah, so we pulled that second shot really far left, and that was not the plan. But I told my dad walking up after that hole, I was like, these are moments of wow, this is how I play golf. This is so fun. I have this crazy shot in the fescue, I'm just going to hit a flier shot and see what happens. That kind of stuff is really fun to me. I had a good time doing that.

Q. What would have been a good shot, how close?

RACHEL HECK: That close. I was like, if I can get this within 10, 12 feet, then I will be ecstatic.

Q. And you were about five feet, right?

RACHEL HECK: I was like 10 feet.

Q. Was that as good a shot as you've made at this tournament?

RACHEL HECK: Oh, gosh, probably. I think I played the par-5 pretty well -- today I made a 65-footer for eagle on 1, so that was fun.

Q. Tomorrow will be a long day of golf. How excited are you for tomorrow?

RACHEL HECK: I'm excited. I hope it's a long day of golf. I'm just going to take it one match at a time, wake up tomorrow, play the round of 32 and see what happens from there.