KROGER QUEEN CITY CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY P&G

September 9, 2022

Maria Fassi

Kenwood Country Club

Quick Quotes

MARIA FASSI: I didn't even think of that.

Q. Didn't think of that, Maria, but birdieing your last hole...

MARIA FASSI: No, that's good.

Q. Birdieing five of the last six holes, take me through what was working so well on day two for you.

MARIA FASSI: Yeah, you know, I mean, I think I've been very steady the last couple of days, giving myself a lot of chances. I think length of course with how wet the course is has been huge for me.

It's been playing to my advantage, so I've been able to have some shorter stuff into the greens and been able to take on some pins more than other people.

So honestly, it's just that. Being very steady, and as soon as I saw a couple of the putts go in, you just get a little more confident and the hole gets a little bit bigger.

Q. How much of an advantage is it when all the rain came down and you know the ball is not going to fly as far?

MARIA FASSI: Again, I think it's huge. There is so many bunkers that come into play for most of the girls, and I, you know, just am able to take it over them. I think that creates a huge gap between where I'm at and where they are.

And then again, the fact that we're not seeing a lot of release this week, it's another huge factor. Most of my distance is carry anyway, so it's been pretty cool to get some of my driver to work.

Q. Driver to work and also hitting 12 of 14 fairways. You're finding the fairway. How much is that helping you this week?

MARIA FASSI: Yeah, I've been hitting it straight. I'm very confident off the tee with my driver. I get to use it a lot this week.

Again, taking advantage of that and just taking it one shot at a time, it's been a lot of fun this week.

Q. Those last six holes, walk me through what was setting up well for you and did you feel something start to click?

MARIA FASSI: I think I had -- on three of the six I had the same number, which is like a perfect like three quarter 54 for me. So that seemed to work out very good for me.

And, again, I just kept giving myself chances. I was below the hole so you can be a little more aggressive on the greens. I think after the first two birdies, like I said, you just see the cup a little bit bigger and I took advantage of that.

Q. How much confidence does it give you heading into the weekend after closing out your round like that?

MARIA FASSI: It's huge. I think last week it was the opposite for me. I didn't quite finish the way I wanted on the Friday and I think it carried to the weekend.

So I'm just hoping that I flip the script this week and just continue to build on how good I've been playing these first 36 holes.

I'm excited to see what we can do this next couple of days.

Q. What have you been working on specifically as you head into the last swing of events? It's a week-to-week-to-week process and you've got some big events coming up yourself.

MARIA FASSI: Yeah, I think for me, the biggest part has just been mentally, not adding more pressure, not making the week be bigger than it already is.

I haven't had the year that I wanted. I'm not where I want on CME rankings either. So you start putting so much pressure on yourself, and I've been really work and trying to overcome all of that.

I'm just very happy that these last two days have been good. A lot of very positive things. A lot to improve. But just very happy with the way my mental game is, and, again, just really excited for this weekend.

I'm in a position I haven't been in a minute, so very excited for that.

Q. A win by a Mexican last week.

MARIA FASSI: Yeah.

Q. To find yourself on top of the leaderboard at the moment as well, what was it like seeing Gaby's win last week?

MARIA FASSI: It was awesome. That round that she played on Sunday was impressive. We tee'd off very similar. Of course I was off 10.

But on that course you can see a lot of the holes, so I was seeing her first pump and walk some putts in. So it was pretty cool to kind of see the round develop, and of course seeing that putt on 18 was awesome.

Very happy for her and her team.