LPGA DRIVE ON CHAMPIONSHIP

March 25, 2023

Celine Borge

Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Here with Celine Borge. What a day. 9-under 63 out there, tie the tournament record, round of the week. Just tell me about your round out there. What was working so well and what was working is well for you?

CELINE BORGE: Yeah, I just felt everything just went in the hole. I started holing a long putt on the first one and then I just made four birdies in a row, so I got off to a good start.

Q. When you got off to that good start, what was going through your head? This is obviously your first start out here this week. Made the cut, which is always an accomplishment. To get four birdies in a row and climb the leaderboard, what was going through your head?

CELINE BORGE: I just tried to not think about it. Just stay focused on the next shot, and, yeah, just do my best.

Q. Tell me a little bit about the putt on the last. It was probably 20, 25 feet; just kind of leaned the last roll in. How cool was that to get the crowd's reaction?

CELINE BORGE: It was very nice to see it just fall in. It was very nice.

Q. To close your day that way, I know 18 is very birdieable and has been all week, to close it that way, did you ever expect to do that today?

CELINE BORGE: Oh, no. I didn't expect it. Just nice to see to fall in.

Q. So tell me about that putt. What was the process? What line? How do you read that final putt?

CELINE BORGE: It was a right to left. I had a lot of fringe, like the same distance as the green, so I just tried to get a good speed on it.

It falled in.

Q. Obviously talked about you're a rookie, being an Epson Tour graduate. How much did your experience on the Epson Tour last year prepare you for this moment? This is a huge moment.

CELINE BORGE: Yeah, I think it was good experience. You get to play a lot of tournaments against good players, and, yeah, it's a good tour.

Q. Have you talked to players from your part of the world or anybody you leaned on for advice?

CELINE BORGE: Yeah, I had a talk with Suzann Pettersen earlier when I qualified since she's from Norway and been playing here a long time. The Swedish players, I always talk to them, too.

Q. What advice did you get from Suzann?

CELINE BORGE: Just try to do as normal, nothing special. Yeah.

Q. If I'm not mistaken, first LPGA tournament when you played in Scotland, correct?

CELINE BORGE: Yeah.

Q. Obviously this is the first time you made the cut. You had a great round today. Just how proud are you of yourself to, one, make the cut and then have such a great round?

CELINE BORGE: Oh, it feels good that I know I can play good on the LPGA. Yeah.

Q. Nervous out there?

CELINE BORGE: It was okay. (Laughter.)

Q. Is this the more nerve-racking part, doing the interviews after your round?

CELINE BORGE: Yeah.

Q. What did you see on the golf course today that maybe was different from the last couple of days? I know you said putting. Did you change your strategy with your putting? See the lines a little bit better?

CELINE BORGE: No. I didn't really do anything different. I just tried to do as normal.

It just falled in today.

Q. Looking ahead to tomorrow, you played your way into the mix now. Obviously still a lot of golf left to be played. To be in contention -- and when I say first start, first start as a member, how exciting is that, and like David said, obviously played a few LPGA events in the past, but how excited are you to be in the mix on a Sunday?

CELINE BORGE: That's very exciting. I didn't expect it. I just went out here to play and see how it went, so it's good. I'm just going to try to focus tomorrow, too.