AUGUSTA NATIONAL WOMEN'S AMATEUR

March 29, 2023

Yana Wilson

Quick Quotes

Q. First off, hit the opening tee shot today. What was that like for you?

YANA WILSON: That was a lot of fun. It was a big honor to do it.

I was actually kind of nervous. I'm never really nervous coming up to the tee, but hitting the first tee shot of this tournament and it being such a prestige event, I kind of put some pressure on myself to hit it good. And thankfully I did.

Q. So found the fairway?

YANA WILSON: Yeah, I did, and I hit it far too.

Q. What did you see out there from the golf course? What were the conditions like?

YANA WILSON: Compared to last year, I feel like they were a lot more manageable. Last year the greens were very firm and very bouncy, and it was hard to stop the ball on the greens. This year they were a lot more receptive, and I felt like it made it a little easier this year to put some good scores in.

Q. You had an interesting scorecard. 17 pars and 1 bogey. Is that par for the course for you, no pun intended? Or is that a little bit not how you normally play?

YANA WILSON: On the 1st hold, I told my caddie 18 pars on this course, and I would be happy. This course, I would be happy with 18 pars. He said, all right, that's the goal then.

I made a little bit of a mistake on No. 16, but it is what it is. Tried to birdie 18, but it didn't happen. 18 pars is my goal, I guess.

Q. What did you do on 16? Kind of walk us through that hole.

YANA WILSON: I hit my drive pretty solid down -- not really down the middle, down the right side. I had an 8-iron in, and I accidentally left it a little bit open. It kind of spun out, hit the tree, kind of came back down. Then I had to try to get up and down, and I didn't.

Q. How far in front of you was the tree?

YANA WILSON: Probably like 30 yards. The branches were kind of overhanging.

Q. Now, you said in your bio that your favorite player is Seve?

YANA WILSON: Yeah.

Q. Did you have any Seve like up-and-downs today?

YANA WILSON: I feel like I did. I don't know if they were up to his standards. Honestly, I don't really know if my chipping got me up and down. It was more so my putting. My putting really saved me today.

I've been working on facing prior to this event, knowing that these greens hold true to wherever you hit them. So I guess my putting.

Q. What was the most impressive up-and-downer or two today?

YANA WILSON: I'm not really the best out of the bunker. I had a long bunker shot I was pretty proud of myself on today. I can't remember what hole it was, but it was on the front nine. I was happy about it.