MIZUHO AMERICAS OPEN

June 1, 2023

Stephanie Meadow

Liberty National Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Here with Stephanie Meadow after her first round at the Mizuho Americas Open. The big question on everybody's mind this week, how was it for you to play Liberty National today for the first competitive round ever?

STEPHANIE MEADOW: Yeah, I mean, the course is awesome. It's in great shape. Obviously the backdrop is pretty incredible.

This whole experience this whole week has been great so far, so I'm really excited.

Q. Awesome. Really good round for you, too. How much did you practice out here beginning of the week and how did that prepare you for today?

STEPHANIE MEADOW: Yeah, I played nine holes Monday and 18 on Tuesday and then nine on Wednesday, so I got a decent look at everything, which is important because we haven't played out here before.

It gets a little windier as the day goes on, which I saw during the practice rounds, so hopefully prepared for that tomorrow as well.

But once you know -- you have to hit good shots out here, but once you have a plan you're pretty good to go.

Q. Are what are some of the most challenging holes or areas of this course?

STEPHANIE MEADOW: 14, the iconic par-3 today; tucked back right pin; that's definitely tricky, so there could be a big number there for sure.

And, you know, kind of there is no real like super long stretches of hard holes, it's just in and out.

But you just have to hit good shots out here.

Q. What would you say was the best part of your game specifically today?

STEPHANIE MEADOW: I putted good but I hit some really solid iron shots today, which was nice. You know, I gave myself a lot of opportunities on the back; not so much on the front.

Kind of got it going on the back, so was it nice to kind of see the shot shape that I wanted to hit was actually happening and going close, so that was nice.

Q. Your back nine, the front nine of this course.

STEPHANIE MEADOW: Uh-huh.

Q. Everyone seems to be scoring a lot on those holes. Why is the front nine easier?

STEPHANIE MEADOW: You know, couple par-5s in there that are reachable. You know, couple shorter par-4s. Couple wedges in.

But still by no means easy holes. I think it's just slightly easier, but people making putts for sure.

Q. Seeing your name near the top of the leaderboard has to be gratifying your first day, as you said, coming off a missed cut at Founders.

STEPHANIE MEADOW: Uh-huh.

Q. Were you in Vegas?

STEPHANIE MEADOW: No.

Q. So got to be gratifying. How confident are you in your game, especially on this course this week?

STEPHANIE MEADOW: Yeah, you know, like I said, the course is awesome. I like the setup. It's just nice to see some things that I have been working on coming through to tournament play.

I'm just going to stick to the same thing. I have my coach here this week and my husband, so it's nice to have my team around me and I'm just going to keep doing the same thing.

Fastscripts by ASAP Sports...