MIZUHO AMERICAS OPEN

June 1, 2023

Aditi Ashok

Liberty National Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. I'm here with Aditi Ashok. Great round today. 5-under; bogey-free. Can you just walk us through that round today and how it went out there.

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah, started off the back nine, and I played the back nine in the pro-am yesterday, so I kind of knew what to expect.

So, yeah, started out good. Holed a few putts, and I think on the back nine I saw a lot more birdie chances. The couple holes I didn't I had to really scramble for par, and I made a couple -- a six-footer and 10-footer for par.

Apart from those, yeah, I was hitting it kind of close and had a lot of looks on the back nine.

The front nine I actually hadn't played it until just now so I didn't know what to expect. But, yeah, my dad kind of helped me find my way out there. I was just trying to hit fairways and greens.

I hit a couple close and made the putts, so, yeah, I'm glad with the round today.

Q. Nice 2-under without even seeing it before. That's nice. Talk us through the conditions out there today. A little windy maybe.

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah, definitely got windy, I think even when I was on the back nine. So within just the maybe first hour or so without wind; after that it got windy.

Yeah, it's tough to hit to some of these pins with the wind because the greens aren't really firm, but I think some of the angles are just really bad. If you're not on the right side or if the wind is downwind sometimes you can't get close to the hole.

Yeah, it's one of those where sometimes you have 9-iron but you're not hitting at the flag, you're hitting center of the green. Yeah, it's definitely difficult in the afternoon.

Q. And then can you speak to playing at Liberty National here for the first Mizuho Americas Open, how it's been?

ADITI ASHOK: Oh, yeah, it's been amazing. I think women's golf, we never get to go to such famous venues, and when we do it's usually majors. It's really nice to be at such a cool golf course for just a regular event. It's been a great experience.

I'm kind of bummed that I didn't play the front nine again because I had a lot of fun playing the course.

Q. Did you enjoy the city?

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah, a little bit. Haven't really done much sightseeing. I've been here before when I was like ten years old, so I've seen most of whatever I had to see. Yeah, I've been enjoying it.

Q. I was going to ask, you played well at the Founders. Is this something about Jersey courses that you like?

ADITI ASHOK: I don't know. I feel like I played well in LA, too, the week before, so I don't know if it's Jersey or not.

Here I feel like the greens are -- and Founders, too. I felt like I putted a lot better at Founders and this week, today as well.

So I feel like the greens here are much -- maybe the grass is different or I can see the reads better. I don't know. But maybe I've been putting better in New Jersey. That I can say.

Q. You've been close this year. I mean, do you sit there and say, maybe this week is the win or...

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah, it's a process. I don't think you can ever go into an event thinking this is the one I'm going to win because golf kind of humbles you sometimes.

But, yeah, I just know that if I play good four days, then I'll have a pretty good chance. I just focus on trying to play the best round of golf I can play on that day. Sometimes that's a 67; sometimes that's a 72. It just depends.

It's just about following my game plan and making sure I'm doing what I'm doing in the range. Because it always looks good in the range, but I need to take it out on the course and forget the results. That's what I've been trying to do.

Q. So coming off last week, right, you're all the way in Las Vegas, now in New Jersey. Traveling pretty much the full length of the country.

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah.

Q. How difficult is that, being able to turn it around and travel 2,500 miles and of course play well today?

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah, it's pretty hard, because like me not getting to go see the front nine, that's because I was kind of tired after the flight on Monday.

Also the morning round, although it wasn't super early, when I woke up it felt like I was waking up at 4:00 am, probably because I was still on Vegas time.

So, yeah, that part is hard.

Even the golf courses we played, the golf course in Vegas and this week, they're so different from each other with the firmness and the temperature. Ball went further there because of the elevation and here the ball is not going as far.

So just a lot of adjustment. Yeah, I think I handled it okay today. Yes, it's definitely hard going from west to east coast and trying to play good on the first day.

Q. And kind of expanding on that, you went from Founders, to Las Vegas, back to New Jersey. How do you stay fresh when you're doing all that moving around?

ADITI ASHOK: For me, it's just working a lot on my game in the driving range. I feel like if I have the shots then I feel more confident, more comfortable, even if I haven't seen the golf course.

So that's what I've been doing game-wise.

And, yeah, just take a lot of rest. Took Tuesday, maybe just practiced two or three hours, but that's about it. So, yeah.

Q. Maybe moving forward with the schedule would you possibly prefer to see something like the PGA TOUR does with maybe like a west coast swing and then an east coast swing or do you not mind so much?

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah, I know. Sometimes it's hard because scheduling is really tough and the events have their dates they want to have.

So, yeah, that would be convenient, but I'm okay. I'm just really happy that we have such a good schedule playing so many events and playing in a golf course like this. Sometimes you have to adjust, too.

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