MIZUHO AMERICAS OPEN

June 3, 2023

Cheyenne Knight

Liberty National Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Okay, here with Cheyenne Knight after her third round at the Mizuho Americas Open. Pretty solid round. I know didn't end as well as you would've hoped, but you still put together some birdies and were consistent. How did the consistency help out there with you today?

CHEYENNE KNIGHT: Yeah, I was playing really hard for us in the afternoon. I don't know what it was like this morning, but just like the last few holes, how cold it got to like late in the day and breezy, it was not playing easy.

Yeah, I had some good birdie opportunities on my front nine and on the back I had a few, but it was just playing really difficult.

But, yeah, I made a good bogey on 17 after having to take an unplayable and gave myself a chance on 18.

Yeah, 18 more holes tomorrow, so hopefully just some more will drop tomorrow.

Q. In a similar position, so you'll be playing in similar conditions maybe. How will you adjust?

CHEYENNE KNIGHT: Yeah, I think just today it helped. You know, the ball is not going as far because it's cold, and knowing that for tomorrow and just kind of a little bit of a different wind direction today just slightly, which made some of the holes coming in play a little bit longer.

Yeah, and it was hot yesterday so the ball was going far and today it wasn't going as far, so I'll just know that for tomorrow.

Q. You held a 54-hole lead at JM Eagle not too long ago. Now you're only a couple strokes back. Do you prefer to be in the chase or do you want more of a steady lead? You're in the chase tomorrow, so do you like being in the chase, I guess?

CHEYENNE KNIGHT: Yeah, I think honestly anywhere in contention on Sunday is kind of where I want to be every week. I think I learned a lot from JM Eagle, playing with the lead. I kind of was a little bit tentative and trying not to lose rather than just kind of play fearlessly and aggressively, so I learned from that last week, but -- not last week, a few weeks ago.

So just take that into tomorrow, even though I'm like two back. But as you've soon on this golf course, people can get a lot of birdies rolling quickly. So two shots, you know, hopefully I can make that up and just kind of keep playing solid like I have been.

Q. Amazing. What's been the key for you recently? Two top 10s back-to-back last two starts and then that solid week at JM Eagle, even though it wasn't the result you were looking for. What has changed with your confidence? What's the key for you recently?

CHEYENNE KNIGHT: Yeah, I think it's just, I don't know, like a lot of -- I don't know. Like I could kind of see it coming together last year. Yeah, it was really clicking last year, even though it may not have come together all four days. I knew I was working on the right things and I'm continuing to do that.

I think I'm just -- I'm very confident in how I play golf, and I know that that's good enough and just kind of keep fine tuning it and being honest with myself.

Yeah, I just think having honest conversations with myself of what I need to do to get better at and what I'm good at the time. Yeah, and I think just mentally trying to get stronger and learn from being in contention, because, I mean, last year I wasn't really ever in contention and this year I've been in contention a lot so far.

But just continuing to learn and grow through all of that.

Q. What do those conversations with yourself look like? What are you really honing in on that you need to work on?

CHEYENNE KNIGHT: Yeah, I think not make it more than what it is sometimes. I think sometimes like the athlete or the competitor in us, we make a situation more than it needs to be rather than just keeping it simple, and, yeah, I don't know, like precise rather than cloud your mind with the fogginess and thoughts of what it means and stuff, and just kind of make sure, yeah, I'm just doing the task at hand and the task at hand the best I can do. Got to be okay with the result.

Q. There is plenty of birdies out there. We've seen some seriously low rounds and you've had some serious low rounds this season. How excited are you to attack this golf course that is pretty scorable?

CHEYENNE KNIGHT: Yeah, I'm excited, but, I mean, yeah, Minjee I think shot 8-under yesterday. Marina did, too. It's out there.

Yeah, I'm excited to attack, and, yeah, just give myself some chances tomorrow and hopefully they drop.

Q. Did the change in weather drastically shock you of how the course played differently today?

CHEYENNE KNIGHT: It was playing a lot different. It was crazy. Yeah, yesterday it was just warm, like 90 degrees, and the ball was going far.

But it was cold and we were all there until 8:00, and so it was just freezing on the last few holes by the water with the wind.

Yeah, so it definitely shocked me. I hit totally different clubs today than I did yesterday. Just got to adapt.

Q. When it does get really tough out there condition-wise, how do you try to power through that mentally and stay and keep your focus?

CHEYENNE KNIGHT: Yeah, I think just staying in the present, kind of one shot at a time, and if I'm cold I'll try to warm up and take my jacket off and hit my shot.

Yeah, just trying to stay loose out there. We have to wait a lot in between shots. This is just kind of a golf course where it gets backed up easily, so just trying to keep warm, keep in a rhythm was something I had to do better at today.

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