MIZUHO AMERICAS OPEN

June 4, 2023

Yana Wilson

Liberty National Golf Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: I'm here with Yana Wilson, winner of the AJGA portion of the Mizuho Americas Open. Congratulations first of all. Can you just talk us through your week?

YANA WILSON: Yeah, no, my week was super fun. Not every week you get to play with the professionals, so it was definitely not the most normal week ever, but it was -- I had a blast.

Q. And can you talk about playing those first two rounds with your friends and playing the last two rounds against LPGA players, with them?

YANA WILSON: Yeah, no, the first two rounds I didn't really have much stress because not many people were really following us and we were just kind of having fun.

And then moving into Saturday and Sunday I got to play with the pros, and on the third day I got to play with Minjee Lee and she's my favorite player. That was pretty nerve-wracking for me, especially teeing it up on the first tee. I was like shaking over my ball.

No, I had a blast. It was so fun.

Q. Any advice you gained from Minjee or any of the other players?

YANA WILSON: I didn't really talk to them much, but I learned a lot from from seeing their game and looking at their game.

They play very steady golf, and I kind of used that experience with me today.

Q. And what was it like throughout the whole week just being surrounded by them on the range and dining, scoring? What was that like?

YANA WILSON: It was super cool. Honestly made me feel like I was one of the pros, and I feel like that just helped my game a lot more than I had already kind of had.

Q. And then with this win, with this experience, how are you going to use this moving forward?

YANA WILSON: Just going to use the confidence from this week just to keep moving on, you know. But every tournament, new week, new players, all kinds of stuff, so -- new conditions.

I'm just going to stick to my plan and just use what I learned from them.

Q. And then there was a lot of kids around watching you play.

YANA WILSON: Yeah.

Q. What would be the advice you would give them?

YANA WILSON: Just stay focused. Stay humble. Stay calm. Just trust the process. Golf is tough sometimes, but you'll get through it.

Q. And then last question from me: What was it like winning alongside Rose?

YANA WILSON: It was super special. I have a little story. In 2021 she won the U.S. Girls Junior and she beat me. She killed me actually, 5 & 4, in quarterfinals when I was 14.

But I learned so much from that experience, and just seeing her win today just was really something special.

Q. It'll be something you remember forever I'm sure.

YANA WILSON: Yeah.

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