MEIJER LPGA CLASSIC

June 15, 2023

Jennifer Kupcho

Blythefield Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. We're here with Jennifer Kupcho, another great round here that you're the defending champion of. Walk us through today.

JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, I played pretty well today, hit the ball pretty well. Struggled coming out of the gate, but was able to save par and really just continued to build on that and started making birdies.

Q. When you're playing a course that you typically see a lot of lower scores and a bogey seems a little more detrimental than they normally are, to have a bogey-free round, what kind of confidence does that give you heading into the rest of the week?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, it definitely helps. There's definitely a few holes that I tend to make bogeys on, so I definitely take care to pay attention on those holes a lot more than others.

But I think also if you do make a bogey, it's not a super big deal. There are a lot of birdie holes out there, as well. Really just trying to keep your head straight.

Q. You had one hole you had to get a ruling. Explain to us how you maneuvered around all that. You seemed to -- that could derail somebody and it almost had the opposite effect on you.

JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, I definitely worked on keeping myself pretty calm instead of getting so angry all the time.

Yeah, just through that situation I was thinking about chipping it, but if I took relief over to the right, the sprinkler was going to be in the way on the way to the hole. It just ended up being better to just putt it out of the rough.

Q. What is it about your game that suits this course so well, or this course that suits your game so well?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, there's a lot of birdie holes out there. I think it's somewhat of a ball striker's golf course, as well as there's five par-5s, and I definitely have a little bit of a longer game. That certainly helps.

Q. This tournament is always on Father's Day weekend. Does that make it extra special? What does that mean to you personally, and what do you feel on Father's Day?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, my dad has always been a really big part of my life, both on the golf course and off the golf course, especially on the golf course. When I first came out, he caddied for me for the first five events.

To be able to play on Father's Day and last year to win, it's always fun to play and have him watching and cheering me on.

Q. My question is about Rose Zhang. She kind of burst onto the scene. As young as she is, can you talk about her a little bit?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, she's a great player. I mean, honestly, I was actually texting my Wake Forest coach during the college season in like January. I was like, she needs to just turn pro; she's ready to be out here. She's ready to make it on the big stage, and it's exciting to see her out here already winning.

Q. What do you feel you did best out there today?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: I think just recovering and keeping a level head when I didn't hit great shots into the greens or hit a bad drive that didn't leave me in a good spot. I was able to stay calm and recover from it.

Q. You've stayed pretty patient this year waiting to see some good stuff. Did you find something or unlock something at Liberty National?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: I think it was really just battling mentally. I struggled a lot mentally at the end of last year and coming into this year, really with confidence in my game that I could do it again.

I think not thinking about just making the cut but where I can actually be, that's what I found at Liberty National. I had been scoreboard watching before that. Not looking at scoreboards all week, just going into the final day not knowing what Rose was doing was a little interesting, something I've never experienced in my life.

But it certainly helped me, and now I feel like I've got my game back.

Q. Did that take a lot of discipline not to do that on Sunday?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, I had to mark down in my yardage book where all the scoreboards were so I didn't look at them. It definitely was a very different feel to the golf tournament.

Q. We just had Rachel Kuehn in here. What's been your interactions with her this week, and how great is it to see the next generation of Wake Forest golfers finding success?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, I actually haven't seen her. I tend to come out really early in the mornings for practice, so she hasn't been out here when I've been out here.

So I should go see if I can find her. She's a great player. She came in after me. She really filled my shoes on the team, and it's great to see her play well for Wake Forest.