U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

July 8, 2023

Leona Maguire

Pebble Beach Golf Links

Quick Quotes

Q. Obviously it was difficult out there for you today, but you righted the ship coming home. Talk about your round overall.

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, I think it was incredibly difficult. It had to be playing four or five shots harder in the afternoon than it was this morning. It was just a case of hanging in really. 2-under my last five, it's nice momentum for tomorrow.

Q. You played well on the back nine coming home when everyone else was struggling. What did you find a little bit easier than they did?

LEONA MAGUIRE: I don't think there was anything easy about today. I think you just had to get very creative with some of the shots. It was incredibly difficult.

It was hard to get close to the pins. Even when you got close to the pins, it seemed like on the poa annua greens late on a Saturday they were bobbling all over the place. Nasa's round was just incredible to do what she did.

Yeah, it's just an incredibly tough golf course, and there's not really much you can do about it.

Q. Were you playing straight into the wind the whole back side?

LEONA MAGUIRE: No, there were also crosswinds. The wind was swirling, as well, which made it really difficult. 17 was swirling all over the place, even 18 was swirling a bit. You just had to try and make a shot and commit to it really.

Q. Was it difficult keeping your mental focus with all of that going on, or was it just a matter of selecting the right club and yardage?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, it's a U.S. Open. You know it's going to be difficult. It's not supposed to be easy.

Yeah, you just have to be patient and just try and be as patient as you can and hit as good a shots as you can and knowing that some of the outcomes you're going to get a bad bounce here or there.

Q. Obviously you've played in several of these. Was this the toughest day to play in the U.S. Open for you so far?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, I would say so. Yeah, by far. Yeah, this doesn't have a patch on what Pine Needles -- I mean, we had nice weather in Pine Needles last year. I think it's got a lot firmer and faster out there, and then coupled with the wind, you definitely had to be creative on where you hit some of the shots.