U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

July 8, 2023

Maja Stark

Pebble Beach Golf Links

Quick Quotes

Q. So you played the back better than most people. I don't know if you realize that. Everyone struggled. Why did you play better than most?

MAJA STARK: I don't know. I made a lot of up and downs when I messed up. So, yeah, I think that was it. My putting was very good today so that definitely helped out a lot.

Q. What were come of those up and downs that were most proud of?

MAJA STARK: All of them. I don't feel like there were any really given putts after my chip shots, so, yeah, just like I think I'm more proud of the fact that I stayed calm even when I hit them like that.

Q. And then you have had good finishes before in the U.S. Women's Open. How do you think that will help you tomorrow?

MAJA STARK: I don't know. I feel like amateur golf and pro golf is way different. I really don't know. I haven't played this well on a big stage like this more than one time and I messed up last time when I was in this position.

So, yeah, I don't know. I think it will just help me that I know it's a grind and everyone is struggling. At least most people are. Just having some patience with that when it comes to the U.S. Opens is key.

Q. What do you think it'll take tomorrow? You're not that far off the lead.

MAJA STARK: I have no idea. I guessed earlier this week the winning score was going to be minus 12. I don't think that anymore. I have no idea. I'm just going to go out there and do as well as I can.

Q. Why do you think that a lot of the folks got off to a good start and then they had trouble basically after the 8th hole?

MAJA STARK: That's just -- well, 8 is very hard.

9 is very hard.

10 can be tricky.

Everything else is back into the wind, so that just amplifies your mistakes. So if you don't hit it in the center of the face you're going to be short. If you hit a little bit too much of a draw you're going to be way left.

So I think it makes sense.

Also the first few holes are very scorable. You have some short par-4s and par-5s, so, yeah, I think the beginning gives you confidence and the back nine takes it away.

Q. Are you a player that wants the wind to blow or would you rather have calm conditions?

MAJA STARK: I mean, I would rather have calm conditions just because -- well, I just switched clubs, too. I just switched my irons so I don't really know how they're affected by the wind.

So this week I think I would like the wind to stop, but obviously I can play pretty well with the wind, too and try to master that.

Q. Are you more comfortable at Pebble Beach now that you put three rounds in?

MAJA STARK: Oh, yeah. I feel like Pebble is just trying to ruin your confidence because it feels like you need to have confidence on every single shot otherwise you're going to struggle, because the greens are so small and the fairways are -- they're slopey and they have so many bunkers you can land in.

If you don't have confidence on this course you're going to struggle for real. If you don't hit the ball solid and exactly like you want, you're going to be in the fairway bunker, greenside bunker, in the thick rough here.

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