DANA OPEN PRESENTED BY MARATHON

July 12, 2023

Gabi Ruffels

Highland Meadows Golf Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: All right, we welcome sponsor's invite Gabi Ruffels. Gabi, welcome to the Dana Open. Just take us through some immediate overall thoughts and feelings of what you've seen from the course so far.

GABI RUFFELS: Yeah, no, super grateful to be here and be a sponsor exemption. The course is great. I feel like it's your typical Midwestern golf course, tree lined. It's pretty tight off the tee. Definitely have to think your way around the course; not driver on every hole.

My caddie has been here a few years in a row so I'll be leaning on him for advice.

Q. We just talked a little bit about it off camera, but you got done playing the Lower Course at Baltusrol and Pebble Beach. What was your experience playing those two courses, and how do you think what you experienced on those will translate to this course?

GABI RUFFELS: It was great. Playing back to back major championships is always great. You learn a lot. Definitely exposes what you need to work on in your game, so I have a good idea of that.

But I feel like playing those two very, very challenging courses, any other course is going to look a little bit more easy. So, yeah, I mean, super grateful to be able is to play back to back majors.

Q. What's going to be the mindset coming into this week?

GABI RUFFELS: I mean, just same as I always do. Just trying to play my best and do my best and see where that takes me and just always trying to improve.

Q. You have your card I would assume locked up with what you did on Epson this year. When you come to an LPGA event this year, is it kind of like house money, learn, experience, not a ton of pressure?

GABI RUFFELS: Yeah, for sure. I'm still going to play the second half of the Epson season because it's not guaranteed locked up. But, yeah, coming out here I can't really I guess improve status out here because I don't have any, so it's basically just an opportunity really.

Yeah, keep learning and trying to test my game against the best in the world out here. Hopefully when I come out here one day, then I'm ready. It's just learning experience every time.

Q. Like Epson, and obviously generally it takes a lot of birdies to win, and then you play in two majors at very difficult courses; scores were high. You come to this tournament, generally a lot of birdies. What's it like kind of that up and down nature of really difficult courses, easier courses?

GABI RUFFELS: Yeah, you just know in major championships that pars are good, and, I mean, it feels that way. You know that you're going to jump up the leaderboard with pars. It's a little bit of a different mentality. You kind of play maybe a little bit more conservative, whereas out here you can go for it a bit more.

Yeah, other than that it's just golf you just want to keep playing.

Q. You played at Inverness yesterday. What were your impressions of the course?

GABI RUFFELS: Inverness was amazing. Yeah, it was really cool. Played all 18 holes. It was super windy. Course was in immaculate condition. Apparently it's like that all year-round, which is incredible.

Apparently they're hosting the '27 U.S. Open, so definitely feels like a championship golf course.

Hopefully I'm playing that '27 U.S. Open.

Q. You already talked about it a little bit, but how well you did on Epson this year and playing two back-to-back majors, opens, how much do you think that has or will prepare you for life on the LPGA Tour.

GABI RUFFELS: Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah, I've been lucky to get a couple sponsor's exemptions out here as well as KPMG. Yeah, as I said before, just testing your game against the best in the world you're going to learn.

Yeah, hopefully I can take all these learning things and accumulate it and be ready to go when I'm out here one day.

THE MODERATOR: Awesome. Thank you, Gabi.

GABI RUFFELS: Thank you.

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