U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 12, 2023

Rachel Heck

Chambers Bay

TV

Q. Rachel, I'll ask you the same question I asked Latanna. You got to play with her, Curtis Cup, teammate. Just what was it like to compete against a really good friend out there today?

RACHEL HECK: Oh, my gosh, it was genuinely so much fun. Some great golf. I lost to insane golf, so many birdies. That's how you want to go out, especially to a good friend. I'm going to be cheering her on super hard tomorrow. I absolutely adore her, and we just had fun today.

Q. It was really evident to see that. You're smiling when she made birdie putts. She you played excellent golf. What has it meant for you to come this far in the championship just after everything that you have been through?

RACHEL HECK: Yeah, I mean, this is has meant a lot to me. Genuinely just super proud of myself. It's been a really hard year, hard year and a half. So just to feel like myself again and to feel healthy. I mean, I've learned that the happiness that comes from winning is very fleeting, but the happiness that comes from just being healthy and being surrounded by people I love doing what I love, that's the good stuff. I'm really happy.

Q. That's a really important lesson because, as you know, athletes, they all want to win. It is fleeting. Having health is so important. Now what are your plans going forward? When are you moving into Stanford, back into Stanford? When is all that happening?

RACHEL HECK: First I'm going home and I'm going to sleep, and I can't wait for that. I don't move back to Stanford until end of September but we start our season before that. So we have a tournament at Pebble then a team trip to Scotland, so some really fun stuff lined up.

I'm excited to get back for one last year.