U.S SENIOR WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

August 27, 2023

Trish Johnson

Waverley Country Club

Trophy Presentation Interview

Q. That trophy looks just perfect in your hands. You've played in all five of these U.S. Senior Women's Opens, second-, third-place finish, 15th, 12th. How does champion sound to you?

TRISH JOHNSON: I am so knackered. I've got to be honest.

Just amazing, honestly. Yeah, it's something I've always wanted to do, any USGA event. Never even came close in a regular U.S. Open. Maybe I had a bit of a chance when Alfie won, but apart from that never even in with a shout, but today after the front eight holes I thought, here we go again. But rallied a bit and hit some decent shots coming in. Beany got a bit unlucky a couple of times coming in, and here we are.

Q. You talked about that front nine. You got off to a stellar start, hit every fairway and green, 1-under after three holes. Then three bogeys in a four-hole stretch. Your driver went a little AWOL. How did you collect yourself and head to the back nine where you ended up birdieing 9 and 10 and really turned things around?

TRISH JOHNSON: Yeah, went a little bit pear-shaped there on the 4th and in all sorts of trouble. I think actually the up-and-down at 4 for a bogey was massive really, and then I hit some really average shots all the way into 9, and I holed a really good putt on 9, which sort of got me a bit motivated again rather than miserable.

Then I hit some good iron shots. I made a really good up-and-down 11, as well.

How got out of 11 level par for the week, I'll never know, because I looked at that hole and I thought, this is going to get me without a shadow of a doubt.

Just gutted it out really. Wasn't brilliant today. It was good yesterday. I hit some good shots but I hit some ropey ones, as well, and I got away with it really.

Q. You were in contention to win a senior LPGA Championship and things went terribly wrong on the last hole. You made a triple and lost. What did you learn from that championship that you were able to put into play here, particularly coming down the stretch when things got a little tight?

TRISH JOHNSON: I think that all happened so quickly. I had a three-shot lead with two holes to play, and you know that sort of feeling of 20 minutes is gone, can I just replay that because I don't quite know how that all happened. Obviously Angela shot 7-under, as well, so it's a combination of both, but I was pretty gutted to finish so poorly.

But I wasn't playing as well that week as I did this week, and I wasn't hitting my driver very well that week. Apart from a couple of them today that were a bit dodgy, the driver was really quite good so gave me plenty of opportunities.

And really the answer to your question in a roundabout way is breathe. Just keep breathing. Beth, my caddie, was brilliant, kept giving me water every two seconds. I think she could see the color draining out of my face, didn't want me to faint in front of everybody. She was fantastic and a big part of why I won this week.

Q. Beth quite an accomplished player in her own right, and I'm sure she helped keep you calm. What was it about Waverley Country Club that spoke to you and allowed you to play such great golf?

TRISH JOHNSON: Do you know I think this golf course is possibly one of the best conditioned golf courses I've ever played in my entire career.

Q. You've played a lot of golf.

TRISH JOHNSON: I've played a lot of golf, and by the way, the greens are nuts, so I'm still going there, but it is in such fantastic condition. There's something about it when I esthetically love the look of a golf course when it really looks so gorgeous, I tend to play quite well. I have no idea what the reason is for that.

But when I saw it, I actually thought -- me and Laura talked about it after we played a practice round, if you shoot level par around here, you're winning, and that's what we thought. But you forget how good the players are and how much guts they've all got and everybody just competitive, how competitive everybody is.

That led to sort of under-par scores, which I think around here is flipping brilliant.

Q. You had a terrific amateur career, played on Curtis Cup, world amateur team, you won the British Amateur. You had a stellar pro career, really, 19 wins on the LET. Where does this stack up, speaking to your longevity and what kind of golf you're playing at this age, 50-something?

TRISH JOHNSON: 57, yes. Do you know honestly, I think because I do some commentating, a little bit of commentating, a little bit of studio stuff and I think watching the girls on the LPGA and the LET, the standard is so incredibly -- there's so many talented players that I enjoy it so much, and then I want to go out and practice.

Okay, can't compete obviously with those guys, but it makes me really want to compete, and I think that never leaves you. You lose your ability to hit shots or whatever, but you never lose your competitive spirit, and I think that's really helped me by commentating on those guys. I get really excited when I come out on the golf course and I think, so-and-so hit that shot, I wonder if I -- no, I can't. Well, try another way. I think that's a big thing.

I really look forward to playing, and at the moment I'm playing quite well, and we all know golf is great when you're playing well and it's misery when you're playing badly.

Q. We might need to see you playing in the Solheim Cup next month instead of commentating.

TRISH JOHNSON: Not in a million years. I did that eight times and my last one was 2007, and that was -- unless you were playing great, but I'll tell you what, I love commentating on it because it's the absolute epitome of -- I think people honestly have no idea how good the women are. They are unbelievably good, and anybody should be out there watching, and I think the Solheim Cup in Spain in a couple of weeks' time is going to be spectacular.