PORTLAND CLASSIC

August 29, 2023

Kyra Ly

Columbia Edgewater Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Here with Kyra Ly. How excited are you to be playing here this week in a home game for you?

KYRA LY: Yeah, I'm super excited. This is my first LPGA event, so it's really nice to be able to play in my hometown and stay at home.

Q. What are some of your expectations for yourself or for this week, like you said, your first LPGA event?

KYRA LY: I really want to go into this tournament not expecting too much. I mean, I am playing with the best in the world, so making the cut would be nice, but I'm really not going to set my expectations too high.

Q. Have you played the course? What have you seen on the course? Have you ever played Columbia Edgewater before?

KYRA LY: I have. I played it a few times before this, so, I mean, this course is super nice and I'm really excited to go out there and see what I can do.

Q. What are maybe some of the challenges out there you see for yourself or just for the course in general?

KYRA LY: The rough is getting pretty gnarly, so just staying in the fairway and hitting greens.

Q. So you're a Beaver, right? Sophomore?

KYRA LY: Yes.

Q. What was your freshman year like? Did you enjoy playing at OSU? Are you excited to be close to home?

KYRA LY: Yeah, I'm really excited. It's such a fun place. All my teammates are so nice and my coaches are amazing. I just fit in really well.

Q. What are maybe some things you've learned your freshman year that you are going to take into this event playing now with pros instead of college players?

KYRA LY: Definitely staying present, staying calm, and enjoying the moment.

Q. What are some of those aspects of your game that you think are just the best and going to be helpful for you this week?

KYRA LY: I have a solid long game, so driver and irons are my strong suit. My putting is getting there, so hopefully that will show this week.

Q. I know you have dad here with you this week. Who else is going to be here supporting you this week?

KYRA LY: A lot of people. My aunts and uncles, all of them, and I think my coaches will be coming, too.

Yeah, and maybe some friends from like local tournaments and stuff, too.

Q. Are you excited to be playing with all of the fans here for you, local support?

KYRA LY: Yeah, I am.

Q. What are you most looking to learn from this experience?

KYRA LY: Just seeing how the pros do it and playing a tournament where the course is setup for the professionals and seeing how they do that.

Q. Anything surprising you since you played out there?

KYRA LY: So far, not really. When I was little I would come out and watch this tournament a lot, so it looks exactly the same.

Q. Can you take me through how the sponsor invitations came about, what the outreach looked like, how excited you were when you found out you were going to get to play this week?

KYRA LY: Yeah, when I found out about the Am that we were able to play to get into this tournament it was super exciting, and I know a lot of people were talking about it, and being able to qualify for this has been a huge moment.

Q. The qualifier wasn't here though.

KYRA LY: It was here.

Q. Oh, okay it was here. So you have experience winning already on this course, the qualifier. Does that make you excited for this week?

KYRA LY: Yeah, I mean, the course setup is slightly different. It was a little shorter. For the most part a lot of the tee boxes were in the same places. It's nice to have been able to play a competitive round in some of the same spots.

Q. Last question: You feel like you have a home field advantage this week? Are you really looking forward to that?

KYRA LY: Yeah, I am. It's nice to be able to sleep in my own bed and only be like 15, 25 minutes away from the golf course. Very excited.

THE MODERATOR: Awesome. Good luck this week. We're happy to have you.

KYRA LY: Thank you.