EPSON TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

October 5, 2023

Michelle Zhang

LPGA International, Jones Course

Quick Quotes

Q. I'm here with Michelle Zhang, who's currently leading the Epson Tour Championship. Unreal day out there. Just talk me through it.

MICHELLE ZHANG: Today was just like such an amazing day. I literally blacked out. Like literally every hole I had like amazing approach shots. Like six feet by the hole, and it was just like every hole I had a pretty like makable birdie chance.

I like just -- I think on 8 or -- on 7 I think was my second birdie putt, but that was the first shot I hit to like three feet.

After that it was just kind of like three feet, four feet, five feet, and every hole I just kind of was like slowly building confidence every shot, every putt.

Just had a little bit of like a rough patch out there on one, the short par-4 where I made a bogey. Just trying to keep my head in the game, and then continuing out and then had a great finish obviously.

Q. Yeah, really good finish on 18. Do you think coming into a week like this, it's the Epson Tour Championship, the finale of the season, do you think that gives you any more excitement heading into this week that kind of pushes you to go 9-under on the first day?

MICHELLE ZHANG: Yeah, it's definitely -- like this is my first year on Epson, so seeing like last year's score, I don't know exactly what the score was, but I think it was like 25-, 27-under. I just kind of knew I had to like do something on the first day and just keep myself in a great position.

I mean, there is a lot of golf to go but just really staying positive after the first round.

Q. And what is the mindset going into tomorrow? You said there is a lot of golf left to be played, but it's a pretty good start I would say, 9-under.

MICHELLE ZHANG: Yeah. So definitely just trying to keep the same mindset, just one shot at a time. I haven't -- like last week that was my first missed cut of the whole season so I was just really trying to like stay confident, and then I was trying to like relive like past wins I've had and just kind of like thinking it through, like, hey, I know I can do this, and just be confident and then play my own game out here.