U.S. SENIOR WOMEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

October 5, 2023

Erin Packer

Troon Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Can you talk about that last putt on 18? I know you guys did a great job reading greens all week, but tell me what the situation was there and what read did you see?

ERIN PACKER: Well, I mean, my biggest thing was to try to get her just refocused because she had a couple of chips that she wasn't happy with, not a good third into 17. So just getting her -- it's the putt to win, obviously, after Brenda three-pointed. We just tried to -- we read the greens really well all week. We did a really good job in the practice rounds.

We had the same read. We saw it going just a little bit right. She was trying to be firm with it, and it was the right read and the right speed, and she executed amazing.

Q. What did she do best all week?

ERIN PACKER: Oh, man. She hit the ball so solid. We've played golf for five years now together, and this is the best I've ever seen her hit it. She putted unbelievable. I mean, with the exception of those two chips, she chipped it great.

The one thing that I've learned, I learned a lot from her this week. She is so good at hitting all of her irons and even her fairway hybrids and woods a specific yardage, and that is why she was able to control it so well and why she played so good in the wind on Saturday, too.

I wish there was one specific thing, but she just putted great. She hit the ball fantastic.

Q. Did you think back in June when you lost to her in a one-hole playoff in Georgia that you'd be here?

ERIN PACKER: No, because she hadn't qualified yet, so qualifying for these things is the hardest -- it's so hard. That's what we build all of our summers around is qualifying for a USGA event. Since she turned 50, she was able to try -- well, she qualified for the Senior Open, she got in the Mid-Am and then this. So no, back in June, I did not think we would be here.

Q. You were 4-up through 12; how do you keep the focus and not let yourself think like, all right, we've got this one? Obviously it got a lot more competitive after that.

ERIN PACKER: Well, I mean, we knew. Brenda has been here a lot more than Sarah has, so we knew that she wasn't going to go down without a fight. We knew she was going to make birdies.

We just kept talking about just staying focused on the shot she was hitting, on the present, do not think about anything else, because once you do that, you get ahead of yourself and you get out of what you're trying to do. We just kept trying to stay focused, and she made a couple good birdies and then she made that great up-and-down on 14 for par.

Yeah, we just kept trying to just stay focused on the shot that she had to hit.

Q. When the lead gets down to one on the 18th tee box, same thing I assume?

ERIN PACKER: Yeah, I just said, take it one shot at a time. You focus on your line, you commit to the shot. That's all you can do. Then we'll go to the next shot.

Q. How are you going to celebrate tonight?

ERIN PACKER: Well, we're on the red eye, so I think we have friends that have already ordered champagne inside, so they're texting me like crazy. Hopefully we'll go and celebrate, and we've met some -- we have this contingency of members that have just like wrapped their arms around us this week and have followed us every single day. They're all from Minnesota. So there's like this weird thing with all the people from Minnesota that have been following us.

Q. Were you on your dad's bag for his Senior Open wins?

ERIN PACKER: I was not, no. I caddied for him -- when he won the Senior Open he got into the U.S. Open, so I've caddied in the U.S. Open. I did call him and say -- because I caddied in a semifinal of the U.S. Am but I've never caddied in the final of a USGA event so I kind of had to rub it in a little and say, guess what, I'm caddying in the finals of a USGA event.

Q. Any advice from him?

ERIN PACKER: No, we didn't talk. He just said, good luck, and just stay present and keep doing what she's been doing.

Q. Has it sunk in for her yet do you think?

ERIN PACKER: I don't think so.

Q. When do you think it will?

ERIN PACKER: I don't know, we're on the red eye, and her husband is meeting her at the airport with their daughter and she's driving to Florida for a horse show for her daughter, so she can't even get home to celebrate.

Q. Is she going straight from here to Atlanta?

ERIN PACKER: Yeah, we're from here to Atlanta tonight, so we'll get in at 6:30 and they're meeting at the airport at whatever time, 7:00 or whenever we get there.

Q. Back to reality pretty quickly?

ERIN PACKER: Yeah, yeah.