BUICK LPGA SHANGHAI

October 12, 2023

Lauren Coughlin

Qizhong Garden Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, Lauren, welcome to the Buick LPGA Shanghai. Your first time in Shanghai and this course. How are you feeling after 18 holes?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I feel really good. Wish I wouldn't have made that bogey on 8 coming in, but it was a really solid round.

Hit the ball extremely well. Didn't make too, too many putts today. They got a little bouncy. But played really well. Really happy.

Q. You just told me this was the first time you have been to Asia since Korea, and Korea was your first time ever in Asia. What's it been like for you adjusting to the travel aspect and getting the energy needed to be competitive?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, it helps flying business class over here for sure, but it's all about just trying to stay awake as long as possible that first night so you can get on a good schedule.

But I mean, I got in Monday, so today was probably one the first days that I felt pretty -- as close to normal as I probably can, given the jet lag and everything.

No, it's been awesome. Shanghai has been really cool. I've been into the city once. Didn't see much, so I'm going to go again tomorrow and go see like -- go to a rooftop bar and really get to see Shanghai, so I'm really excited.

Q. This course in general, now that you've been able to see it under 18 holes competitively, what's it like for you? You had the one bogey, but other than that, how is it suiting your game?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I think it's a ball-striker's golf course for sure just because the greens have a lot of undulation, so you want to make sure you hit it in the right spots so you don't have -- because if not you can have some really tricky putts and some really tricky up and downs.

So I think that suits my game really well.

But it kind of reminds me of Florida with the bermuda and the bermuda rough, so that's kind of nice. I've heard about how grainy the grass can be over here in Asia. It wasn't too, too bad, nothing that I haven't really seen, so that was nice.

Q. Were there any memorable putts or moments that kind of kept this round for you where it was?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I mean, I didn't hit the first couple greens so I had some good up and downs to start. Then I made -- I rolled in a good one on my third hole of the day -- third or fourth hole of the day -- and that kind of got me calming down after not hitting a couple good shots there.

I think one of my favorite shots of the day was probably on 7. I hit it to about two feet. Kind of a long par-3, but it was kind of nice; I had hybrid in which are some of my favorite clubs, so couple of the par-3s I had those and hit them pretty close.

Q. What do you take away from a day like this as you head into the second round? They'll re-pair on top of that. Being able to now get it under your system, how are you feeling heading into tomorrow?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I feel really good about where my game is. I wanted to go just putt a few because the greens can get a little bouncy and I don't want to take too much stock in some of the missed putts that I had out there, because you can get a little frustrated.

So just want to see some go in a little bit and get that confidence back up a little bit. But overall played really, really solid. Really happy.