BMW LADIES CHAMPIONSHIP

October 19, 2023

Maja Stark

LPGA International Busan

Quick Quotes

Q. A bogey-free day out there today. Just overall how do you walk away from your first round here in Korea?

MAJA STARK: It felt very good. I told myself just to try to hit fairways and greens, and that's what I did. I think I hit all the greens today.

So it was like can't really make it too complicated when you do that. So feels good. Irons are getting a little bit better. I mean, last week was kind of a mess. I'm still shocked over the result that I had.

So, yeah, the game actually feels way better this week.

Q. I know that that was something you worked on a lot last week. We talked a lot last week. You were in contention throughout that entire week. What did you take away from Buick as you got prepared for this week? How did you maybe reset after that final day?

MAJA STARK: I think I just took it as a learning experience, just thinking to myself that's the first time I've really been in that situation, like having a lead pretty much all week on the LPGA.

And so I'm -- I mean, I'm -- I don't really blame myself because I didn't know what I would feel and stuff. So now that I kind of know what to expect, it was way easier to make a new plan and tell myself don't -- like before going to Sunday, I thought in my head just maybe 4-under will be enough. But then I stressed myself out that way when I said that to myself. So I think that was a little bit silly of me, just inexperience.

And I really thought today we'd just do one shot at a time. Obviously it's easier on a Thursday than a Sunday.

Q. When you say that the irons are getting better, did you see the improvement at the range beforehand, or was it more just as you got the round underway you felt more comfortable with it?

MAJA STARK: Yeah, the past couple days I've been working on some easier things, I guess, than what I did last week. So I did notice an improvement in that. And then obviously on the course, it's a little bit different, hit some thin ones, hit a couple chunks. But it's okay because I always took like enough margins so it wasn't actually a problem.

So it was, yeah, way easier this week. And I feel like the big thing is probably just to trust it, because, yeah, that's what I think I didn't do last week as well.

Q. When you see, like yourself, a low score up there, how crucial was it to take advantage of the conditions today?

MAJA STARK: Oh, so crucial. I mean, it's very scorable, as you can tell. I mean, the par-5s aren't that short. There's only two that you can reach somewhat comfortably.

So you've just got to take advantage of the short irons you hit. And I think I did that, hit a lot of good wedges. So, I mean, game didn't really feel like anything abnormally good because we had so many short irons, but I think just that made it way easier today.