HONDA LPGA THAILAND

February 23, 2024

Albane Valenzuela

Siam Country Club Pattaya, Old Course

Quick Quotes

Q. Albane, you made it through the heat of the second day. What in an inspiring round. Take me through the beginning of that because I know maybe not the start you wanted, but you got it rolling soon after.

ALBANE VALENZUELA: Yeah, definitely off to a bad start. I mean, just more course management and missed really short putt. So was a little bit pissed. I know my long game has been really good for a long time. It was just a matter of rolling a few more putts in. I don't feel like I played the course differently from yesterday. Just made a few more putts and, I think it's reflected in my scorecard.

Q. When you got to 11 was it just forgetting about hole No. 10?

ALBANE VALENZUELA: Yeah. I mean, as soon as really the first one happened I did not think about it. I just tried to stay in the present. I think especially in the heat you just really focus on the shot ahead. You don't have time to waste energy on anything else.

So, yeah, stayed pretty present the whole day.

Q. When did you kind of feel it click and kind of it all come together? And why is it the eagle?

ALBANE VALENZUELA: I mean, the eagle was definitely really nice. I hit a great 3-hybrid there, just tap-in eagle, so that was really easy.

But then my first -- the birdie I made on, what was it, hole No. 4, I made a longer putt, like six meters, which right now for me feels long because I haven't made any long putts in a while.

It was a great stroke and I've put some really good strokes today. Even yesterday just a lot of lip-outs, putts hanging on the edge, and I finally saw some putts drop in. Could have been a much lower round. Still missed a shot putt on my 17th hole for birdie, probably like a five-footer.

Overall I'm pleased to see some balls roll in. I think it's been a long time.

Q. When you say a long time, is it something that you've been working on over the last couple months?

ALBANE VALENZUELA: Oh, yeah. It's definitely been a little bit my nemesis over the last few months. I feel like my ball striking has been really solid, and especially beginning of the year. Bradenton I hit the ball incredibly well and I think I had ten three-putts, which was just ridiculous. My speed was totally off.

Now I feel like any speed is getting there. I feel really good over my putts. Feel like my stroke is good. It's just a matter of being patient. It's just getting that memory bank a little bit refreshed and kind of seeing those putts go in and just trusting that.

Q. You said you didn't really take on the course any differently yesterday. It is nice seeing the putts go in.

ALBANE VALENZUELA: Yeah.

Q. What did you do after yesterday that maybe translated into today?

ALBANE VALENZUELA: I just putted uphill. I feel like the greens on the course are a little bit slower than the practice green. I just want to hit straight uphill. This morning before my round I went straight uphill as opposed to get a little bit of a faster pace downhill right off the bat.

I feel like that got me more in aggressive mode and I just said today, I got hit the back of the cup or they're never going to fall in. It's just a matter of hitting them a little bit more aggressive than what my eye kind of tells me, so that's been it.

Q. I know there is a lot of golf left to play, but how satisfying is a round like this after all the work you've been putting in recently?

ALBANE VALENZUELA: Yeah, it's great. I feel like my game has been there for a long time and I just -- you know I was wasting a lot, a lot, a lot of birdie opportunities. Since Bradenton it's been full wastebasket, and I'm always around par. The game is consistent because my long game is really solid, my chipping is good. Not that my putting was horrible, just always hitting the edges.

It's like minor adjustments, but at this level it makes a huge difference in the scorecard. It just nice to get a good round in the 60s in Thailand.

Q. Did you say full wastebasket?

ALBANE VALENZUELA: I said like it was a waste -- did I say wastebasket?

Q. I was going to say, that was a nice little -- I like that impression.

ALBANE VALENZUELA: Yeah.

Q. What was the distance on that?

ALBANE VALENZUELA: I had 210 meters to the pin.

Q. And it just pitched short or?

ALBANE VALENZUELA: It pitched about 195 just like before that kind of like ridge and just rolled.

Q. Have you had any past experience here at this course?

ALBANE VALENZUELA: I played two years ago and just did absolutely everything terrible. So, you know, I think my game was in a very different spot. I used to have those big duck hooks and hook the ball and hit everything right to left and now I hit everything left to right.

I think it's just reflecting on the number of fairways I hit; kind of my misses are not the misses I've had before. They were so penalizing the last two years. The good ones were good but terrible ones were terrible.

Now it's just I think changing the shape a little bit without really changing the swing has been really helpful.

Q. So with all these changes and putting so well, what are your hopes for the year now?

ALBANE VALENZUELA: You know, I think just staying very present. Just enjoying the game a lot more. Definitely a lot of frustration piled up towards the end of last year. Very frustrating ending. I just missed CME and it's just tough at this level when you're seeing -- this is year number five -- when you feel like you're not performing where you're supposed to. I didn't accomplish all my goals.

I think it's just accepting that -- it's a bad way to phrase it -- but s*** hits the fan. You just got to be patient and accept that golf is hard and enjoy it as much as possible.