FORD CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY KCC

March 28, 2024

Azahara Munoz

Seville Golf and Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, here with Azahara Munoz after the first round of the Ford Championship. Leader in the clubhouse with a 64. Talk about your day today and maybe how your game felt.

AZAHARA MUNOZ: It felt really good. I hit pretty much every fairway. I think I missed one fairway, but by not very much.

A lot of greens, the greens I missed I was just right there. Actually the one green I missed kind of far I was probably 25, 30 yards. I actually chipped in, so that started my day, kind of got it going.

Made some really nice putts and hit a lot of good shots, too.

Q. And really nice putts. You had only 24 putts out there today. Anything in particular you've been working on with your putting or anything you notice about these greens as well?

AZAHARA MUNOZ: Yeah, greens roll great for starters. And then it's a bit deceiving because I've made one chip and two just from off the green so they weren't super long but still off the green so count as fewer putts.

Yeah, I've been working on my putting. I started something seeing someone actually last week and I changed my putter and it's been working really nicely.

Q. What putter did you change to?

AZAHARA MUNOZ: So now I have an Anser. Just the typical, like the normal Ping blade.

Q. How do you think that helps?

AZAHARA MUNOZ: Maybe it's also just my -- the putter coach helped a lot. A little bit of technique, but the putter definitely helps. It just feels better. I feel like I have more speed control with it. I don't know, I kind of like the look of it which really helps.

Q. First real low round in a while. Put into words what getting something like this on your scorecard means.

AZAHARA MUNOZ: It's funny you said that because I actually thought that when I finished up. Yeah, it's been a while. I've had a few 5-, 6-under, but not 8-under, which is really, really nice.

Yeah, makes me happy to know that I can still do it.

Q. Just had one of our newer moms in here, Lindsey Weaver Wright, shot 4-under today. Can you speak to, A, how impressive that is in your first tournament since having a baby, but really what it takes to get your body back in shape and get yourself mentally back in shape to get out here. Does it still weigh on you, too, of all the challenges of being a mom and a professional athlete?

AZAHARA MUNOZ: A little bit. I think they go through different stages, so sometimes people think like when they are babies is the hardest. To be honest, I think it's harder for me now that he's two. On the road he knows now he's not at home, he sleeps worse, has a lot of energy.

Sometimes when they're babies you just put them down. When I came back he was six months. I was like, Oh, I got this. This is not that bad. Traveling with a toddler, it's a lot. What Lindsey is doing, I mean, he is -- Crew is only three months I think. He's a baby. So it's really impressive.

Even when I found out that she was playing this week I was like, wow, she's like full on. But someone told me she ran a half marathon a couple weeks ago. She looks like she hasn't had a baby, and it's great to have her here.

And actually to see her doing that, I feel like we have no excuses. I think it's going to help us.

Q. Obviously big year this year. Everybody has some goals, Olympics obviously are a lot of people's goals. How much are you paying attention to that? You're obviously really high up in the rankings right now, but how much are you paying attention and how much does a round like today validate those dreams?

AZAHARA MUNOZ: Yeah, a lot, because you never know when your last ones are going to be. These are probably going to be my last ones, pretty certain, so I definitely want to be there. It's in Paris so it's close to home and my parents are probably going to be able to come. Rio they didn't come. It was too far. They wanted to come to Tokyo; that didn't work out.

So to be able to play three Olympics and represent your country in three consecutive Olympics would be amazing, so definitely on the radar and paying attention to it.