T-MOBILE MATCH PLAY PRESENTED BY MGM REWARDS

April 5, 2024

Leona Maguire

Shadow Creek

Quick Quotes

Q. Here with Leona Maguire after her third round at the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards. 3-under on the day. Just had the one bogey. What went into the solid round?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, yeah today was a big mental win for me. I think going out we knew the conditions were going to be tough. It was going to be windy, it was going to be swirling, the greens were going to get firm in the afternoon.

Just really committed to our targets and picked some really nice shots and executed really well. Me and Dermot worked really well out there today and stayed very patient, just stayed really positive as well, embraced the challenge today.

That was sort of the mentality, was enjoying sort of putting the pieces of the puzzle together on every shot rather than focusing on how hard it actually was.

Q. And then kind of similar to what I just asked Sei Young, what was the mindset heading into today? And then as the round kind of went along, I don't know if you looked at leaderboards and saw where people were moving, did that change to let's survive and advance from the original game plan?

LEONA MAGUIRE: No, the game plan today was try and shoot as low a score as I can, literally playing every hole as it came.

It was so challenging and swirly and the winds and stuff, you couldn't really get too far ahead or focus on anything other than the shot at hand, which I think was quite nice.

I personally didn't watch the leaderboards. I know Dermot was keeping an eye on them if we needed to do something. I kind of leave that to him and was trying to hit as many good shots as I could.

Q. Having done so well here last year as well, is that something you can draw on now that we're moving into match play?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, it's very different conditions to last year. Obviously a lot windier, a lot colder.

But I love this golf course. I think it's one of the best, if not the best, golf course we play all year. It's an unbelievable test. It's really a major championship golf course. You get punished if you hit bad shots and get rewarded if you hit good shots, and that's exactly how golf should be I think.

I really enjoy the test that it brings. Looking forward to another day tomorrow.

Q. I'm sure you're not surprised to see that Nelly made a move up and got into the top eight. What do you think of having her in the quarterfinals considering how she's playing?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, I mean, Nelly is the best player in the world right now. She's playing great golf, so no surprise she's in the match play. The conditions on the golf course brings out the best in everybody, and it's no surprise to see some of the best players in the world up near the top of the leaderboard.

I'm sure Nelly is going to be a tough match for whoever she plays. She's been on quite a roll and very impressive to watch.

Q. Knowing that there will be a playoff for the final spot, knowing you're most likely going to play that position, are you going to stick around and watch some of it and scout your opponent?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Absolutely not. I'm out of here. Going to get some food really quick and get to bed. I think there is so much energy and mental energy expended today. It's a quick turnaround for tomorrow, so get some good food and get to bed early and go again tomorrow.