JM EAGLE LA CHAMPIONSHIP

April 27, 2024

Esther Henseleit

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, here with Esther Henseleit. One of those days where the winds, bumpy greens. Just when you walk away from today is there relief? What are the feelings walking away from day three?

ESTHER HENSELEIT: Yeah, I mean, I struggled a bit probably the end of the front nine and then hit it into the fairway bunker on 10 so I had to layup. Really proud of how I fought back today, to be honest.

Some great birdies and a great par save on the last. Yeah, definitely challenging out there, but I feel like I made it through.

Q. What would you grade your resilience today, especially being able to birdie those three coming down the stretch?

ESTHER HENSELEIT: Yeah, I actually holed a really important par putt on 12 and that kind of turned it around for me.

Then just a tap-in birdie on the par-5 and really good wedge shot on the next.

Yeah, just scrambled coming in.

Q. Maja has been talking this week about the mentality of not just staying patient because you can tell everyone to stay patient. What were you thinking to yourself and how do you reset on the 12th par putt?

ESTHER HENSELEIT: I just said to myself like there is no point playing it safe, especially with the putts. If the greens are a bit bumpy you have to keep your speed up. I just said, okay, I'll get them to the hole, give them a chance and then just see how it goes.

Q. Were you noticing leaderboards at all as you were walking through?

ESTHER HENSELEIT: Just a little bit. I mean, Grace and Maja played behind us so we kind of saw them around. I saw that a lot of the players were struggling out there this afternoon.

So, yeah, just stayed patience and concentrated on myself.

Q. You said something in the cart ride of those that played in the morning are probably staring at the TV in bewilderment right now. What would you explain the key differences were between the morning wave to what you experienced out there today?

ESTHER HENSELEIT: I mean, I don't know how was it this morning, but yeah, there was definitely some better scores this morning. The greens just firmed up a little bit, even more than yesterday, and the wind picked up.

And especially on this last few holes it's sometimes hard to tell where the wind is coming from so you really have to, yeah, just trust your club and hit a good shot.

Q. We've seen you close to the top of the leaderboard over the last few tournaments here. What does it mean to you to still be grinding to be where you were right now going into the final day?

ESTHER HENSELEIT: Yeah, I mean, I feel good out on the golf course. I feel very calm and happy out there at the moment so it's great to see to come together a little bit.

See my putter holding up under pressure and just really hitting my irons well this week.

Q. What was that strategy for you? We talk about the importance of reading the greens out here, especially in the afternoon. What's your focus on a final day like tomorrow?

ESTHER HENSELEIT: Just stick to my game plan. I've been hitting my irons great for a few weeks so hopefully get some good chances and then roll in some putts.