U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

May 30, 2024

Rachel Rohanna

Lancaster Country Club

Quick Quotes

RACHEL ROHANNA: (In progress.)...too many up and downs. Just didn't really make anything. I felt like I hit the ball pretty well. I would have to go back to tell you exactly how many greens I hit. I would guess around maybe 12 or 13 greens.

Like I said, I gave myself a couple opportunities for birdie and I just really did not convert anything. Even a couple bogey putts that weren't too far that I missed. It's frustrating, but you're watching your playing competitors and you can see people on other holes in tricky places.

It could swing so much from one hole to the next. Patience is really not my middle name, but thought I did pretty good out there with that. My caddie really kept me in it. Just kind of reminded me of a few swing thoughts and putting thoughts out there.

I think kind of brought me back down and let me finish strong the last few holes.

Q. You mentioned your caddie. Who is your caddie and how long have you been together?

RACHEL ROHANNA: Jody Keepers, and since 2017.

Q. How do you spell Jody?

RACHEL ROHANNA: J-O-D-Y and Keepers is just like...

Q. How did the two of you meet and connect?

RACHEL ROHANNA: He's been caddieing out here for 30, 35 years. Just kind of found him one day on the front steps of the clubhouse and he said, hey, I don't have a bag. I said, I don't have a caddie.

Q. Of this clubhouse?

RACHEL ROHANNA: No, it was oh, my gosh, somewhere in Michigan, one of the Michigan events. I said, well, why don't you come caddie. He caddied, did a Monday qualifier, made it through, made the cut, played really well that week, and the rest is history.

But he's become such a great really part of the family. My kids call him Uncle Jody. He stays at my parents' house all the time and gets along great with them.

Yeah, it's been really good caddie-player and just like almost a family relationship the last seven, eight years.

Q. Speaking of family, I think you come from a golf family.

RACHEL ROHANNA: Yeah.

Q. Your brother Robert...

RACHEL ROHANNA: He's my cousin.

Q. Okay. And then just tell me about a little bit about that. It is a golf family, right?

RACHEL ROHANNA: Yes.

Q. Because he's a professional as well?

RACHEL ROHANNA: Yes, he played on some of the mini tours for a while, Latin America, and he ended up with a thumb-wrist injury that really was not healing, so unfortunately I think he stepped away from the tour life.

But still just amazing player. So that was on my dad's side. We both grew up in Waynesburg and his dad and our uncles had a golf course together, so both grew up playing at Rohanna's Golf Course. He is five years older than me so we didn't play much together.

My brother and sister both play, but mom's parents are both professionals. My grandfather is my swing coach my whole life, and my grandmother was the head coach at Youngstown State University. They had a little par-3 course in Ohio. My grandma is actually out here this week.

Q. That's awesome.

RACHEL ROHANNA: Pretty cool. So it was on both sides of the family. We played other sports, too, but everybody was swinging a club from the getgo. Just like my girls are, too, now.

Q. How many kids do you have?

RACHEL ROHANNA: Two. I guess technically the eight month old isn't swinging a club yet. She's been out with me a lot.

Q. The eight month old was out here today?

RACHEL ROHANNA: Yes. They both were. The almost six year old was out. She's been swinging the club. She has a very aggressive swing so I hope she sticks with it because I think she can hit it far. Right now she's more into the style and not so much the playing.

Q. What are your kids' names?

RACHEL ROHANNA: Gemelia and Greenlee.

Q. And your husband's name.

RACHEL ROHANNA: Ethan.

Q. And there was an incident on 12 I was overhearing. There was a back up...

RACHEL ROHANNA: Yeah.

Q. Share that with me.

RACHEL ROHANNA: There was a back up with the playing and then there was, you know, the opposite of a back up in the stroller. There was like I think four groups or something on the tee box. I was talking to my husband and looked down and happened to see that my youngest was just -- went to the bathroom all over the place.

I was like, Ethan, so I brought them inside the ropes and we went into a roped off area and changed her. It was a two-man effort to get that taken care of.

Q. Not often a competitor in a major championship has to address a...

RACHEL ROHANNA: Well, at first I was like, I'm not sure he can come in the ropes. Oh, whatever. Nobody is going to say anything. It's just me and him.

So I was like, he had to -- like I said he had to come in because it was definitely a two-man effort. Yeah, no, it was everywhere.

Q. One of the lighthearted moments of the day.

RACHEL ROHANNA: Yeah.

Q. You mentioned your grandparents. May I ask their names?

RACHEL ROHANNA: Dick and Rosanne Schwartz. My grandfather passed away a couple years ago. Like I said, Roseanne, my grandma, she's out here.

Q. That's awesome.

RACHEL ROHANNA: Yeah, she's got her little scooter. I spotted her out there on the 14th hole today.

I'm like, you got a scooter.

Q. How cool is that? Competing in a U.S. Women's Open and one of the -- I'm sure a mentor and a golf influence in your life is out here supporting your journey.

RACHEL ROHANNA: Oh, yeah, for sure. And just being in our home state, like it's kind of a -- it really is like a -- could be a once in a lifetime thing. It's not like it comes to PA -- well, actually it seems like more often than most states these days.

You know, to have just the whole family to be able to come out here, my grandma to be out here, it's really special. It's really, really cool.

Q. So where does your career have you now?

RACHEL ROHANNA: So I play mostly Epson but I do have LPGA status. Hopefully this week goes well. Hoping to squeeze in a couple LPGA events over the next couple months. I've finished strong on the Epson Tour. It's really hard being a tweener. Most players out here would tell you that that have to do that.

But just trying to stay with it and stay patient with everything in my game, and I think a lot of good things I see coming back with my game. I think if I can just do what I know how to do, I'll be fine.

Q. Can what year did you turn professional?

RACHEL ROHANNA: 2013.

Q. So been trying ever since just to...

RACHEL ROHANNA: Yeah, so I've had full status in '16 and '22, then had a couple maternity years, a lot of the dual status.

So couple really good years and a lot of grinding years, but like I said, I've seen a lot of the really good things with my game recently. It's been very streaky, so definitely as most players would tell you, it's coming down to the putting.

So just still dial in some numbers coming back from the pregnancy. Everything is looking pretty good I think and feeling really good with my game.

Q. Last question: Share with me your insights on what it means to you to play Lancaster Country Club, home state. I'm sure you have been here prior to this championship.

RACHEL ROHANNA: I have not. This is my first time. My sister and I both thought one of us had been -- like we competed here when we were juniors, but could not figure it out. Definitely it's obviously a special place. Anybody that plays a U.S. Open, just something about the course.

It's very similar to what I'm used to back home, but I expected a little bit flatter. It's not flat at all. So it's definitely like I kind of told my husband, it's just like a typical Pennsylvania course but on steroids.

Like it's got the thick grass, the fescue, it's got the trees that come in like into play, the big undulating greens. But definitely you can tell there is a lot of the history here and it's very old club. It's beautiful. You know, it's fun to play beautiful, challenging courses in my opinion.

And then the USGA is just setting it up, you know, extra...

Q. And you mentioned your sister a moment ago. You said you have a sister and brother and both into golf.

RACHEL ROHANNA: Yes.

Q. May I ask their names?

RACHEL ROHANNA: Emily and Tommy.

Q. Okay. Both still amateurs or are they giving professional life a try?

RACHEL ROHANNA: No. My brother did a little bit of teaching there for a little bit, but he does not -- he just plays for fun now, and my sister is more into pickleball now. Might see her on pickleball network one day.

Q. Home for you is Waynesburg?

RACHEL ROHANNA: I grew up there but I live in Marianna.

Q. What part of the state is that in?

RACHEL ROHANNA: South of Pittsburgh. It's all part of Pittsburgh, Washington County.