U.S SENIOR WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

August 1, 2024

Mikino Kubo

Fox Chapel Golf Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We welcome Mikino Kubo to the U.S. Senior Women's Open flash area. You had a 1-under 70 today.

Could you please start by telling us how the course played this morning after all the rain yesterday.

MIKINO KUBO: The greens were really fast. Japan doesn't get greens so hilly and wide with such gradient, which is very difficult for me to get used to.

Q. What did you do during the practice rounds this week to prepare for green complexes that are different from what you see in Japan?

MIKINO KUBO: I took my time on the greens and looked at them from different parts of the greens.

Q. How do you think the dry conditions this afternoon are going to affect play versus the morning play?

MIKINO KUBO: The speed got faster, and in the morning because it was damper, I had to get used to that, and for the second shot the ball would drop a lot more. The second shot had a bit more distance on it than in the beginning.

Q. Do you think it will be more difficult for players this afternoon?

MIKINO KUBO: In the afternoon the greens will be more difficult to putt.

Q. What was working for you today out there, specifically any of the holes that you made birdies on, how that might have helped your round?

MIKINO KUBO: I got used to the greens a bit more, I was able to work on my putting, and it worked well.

Q. Was there any approach play, anything with your irons that was helping you to get close to the holes on those difficult greens, or was it just good putting strokes getting you in the hole?

MIKINO KUBO: It came from my first shot, from the driver, which was always straight, and then I was able to use my putter more. But that was my two main strokes that worked.

Q. Were there any holes specifically out there that you felt like you did a really good job on or that helped you in the round?

MIKINO KUBO: The holes that I got birdies on were always the ones that I was quite close to the hole, so it wasn't necessarily a hole by hole basis, but I sealed it off with a birdie, which really helped. I finished on No. 8 with a birdie.

Q. This is your second Senior Women's Open. Can you talk about your expectations coming in or any goals that you might have had this week?

MIKINO KUBO: I'd like to be top 20, and I'd like to play again next year, as well.