FM CHAMPIONSHIP

August 27, 2024

Alexa Pano

TPC Boston

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Okay, thank you so much for joining us today her at the FM Championship media center. Welcome especially to Alexa Pano, one of our Massachusetts natives in the field this week.

I know you grew up here in Westborough, not so far from here. Tell us how excited you are to be teeing it up at a place that you used to call home.

ALEXA PANO: Yeah, it's pretty special. I think there has been a lot of buzz around this event for a while now. Can definitely feel to getting here.

I'm excited to have my family out this week and a lot of friends. It's just a really special area, so it's going to be a great week.

Q. Want to talk about the logo on your chest. You're having some fun later today playing with some of the Patriots players.

ALEXA PANO: Yes.

Q. How much do you love the New England Patriots and how cool is it to wear them on your chest and play with them?

ALEXA PANO: Yeah, it's pretty amazing. I'm very lucky to have such a great sponsorship and have a sponsor that's so supportive of me and I'm also a huge fan of.

Definitely a dream sponsorship. I really do think Boston is the best sports down in the world, so it's pretty cool we're here now and to have the support of the Patriots as well.

Q. Do you know which Patriots you're playing with?

ALEXA PANO: I heard Marcus Jones and Bryce Baringer. I believe so. I'm not certain.

Q. You grew up most of the time in Florida.

ALEXA PANO: Yeah.

Q. Is this a neat way for you to connect with your Massachusetts roots, to play here and people kind of rooting for you that know you from Westborough? I am too, by the way. Also, to see the Patriots and kind of feel like people that are coming out of curiosity might embrace you because of those things?

ALEXA PANO: Yeah, I was born here and obviously I grew up playing golf in Florida though. I've always kind of had the support of people from Massachusetts, which is really cool.

But I've been spending summers here for quite a while now and spend more than half the year here almost. It's really cool to have a base here as well and a lot of good friends and supporters from here.

Like I said a minute ago, Boston is the best sports town in the world. When they really support you they're really behind you the whole way, and it's a great thing.

Q. Boston had the WNBA play here for the first time a couple week ago.

ALEXA PANO: Uh-huh.

Q. Professional soccer team coming; professional hockey league. This tournament feels like it's part of that kind of first steps toward a blossoming women's sports landscape. For you, as somebody from here, somebody who could be playing in this tournament for many years to come, is it special to be part of that, and is it special given your feelings about Boston seeing Boston embracing that?

ALEXA PANO: Yeah, it's really cool to see what's coming. I really hope that the LPGA Tour can be a part of that. I hope Boston shows out the same way this week that they have for all the other teams here.

I believe they are. I've heard so much buzz about this. Every person I've seen has been telling me they can't wait to come out here and watch, and I think it's going to be a really great week.

Q. Wanted to ask you about last weekend. So Saturday night you found out you were paired with Lydia Ko.

ALEXA PANO: Uh-huh.

Q. Ever played with her before?

ALEXA PANO: Yeah, Lydia and I have played together many times. We even were in a final round together at the Hilton Grand Vacations, the first event the year. We've got to play together a lot.

Q. You ended up tied for tenth; shot 74, 2-over.

ALEXA PANO: Uh-huh.

Q. Explain the conditions. Did that affect your game? A lot of ladies seemed to have a couple the hiccups during the round.

ALEXA PANO: Yeah, I don't think the wind or the rain didn't affect anybody. I think it's a part of the culture at St Andrews. Everyone had to deal with it. No one had a spotless round that day.

It was pretty brutal on Sunday. The gusts were just as crazy as they had been, but when you add in the rain and the cold it's really tough. St Andrews is no joke. It's a beast of a golf course.

But I felt like I handled it pretty well. Obviously not the result I wanted in the end, but I was proud of some of the putts I made and that I hung in there even when things were tough.

Q. Did you feel any pressure on the first tee on Sunday?

ALEXA PANO: No. I wouldn't say there was any pressure. You could definitely feel the magnitude of the moment. Being in a major championship, playing with arguably one of the greatest golfers of all-time and having all those people watching, you can kind of feel the moment.

I wouldn't say there was any pressure or anything of that sort. I was just focusing on myself and taking it shot by shot. That's what I've been doing the entire week.

Q. Your story with the Patriots made its rounds quite a bit. Did you ever hear from the Patriots Sunday or the next day or any of the Kraft family?

ALEXA PANO: Yeah, the organization is always supporting me. They text me after a lot of events and are always kind of watching how I'm doing. I'm very lucky to have a sponsor that cares about me the way they do. They just want me to do the best I can and that's a great thing and I'm very blessed to have that.

Q. Couple questions about what's coming up. TPC, it's going to play about 6500 yards.

ALEXA PANO: Uh-huh.

Q. Is that a comfortable range for you? What are your expectations going into this week as far as handling this course?

ALEXA PANO: Obviously it's a very challenging track. It's in incredible shape this week. I got to go out and play the front nine today and it was really great. The greens are rolling amazing. I never had a doubt they would get it into great shape for us here.

It's going to be a challenge I think for everyone. It's not an easy golf course, but I think it'll play great.

Q. The tour was here for 17 years as Dell Technologies. Did you ever go to any of those tournaments from 2003 to 2019 when the PGA TOUR was here?

ALEXA PANO: I wasn't born in 2003, but I never made my way out to one. I wasn't able to. I haven't actually been to a lot of golf tournaments to watch. It's not like -- I don't know, I just haven't been to many, so I wasn't at that one.

Q. So you won your first tournament last August. When you set your goals for this year, are you on pace? Are you a little bit happier where you are when you set your goals for 2024? Still have an appetite for more?

ALEXA PANO: I mean, every week that I go and play I'm trying to win. I think the main goal for me this year has been to just put my best foot forward every week and do everything I can to try and win each week.

I feel like I've done that so far. I'm pretty happy with that. Obviously there is some result-oriented things I would like to see. I trust that that will come with time with all the work I'm putting in.

Q. Massachusetts golf history is one of its own, especially in the United States. What does it mean to have professional golf, especially the women's game, come back to Massachusetts and have an event here after such a long break?

ALEXA PANO: Definitely. It's long overdue and I'm glad to see it back. I've heard stories from my dad from when the women used to be here that my nana even kept score for Kathy Whitworth back then. It's really special we're back. Megan Khang and I've been looking forward to this week for a long time.

Sports in Boston is just such a big deal. The community gets quite close knit. I know all the golfers that we have here have been looking forward to this week for a long time.

Q. Great contingency of Massachusetts golfers, whether they've played junior career here or elsewhere.

ALEXA PANO: Yeah.

Q. What does that show about and say about Massachusetts golf, that it can produce world class players, some of the best in the world?

ALEXA PANO: Yeah, I think Massachusetts really breeds hard workers and really gritty players. That's something I've always tried to be like. You see it in people like Megan and Keegan Bradley. They're always grinding it out.

It's a great thing to watch, and I'm glad I get to be a part of that name of being from here.

Q. Is there anything in Massachusetts, anyplace when you haven't been here a while you try to get to, food or whatever?

ALEXA PANO: Yeah, my favorite spot in Mass is probably this place called Uhlman's Ice Cream in Westborough, Mass. I haven't been this week because it's a bit of a drive. It's a little farm that has I think the best ice cream in the world, so...

Q. You're coming off a strong week. Coming into this week, I think it's fair to ask, do you think you can win this week? Is the game at a level where -- the field isn't the strongest this week, but do you think you can, Sunday afternoon, be out here on the receiving end of the hardware and the check? Is that a possibility?

ALEXA PANO: I mean, I would definitely argue that it's not a weak field. I don't know how many girls are in the field, but everyone is a great player. I wouldn't sign up for a golf tournament unless I thought I could win.

I'm going out there week and every day at practice and every day playing putting my best foot forward to try and accomplish that goal.