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MARATHON CLASSIC PRESENTED BY OWENS CORNING AND O-I

July 12, 2016

Virginia Elena Carta

Toledo, Ohio

THE MODERATOR: This will be your first LPGA tournament, Virginia. You said you had a little bit of nerves out there practicing. What are your first impressions of this course?

VIRGINIA ELENA CARTA: I really like this course. Reminds me as the one at Nationals, of courses back home. I think some holes are really challenging. Maybe you're like tempted to hit driver but you should not.

Greens, greens are small. I had a good practice round today. I played good in the Pro-Am yesterday. I just have to figure out some stuff with my swing maybe later.

But I'm really excited, and for me it's just a great opportunity to be here playing this tournament and seeing all the other pros playing. I am just looking forward to playing with them and learning as much as I can from them.

THE MODERATOR: What's the feeling like approaching your first professional event? You played at LET you said. This is your first LPGA tournament. What's it feel like for you? Nervous? Excited? How has it been seeing all the pros out here so far?

VIRGINIA ELENA CARTA: Of course I'm super excited. Super excited to be here in Toledo as my first LPGA event. At the same time, I'm really, really nervous. I was struggling with the course today. (Laughter.)

I was just like seeing all the other players around me, players that maybe I knew from the Solheim Cup in Denver playing; getting to play the junior Solheim Cup at the same time. I got to know both the European and the American team, and seeing all those players playing actually on my course and my driving range and on the putting green with me, it's just a great feeling. Kind of weird.

Excited. Nervous. I don't know. I have a lot of feelings going on right now. But, I don't know. It's just great. It's a great feeling.

THE MODERATOR: Hard to be really nervous after the way you won the NCAA individual title this year. Take us back to Eugene and the feeling of all that up to now. What's life been like since that win?

VIRGINIA ELENA CARTA: I had some (indiscernible), like classes of Duke, so that kept me a little bit busy. I kind of had also -- I spent a lot of time with kids, so that was great. I love spending time with kids.

So those kept me kind of like away from the National title, but at the same time, I don't know, I tried not to think about that match, because anyway it's like in the past. I have to focus on the coming event and like my future and not on what I did at Nationals.

For sure Nationals was just a great experience. I tried to play my best also for my team because we wanted to qualify and we wanted to be in a good position. So I did that for me, but especially for my team. And having the team there, coaches, friends, was just great.

I don't know. I was nervous at Nationals, too, because it was my first Nationals. So going into the last round was kind of really, really tough for me, even if I had the big lead going into the last round.

I think I'm feeling kind of the same way here, even if it's not the last round. I still have one more day to get started.

But I guess it's probably normal. It's a normal feeling to be nervous. I just need to relax a little bit and calm down and breathe and probably everything is going to be fine.

I'm going to try to play the golf that I've been trying to play all this year long, and maybe I'm going to hole some putts. We'll see how that goes.

THE MODERATOR: There are a few Italian players, Giulia Sergas. Have you talked to any of them this week? Have they given you any advice?

VIRGINIA ELENA CARTA: Yes, I saw Giulia this morning. I haven't seen her for like ages, five years or something like that. So it was great seeing her again her.

It's great. It's great. I'm really happy for how she got into the LPGA. She's playing all these events. She's a great person and player, so it's great to have her here.

And then I saw some of the Duke players. So I saw Laetitia Beck yesterday and Amanda Blumenherst. Amanda has been a really good role model for me. She visited Duke in February or maybe late January, and that's where I got to know her.

She gave me a lot of -- I don't know. She gave me a lot of energy to try to play better. Then I saw her at Nationals because she was commentating for Golf Channel. She gave me great advice going into the last round. Having her here is great for me. I might have dinner with her tomorrow, so I'm really excited. Just going to calm me down for the first day. I hope so.

I'm excited to have (indiscernible) here and some of the good players here. I'm going to get to know Brittany Lang tomorrow. That's going to be great. I'm kind of nervous to get to know her especially now that she won the U.S. Open, like right after it.

It's kind of, Wow, that's unbelievable. I'm excited.

THE MODERATOR: Have you met her before?

VIRGINIA ELENA CARTA: No, I've never met her. It's the right moment.

Q. Competing against the pros for the first time, what do you want to learn from them? Approach? Technical?
VIRGINIA ELENA CARTA: I don't know, how they approach probably the tournament and how they approach missing shots and how to stay on the course. Probably like the course management and the course part more than the technique.

I haven't been working on my technique so I'm not like trying to work on that that much. But I think also like learning where I should improve the most, like what are my weaknesses and strengths compared to the pros. That would be a great learning experience.

Probably also understanding, as I said, like what are my strengths and where I need to not improve, but like what are the parts of my game that really need to improve.

Q. What were the weeks after winning the NCAA championship like for you?
VIRGINIA ELENA CARTA: Unusual. I had a lot of interviews and I had to talk about winning that, like Nationals, a lot of times. But just going through all those emotions was great for me.

At the same time, made me realize that that week was a special week. I'm still living a dream also being here. At the same time, this dream hasn't ended yet, so I'm just trying to keep living it and keep doing my stuff, my routine, not changing anything.

Q. What came together for you at that time?
VIRGINIA ELENA CARTA: My putting. I've been hitting 84% of greens in regulation all season long and I've been struggling a lot on my putting as soon as 65% of those greens were inside 12 feet. I had like, I don't know, almost two half of average, so it was kind of -- my weakness while at Eugene, in Oregon, my putting was really, really hot. I holed some really long putts, but also my short putts were great.

So that was something that helped me. I was calm. I was relaxed. I learned how to breathe on the course, which I also underestimated, but at Nationals was a key to win.

And also being focused every single shot on where to hit it. This is what also I told my caddie here, Adam. I told him like to help me being focused on my targets and not let me hit like kind of whatever on the green.

Q. What are your summer plans? Anymore golf tournaments? Go back to school?
VIRGINIA ELENA CARTA: I'm flying on Monday going to Sweden. I'm going to the European individuals starting Wednesday, so like the day after I get to Sweden. Then I'm going to have four days home and I'm leaving for the U.S. Amateur in Pennsylvania; then home for two weeks and then school starts again.

Q. (Question regarding statistics.)
VIRGINIA ELENA CARTA: I think like the first time I really thought about this was at the end of the first semester. Of course I really like to get the statistics so I know what I'm doing.

At the same time, overall I looked at them at the end the first semester and realized my long game, especially my irons, were really, really close to the pins but I was not getting any putt in.

Also talking to my coach, to Coach Brooks and my assistant coach, John, we figured out I was first in greens in regulation in the nation and pretty good, like top 10 I think, in fairways.

But I was like 300 and something in putting. With coach, we decided that I did not need to get in the first ten in putting, but at the same time I needed to be like 150, like halfway, and that would've made a big difference.

So I've been trying to work on my putting all second semester long to get my putts in, but nothing happened until Nationals, and Nationals was like a big happiness moment.

Q. What's the plan until Thursday? What do you think it will be like being on the first tee?
VIRGINIA ELENA CARTA: The plan until Thursday is probably to practice a little bit, but being out there, it's pretty hot. Probably gets me more nervous to see everyone else practicing around me.

But trying to do whatever I'm going to need to do, and rest, especially. I'm kind of tired right now. Being on the first tee Thursday, it's going to be fun to watch I think. I'm not sure how I'm going to be on the first tee. I'm curious.

It's going to be great. Probably going to be shaking for sure.

Q. Do some breathing exercises.
VIRGINIA ELENA CARTA: Yes, I'm going to try to do them.

Q. You're at a very difficult university, Duke, one of the best in the country. How do you balance the academics and the golf?
VIRGINIA ELENA CARTA: Yeah, I picked Duke because I knew it was hard to stay there. I went to a pretty difficult high school, so I always loved like studying. I always prioritized academics over golf. I am studying like seven, eight hours a day and then I have classes and we have practice.

Our practice is pretty tiring and tough with the team, but we do a great job. Then I'm just trying to do everything, being focused. That saves me a lot of time so that I know when I have to study it's just going to be studying. I'm not going to have my phone or any distraction.

I'm kind of like by myself because I know in those seven, eight hours I need to be focused. Especially the first semester I didn't get that much sleep because I wanted to study as much as I could.

It paid off because my grades are high. My dream has always been going law school. I'm trying to get my GPA pretty high. But I love what I'm studying, environmental sciences. I love it. It's a lot of work, but it's good. I like studying.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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