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MANULIFE LPGA CLASSIC

June 10, 2017

Brittany Marchand

Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

Q. Nice day on the golf course. How did it feel?
BRITTANY MARCHAND: Good, good. Obviously my front nine was pretty hot, and then the back nine I just kind of kept it even. I was happy with that because it got windy and I was just trying to hold it.

Yeah, I thought it was a good day.

Q. How comfortable do you feel out there?
BRITTANY MARCHAND: Surprisingly very comfortable. I don't know, I guess I didn't know what I would feel like, but I actually was really comfortable. Helps to have a friend a on the bag, and he's like, Walk slow, calm down, so that really helped.

But I'm just trying to have fun. I think that helps, because if I just enjoy every moment then I don't think about what the outcome can be.

Q. How would you describe this experience? First Saturday in an LPGA Tour event; playing with the No. 2 player in the world. Is that intimidating? Surreal? How would you describe that?
BRITTANY MARCHAND: I would say -- before I would've said probably be intimidating to play with Ariya, but I don't know, I mean, she's super nice.

I think it's one of those things. Like I want to believe that I can play here and I don't want believe that anybody is so far away from me.

It was kind of cool because I feel like I played with her. Obviously she played a little better, but in general we were pretty on par. I think that's an awesome confidence booster for me. It's good.

Q. You said you're not thinking about outcomes, but there is a little debate apparently, but you might get a spot next week (indiscernible) top 10.
BRITTANY MARCHAND: Uh-huh.

Q. What would that mean to you?
BRITTANY MARCHAND: It would mean a lot. I mean, I would love to have another opportunity to play out here. Being full time on Symetra, obviously the two Canadian events at home I want to try to get sponsor exemption into, but if I could get any more experience, that would be awesome.

Q. For people who don't know, what would be the contrast between playing the Symetra and playing out here?
BRITTANY MARCHAND: Oh, there are a lot. One, people watching. I said to the reporter yesterday, I'm like, It's kind of nice actually to have somebody cheering for you, because usually it's just like your host family and two people on the side, or your mom that came and traveled to see you.

So it's actually kind of nice to have some support, even though I know I'm close to home and that's a big deal too, in the sense of having more fans.

Yeah, the crowds obviously. The conditions of the course. They're just a lot firmer, faster, so you kind of kind of have to be a little bit more -- you can't pin hunt out here and stuff like that, which on the Symetra Tour, if you get a softer course, that's possible.

It's just like a different feel really. It's just a little -- obviously just like the next level.

Q. And the size of the check.
BRITTANY MARCHAND: And the size of the check, yeah. You're not just grinding to break even out here. So, yeah, that makes a huge difference.

Q. You mentioned the caddie is your friend. What's the relationship?
BRITTANY MARCHAND: So I belong to Brampton Golf Club. He was a member there, and I met him when he first joined I think few years back now, probably five years.

I remember when we first -- I was playing college golf and he's like, Oh, Brittany, I got to caddie for you one time; when you're on the LPGA I'm caddying for you. So when I got into this event I was like, Okay, here's your chance. He was like, Finally.

So it's kind of cool, because he's a really good golfer and he's caddied a lot, too. He caddies over the winter sometimes. He has experience doing what he's doing, and it's a good combo. It works.

Q. What's his name?
BRITTANY MARCHAND: Binupa Wijesinghe. He's from Sri Lanka.

Q. You may need to spell that.
BRITTANY MARCHAND: I might need him to spell to spell it. I just call him Binu or B, so yeah.

Q. I was joking about the money and stuff, but on the Symetra Tour, how tough is it to eek out a living?
BRITTANY MARCHAND: Yeah, you pretty much got to be top 10 every week to be actually making anything on top of your expenses. Like you have 500 off the top for the entry fee, and some of the smaller purses, like $100,000, like you might even just make the cut and still not make your money on the 500.

So you really do have to be playing solid to make the money. I have host families. I drive. If you saw my car right now you would be shocked. I live out of it. Your host families cook you dinner. You cut costs as much as possible.

Like last year I had an okay year, but I still profited a little bit because I tried to like cut my costs really low. So it's possible, but it's not -- it's not great living.

Q. Not expecting to make money?
BRITTANY MARCHAND: No. It's pretty much just trying to get your card out here. You kind of have to expect that you're not going to be going out there -- I mean, I know there were a few last year, like Madelene Sagstrom who made very good money, multiple wins.

But last year was the highest purse money I think ever, so, yeah.

Q. Any nerves going into tomorrow?
BRITTANY MARCHAND: I guess so. I think they're good nerves. I mean, I feel like today if I was -- I felt like I would probably be nervous today and I actually felt a lot more comfortable than I expected. I think that's a good sign for tomorrow.

Yeah, I think there will obviously be a little bit. Like I said, I'm just going to try to enjoy it. Honestly, I mean, my goal was to make the cut, so I'm now -- obviously my goal is higher, but I just really wanted to put four solid rounds together.

If I can do that, then I'm going to be happy and take the experience as a win.

Q. Was there something to be learned by watching a player of Ariya 's stature?
BRITTANY MARCHAND: Yeah. Man, I wish I could hit a 2-iron off the tee as far as my driver. She only behind me because she hit an iron off the tee.

Q. Does that do anything to you mentally or you don't pay attention?
BRITTANY MARCHAND: No. I kind of laughed on the first hole because she pulled out the iron. I'm like, Oh, my God. She hit an iron. My caddie is like, Let's just play our game. You have to still hit driver.

So it was definitely interesting, but it was really cool. It's good to learn from a player like that. She's obviously -- like her emotions, she stays really calm, cool. She is powerful. Yeah, I think she's got it all going.

It's really great to play alongside her and also learn, take little things here and there.

Q. Do you have anything to get rid of that nervous energy? The other day Sharp said she went for a run in the morning.
BRITTANY MARCHAND: Yeah, you know, I try to stick to my same routine. I don't want to like fluctuate from what I usually do. But I think mostly just do like as much outside of golf as possible; you know what I mean? Until I warmup, just keep my mind off it. I go to the trainer, and if I just -- you know, I listen to music.

I just do those little things and try to keep my mind completely away. I don't look at the leaderboard. You know, I just kind of keep it away until I have to be there. But, yeah, I don't know. Watch Netflix. Something.

Q. What are you watching on Netflix?
BRITTANY MARCHAND: Oh, I don't know. No, because I come to Canada and it's different from the U.S., so I'm actually not watching it here. Read. Reading.

I actually have a really cool -- I had a volunteer caddie last week and he was like a super awesome guy. He gave me this ring that says "belief." He actually coaches executives, and he gave me a book called The Orange Frog. It's about like positive psychology. I've been reading that.

Q. It's working.
BRITTANY MARCHAND: Yeah. Yeah, he was a really awesome guy to meet.

Q. Do they offer volunteer caddies everywhere you go on the Symetra Tour?
BRITTANY MARCHAND: Yeah, pretty much. If you want one, you can get one. I can't afford to honestly have a full-time caddie out there, so when I feel like I need a caddie, especially if's a hilly course, I usually get a volunteer.

Otherwise I like push my own bag. So it just depends.

Q. You don't have a push cart?
BRITTANY MARCHAND: Yeah. I have a push cart in my car, yeah. It's tough with volunteer caddies because you really don't know what you're going to get, to be quite honest.

Like last week was an awesome experience. He was so happy and a really, really great guy. There are times you get somebody who doesn't really know what to do so they're nervous. It can be a hard experience because you have to tell them what to do. It's just more work than it needs to be.

Q. In a few words can you explain what The Orange Frog means?
BRITTANY MARCHAND: Basically, the orange frog, in the book, like back in to the day all the frogs were orange -- or all the frogs were green, but the more positive this one frog got the more orange he looked.

The problem was that he stood out, so he would get like attacked by people because he would stand out. The point is to like the more positive you are the more orange you get and the brighter you shine.

Q. So if you're walking down 18 and you're kind of orange tomorrow, would that be a good thing?
BRITTANY MARCHAND: Yeah, yeah, exactly. I wore the orange today. I was the orange frog today.

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