AUGUSTA NATIONAL WOMEN'S AMATEUR

March 30, 2021

Alexa Melton

Quick Quotes

Q. You'll be hitting the first tee shot of the entire tournament. Should be pretty fun? Have you thought about it?

ALEXA MELTON: Yeah, I try not to think too much about it. But I'm very excited to start off this week.

Q. So go back two years. What happened?

ALEXA MELTON: Two years ago, I just changed club shafts and my club shafts were a little too heavy. So then when I was preparing, my wrist got injured and I had to pull out.

Q. How soon before?

ALEXA MELTON: It happened like a couple days before, I think about a week, at most.

Q. Which wrist?

ALEXA MELTON: It was this one, right wrist.

Q. So what do you remember about that year? Disappointed that you weren't here; did you watch it? What were the emotions?

ALEXA MELTON: I knew if I watched it, I would just want to be here that much more. So I tried not to -- I mean, I watched it when it was at Augusta, but I knew if I watched it, I wasn't going to be too happy. So obviously it was disappointing. I wish I could be here but I knew in the long run that it wasn't -- wouldn't be smart to play with an injury.

Q. So everything you heard about, was it sort of a goal?

ALEXA MELTON: Definitely. Definitely. Yeah.

Q. So do you feel like -- vindication is not the word, but do you feel like everything has come full circle because you weren't able to play and now you are?

ALEXA MELTON: Yes, I definitely think everything happens for a reason and yeah.

Q. So the golf course, how is the golf course out there today?

ALEXA MELTON: The golf course, usually courses aren't too long for me, but this course is surprisingly pretty long. Greens are firm. But they are not as quick as I thought they would be. I'm assuming they would quicken up, but yes, excited for this week.

Q. Was today the first time you saw it?

ALEXA MELTON: Yes.

Q. So what's the plan over the next two days? I know everybody is wanting to try to make the cut. What's the plan?

ALEXA MELTON: Pretty much just be consistent as usual. Just hit the fairway, hit the greens and have as few 3-putts as I can and just go have fun.

Q. Talk about how fun it is to have so many teammates and assistant coaches here this week?

ALEXA MELTON: After I read the article, it put things into perspective where college tournaments, you take five players and four scores usually count. And we have six players here. So that just makes qualifying that much harder, and it shows how good our team is and our potential.

Q. Talk about the excitement of driving down Magnolia Lane?

ALEXA MELTON: I've been dreaming about it. I've seen it so many times on TV but I feel like getting to go down there and experience it in person would be an experience like no other.