U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR FOUR-BALL

April 22, 2022

Chloe Kovelesky

Yana Wilson

Grand Reserve Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. First match, round-of-32 match, 4 & 3. As the 1 seed, did you feel any pressure coming in? It seemed like you guys got off to an early lead and it was smooth sailing from there. Just talk about your play today.

YANA WILSON: I mean, it was really fun playing today. We started off down actually because I think it was Ellison made a really long putt.

CHLOE KOVELESKY: Ellison made like a 50-footer.

YANA WILSON: I wasn't really fazed by it, but just tried to keep the momentum going.

CHLOE KOVELESKY: Obviously we've kind of had a little bit of trouble on 1, so we kind of knew we were getting into something. Everyone we've played with has birdied No. 1.

YANA WILSON: Maybe that's just a sign. But overall I feel like we started warming up kind of towards the end, so it was really good, I guess, for match play. We didn't really break down and just kind of kept shooting at pins and making putts.

Q. What happened on 3 and 6? Looks like you guys had birdies on 3 and 6.

YANA WILSON: I birdied 3. I hit a -- I tried going for the green, but I went into the bunker. I hit a really great shot out of the bunker, had maybe like a three-, four-footer. You made it.

CHLOE KOVELESKY: No, I did birdie 6. 6 is the par-3. I thought it was the par-5. I was like, we didn't birdie 6. Okay, my God. I birdied 3, I birdied 6, and I hit a really good shot on 6. I hit it to like four and a half, five feet, made the putt. But I don't know, it takes me a couple holes to get my legs moving since I had the surgery, so that's kind of when I finally started to hit the ball good.

Q. With the tee up on 3, did you guys -- was everyone going for the green?

YANA WILSON: Yeah, everyone was going for the green but I knew that the miss was right, and I definitely missed right on that shot. I guess it worked, so.

CHLOE KOVELESKY: I can reach the green from the back tee box.

YANA WILSON: I hit 7-iron.

CHLOE KOVELESKY: I hit 4-iron.

Q. That was going to be my next question.

CHLOE KOVELESKY: Yeah, I hit 4-iron and I kind of was trying to miss in the bunker and I kind of pulled it a little bit and the wind took it.

Q. Heading into tomorrow, the round of -- actually real quick, I know you guys have played separately in four-ball before, but have you had much experience together before this playing four-ball or is this kind of you guys' first time really being paired together?

YANA WILSON: We've had the team event in U.S. Kids Pinehurst, so I guess that really helped us. But before she obviously didn't hit it as far as she does now, but she hits it like a mile now, so it's a game changer totally. But yeah, like qualifying kind of got us a sense of kind of how we --

CHLOE KOVELESKY: Play together, yeah.

YANA WILSON: I kind of knew how she plays and how I played, and I knew that would click.

CHLOE KOVELESKY: We ended up getting exempt after we qualified.

Q. Through WAGR?

CHLOE KOVELESKY: Especially once we got to match play, I knew I was going to start playing super aggressive. Obviously it doesn't work out every time, so it was good knowing Yana can hit it and she'll hit it within 10 feet and she'll have a good chance at birdie.

YANA WILSON: I kind of just go out and I kind of hit the ball and hope it's good. But I don't know. I hit some shots that were really good today, but I keep getting bad breaks. Like on the last hole, I hit the ball, I land over the bunker and it bounces back in the bunker. I'm like, okay, this is not -- same thing on 1. I was in the bunker again on 1, which I did a couple days ago. Then I was right in the trees on 2. I don't know, maybe I should change what I'm doing on 2, but I think it'll actually work out.

Q. After you guys won holes 6, 7 and 8 and you have the lead going into the back nine, what are your thoughts? Are you changing anything because you have a lead of three or four or are you still kind of --

CHLOE KOVELESKY: I had the same mindset.

YANA WILSON: I just wanted to extend the lead as much as possible and get done with the round as early as possibly because I did not get enough sleep last night, so I'm like, I want more sleep.

CHLOE KOVELESKY: Yeah, I was kind of thinking the same thing. It was like, I want to extend it because obviously it gives room for if something goes wrong, you make a mistake or -- but I think like once we got to 3-up, we were like, okay, let's just keep doing what we're doing because if you start playing like where you're trying to play conservative and safe, then you kind of start playing worse because you're not really playing to your full potential.