DANA OPEN PRESENTED BY MARATHON

July 14, 2023

Maria Fassi

Highland Meadows Golf Club

Quick Quotes

THE MODERATOR: We're joined now by Maria Fassi. Maria, back-to-back 67s. Just talk about your two rounds here so far and, yeah, here at the Dana Open.

MARIA FASSI: Yeah, really different one from the other. I think yesterday I was just very close to the pin all day. I had a lot of birdie opportunities and didn't necessarily convert all of 'em. I think today I got off to a little slower start and even through the middle of the round like I was just kind of giving myself 20, 25-footers all day and just not seeing many birdie looks. I was able to finish with three birdies, 16, 17 and 18. I knew those two par-5s, they're great opportunities for that down the stretch. Managed to make a longer putt on 16. So happy with where we're at. But I think there's still a lot of birdies out there for me and a lot of work for us to do to be ready for the weekend.

THE MODERATOR: We've heard that a lot that the par-5s here are prime for some scoring opportunities. What have you seen that are some of the keys to taking advantage of those?

MARIA FASSI: Yeah, like I said, I mean, yesterday I didn't birdie any of the par-5s. I knew that was something that I needed to work on. I managed to birdie two out of three today. I think that they, the par-5s, especially number 7, I think it's a tricky little green. It's firm and it's hard to get close to some of those pins.

And then I think 17 and 18, if you're just out of position in the fairway it's hard to give yourself a good layup or even attempt to going for it in two. So I think that the tee shots are extremely important to kind of set you up for success and I was able to do that well today and looking forward for the next couple days hopefully we can go deeper than that.

THE MODERATOR: What's going to be that mindset as you take on these next couple days here at Highland Meadows?

MARIA FASSI: Well, I love this golf course. It's one of my favorite golf courses that we play. I think we have such a good game plan. I don't think anything changes. Hopefully more birdies come and I give myself plenty of chances for those, but like I said, we just have such a good game plan that we just have to stick to it and stay patient because on a day like today I was just 1-under par with three to go and walked out of there 4-under.

So I think there's plenty of opportunities and there's plenty of people at the top that are going to be taking those, so I think whenever you do get one you just have to convert and hope that you're converting more than everybody else.

THE MODERATOR: You mentioned it, sticking with your game plan. When you played a course multiple times how do you balance drawing back on what's worked in the past at this course versus what you're trying to work through right now and focus on?

MARIA FASSI: Yeah, I mean, I think most of the tee boxes are in similar spots. There's a few that have been moved back, there's a few that are new tee boxes for us this year. So I think that's kind of fun in its own way. I think it's nice -- like I played very good golf here and I kind of just try to go back and remember those good shots in case I'm kind of struggling through the day. But I know it's a golf course that you can go deep.

Like I said, I think we have a very good game plan combining what I knew from the past to kind of what I'm doing right now with my caddie and I think between what I know and what he knows we've done it all right. We have two more days to go as low as we can and then hope for the best on Sunday.

THE MODERATOR: Is there anything different this week that has just been clicking that maybe hasn't been in some of your previous starts this year?

MARIA FASSI: I mean, yeah, I mean I think I've been seeing a lot of growth and a lot of improvement. I don't think I had been able to play 18 good holes. I think I always had a hole or two per round that would kind of hold me back. I think again the golf course that's gettable in a way like this one, if you make a couple mistakes they are going to cost you a lot, just because people are making a lot of birdies. So I think for me it's been that. I mean, I only made two bogeys this week and we will hope to keep that to a minimum as well this weekend. But I think that's been the biggest difference. Like, I've made some birdies, but I've really haven't made many mistakes and I think it's showing with how I'm playing and with how good our game plan is.