THE LPGA DRIVE ON CHAMPIONSHIP

January 26, 2024

Mel Reid

Bradenton Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Joined by Mel Reid after her second round here at the LPGA Drive On Championship. What's the week kind of been like and some of the differences you've seen between your two rounds?

MEL REID: My driver has been really poor actually, which is usually my strength. I don't think I've hit it this bad in a while.

Hit it great yesterday. Felt like my iron play was really, really good. I didn't quite hit it as good today, but it's golf, isn't it, sometimes. You don't think you hit it as well and you shoot a lower score.

But, yeah, first time back for me on the LPGA since September, so obviously very happy.

Q. What about this course maybe kind of suits your strengths, and what are you still trying to figure out?

MEL REID: It's a tough golf course. It's very tricky. There's not a big difference from 3-over and 3-under, to be quite honest with you. The greens are very severe. They've definitely softened up over the last couple of days, which has been nice because with the wind and stuff expected, it would have been a bit treacherous.

You've just got to hit it in the right spots, I think, especially in your approach shots. That's probably the main thing because it can get away from you very quickly.

Q. You just mentioned we haven't seen you since September. What have you been kind of working on since then? Obviously the big news, we can get to that a little bit later. Anything you've been working on to kind of prepare you for this year?

MEL REID: Yeah, I did a little prep obviously for the grant thorn invitational. I've obviously been busy with other things, and it's a lot. Trying to prep for a tournament having a little baby is a lot, and we're still trying to figure all that out.

I actually wasn't going to play this event. It was about two weeks ago my coach texted me and said, are you going to play Drive on? I was like no. Then I texted him 30 minutes later like, yeah, okay, I'll play.

We did two weeks worth of prep, and I felt like we got some really, really good work done. I've got to manage my time a little bit better these days. I think that's been a blessing in a way. I'm not at the golf course all day.

Q. We've seen little Kai around on the golf course. Has he gotten accustomed to being around the golf course? Have you gotten accustomed to being an LPGA mom now? What's it been like for you?

MEL REID: It's a lot. He's obviously 2-1/2 months old. If he wants to be fussy, he'll be fussy. He's a pretty chill baby, but it's a lot.

Obviously, I'm very thankful in Carly. She's been amazing. And she's not back at work yet, so she can kind of look after him while I'm trying to work out here. It's definitely different. He's crying at 3:00 a.m. and things like that. Sleep is not quite what it used to be.

Yeah, we're just doing our best and trying to figure out, and I'm trying to still be the best golfer that I can and the best mom I can, the best partner I can. We'll try and maneuver all that with a lot of moving pieces.

Q. Any good advice from some of the other moms out here?

MEL REID: Not really. I mean, people kind of say the days are slow and the years are fast. I actually can't believe he's almost 3 months already. It seems like only yesterday he was still in Carly's belly. It's life changing. Wouldn't change it for the world. He's awesome.

Q. Some more about your round today. You had a little better round than yesterday. What can that kind of do for your momentum, and what will you take away from your first two rounds into the rest of the weekend?

MEL REID: If I get my driver going -- I feel like I'm hitting my iron shots pretty decent. As long as I get that driver going, I'm just not hitting it quite as I would like to. If I start -- I'm going to just do a bit of work on the range. Then if I get that going, you never know. It's a long way to go yet.

Q. Maria and Alex joined the broadcast yesterday. You will be joining it this afternoon. Are you looking forward to it? Have you gotten advice from anyone? Maria or Jess or anyone that's done it before?

MEL REID: Yeah, I've done broadcasting before. I did the U.S. Open last year. Feel pretty comfortable in that space.

Just trying something new. I'm not going to play golf forever, and it's certainly something I'm interested in. Very grateful to Golf Channel for giving me an opportunity.

Hopefully I can give a bit of insight from a player's perspective, and people won't be sick of listening to me yet.