THE CHEVRON CHAMPIONSHIP

April 27, 2025

Mao Saigo

The Club at Carlton Woods

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Okay, here with Mao Saigo, the 2025 The Chevron Championship winner. Congratulations. What does it feel like to be here in the robe?

MAO SAIGO: It was my dream to earn this major. It is my first time to win this tournament, are and I was able to realize my dream and I'm very happy about this.

Q. That's awesome. You've come so close several times in just a short time on the LPGA Tour. What does it mean to finally get the win here at a major championship?

MAO SAIGO: Last year I was -- it was a very intention competition. I was so close but I was not able to make it. It was very disappointing. This year I was able to win and learn the LPGA title and I'm extremely excited about this.

Q. Can you just describe the jumping in the pond, too? Who jumped with you and why you want them to jump with you.

MAO SAIGO: Well, I was a bit too shy to jump in the pond by myself so I wanted to invite other people to jump in the pond with me.

Q. How strong after swimmer are you?

MAO SAIGO: I'm not really a good swimmer. When I went inside it was deep and at first I thought I was going to drown.

Q. What would you consider to be the most important shot that you hit down the stretch today?

MAO SAIGO: The 18 hole, the body and (indiscernible.) I think that was the most decisive moment, which was great.

Q. First off, huge congratulations to you today for competing as hard as you did. Starting off, first round 2-under, second round 6-under, third round 9-under, and five-man playoff, 7-under. How did you manage to maintain your mental and physical game to make it to where you're sitting at right now?

MAO SAIGO: A lot to do with the fact that the accumulation of my hard work, too. I also wanted to win for my team who has worked so hard for me.

So it was a playoff with a lot of people, as many as five people, and I was determined to fight through and not escape.

Q. You actually join many of Japan's greatest golfers in major titles. How does it feel to knowing you represented your country so well and with so much decorum this week?

MAO SAIGO: This time a lot of Japanese players took on the challenge to do this, and my predecessors have also earned majors and I really thought I needed to catch up with them as much as possible.

But instead of applying too much pressure on myself, I wanted to respect each process and move forward steadily. It's true that my predecessors have paved the way for me, but I also wanted to be myself and play this golf tournament.

Q. Now all I can really ask is what's next for you after winning this major? What's next for Mao Saigo?

MAO SAIGO: I still have four more majors to go, and I want to shoot for No. 1 in the world. I will do my best in the remaining four majors.

Q. You saw a number of great shots on 18 before you hit yours. How do you maintain your composure and what was your thought process before you hit your approach shot on 18 in the playoff?

MAO SAIGO: With the distance between the will real 18 and the playoff 18, the distance was only one yard. The line was pretty much the same, so I think I was lucky in that in a sense.

When I did the real 18, I decided to enter like the speed at the real 18 and do a good playoff as well.

I think I was very lucky in that the distance was pretty similar.

Q. Japan has had a lot of the success in major championships over the last couple seasons. What do you attribute the Japanese success in majors to?

MAO SAIGO: Truthfully, I don't really know the answer to that, but everybody has been taking their play seriously.

I've been seeing my predecessors sores being serious about their own play as well and staying very focused, so I think whatever mental state they had reflected in the results.

Q. How will you celebrate besides the jump?

MAO SAIGO: Next week and the week after next, I really need to be in the zone for the tournaments. I'm so happy I can't even think about how I'm going to celebrate.

What I can think off the top of my head right now and I want my manager to cook something really good and then give me some rest.

Q. On the incoming stretch for the sudden death playoff, Lin (sic) actually had a chance to make birdie and missed it. It was like a domino effect for everybody to make bogey. How do you feel in that moment after everyone else had that opportunity and they had missed it?

MAO SAIGO: I was so laser focused and nervous and really in the zone. All I could think of is the ball in front of me. I couldn't see anything else.

I was shaking from nervousness, but I did my best to calm down and I shot and it went in.

Q. Can I ask how long your putt was on the playoff hole?

MAO SAIGO: I think it was about a meter or so.

THE MODERATOR: All right, thank you so much, Mao, congratulations.

MAO SAIGO: Thank you.