THE G4D OPEN

May 17, 2025

Daphne van Houten

Press Conference

Q Tell us about your round today. You must have been delighted to get such a good round, 79, after the challenges of the first two days. How do you feel about that?

DAPHNE VAN HOUTEN: I felt very happy. In the beginning I was still struggling a little bit but I got well through the first three holes which are quite difficult for us and that gave me a kind of boost. I was striking the ball better plus I had the pace of the putting, of course I still got in trouble in some places because it's a tough course. But I'm very happy. The finish it was more seeing if I can make birdie instead of par, and that is what we were doing the first to days, saying, oh with, we made a par and let's get to the next one. It was just kind of chasing birdies at the end, not 18 but the holes before, it I had many chances for birdie which felt amazing. I haven't shot under 80 on this course yet because it's very tight, long, difficult, and I'm very happy that I shot under 18 today.

Q You've had a tough two years health-wise, so how proud are you, even despite the challenges this week, you got your focus on. How proud are you to have won the event and won the tournament?

DAPHNE VAN HOUTEN: I'm very proud because this morning I woke up and I said to my boyfriend, I don't know about today. The two days before, I stood up every time I wake up not fine but I got it going. Today, I didn't feel fine. I didn't feel comfortable, a little fever. But once I got on the course, you go in some kind of focus that you completely forget about all the problems that you have physically. Of course sometimes I got dizzy and I need to manage that. So I am very proud because I didn't expect this morning when I woke up to even finish the round, and then to shoot 79 and then also show some good golf, I'm very proud to show that. It does a lot for me that I've been sick for two years now, and I just feel my strength really going down because I cannot do much in the day. So I lose a lot of that.

So yeah, it's getting more tougher and tougher and tougher to finish all the round. So I'm very proud of myself that I finished the round and then also played good and won.

Q What was it like playing Jennifer playing today? Did you have a good battle in the sunshine? Did you both enjoy it?

DAPHNE VAN HOUTEN: We enjoyed it a lot. I think Jennifer was a bit nervous like we spoke about yesterday. I did have a bit of advantage that I know how it is to play with crowds and with live scoring and with people watching and the pressure. That's the main point where I got a few shots difference, and then I got in a bit more comfortable position, and it went a bit like that to grow, getting further and further away from her. She still showed very good golf. It was just not where she was not sharp in the putting and the chipping. You see the nerves come and the nerves take over a little bit. It's beautiful -- I don't know how to say that. It's nice to see that it does something with a person like it also does for me. I just hope she improves on this and next year we fight and I hope she enjoyed it, as well, just like I did. It was a pleasure playing with her and Amy. We had a lot of fun. You don't always see that when people are competing. You don't always see that it's a lot of fun. It's been very nice.

Q What's it like to be the defending champion and win three times in a row?

DAPHNE VAN HOUTEN: That feels amazing. I'm very proud I won it two times in a row now because it's a very difficult course which I struggle quite a lot with. So I'm very proud on that part, and also I was sharing the lead now with Jennifer, and it does put some pressure on me because people expect me, maybe, to win.

So you do think about that. But like if Jennifer won, I would have been very happy for her, and then that is what it is, and that's how I went on the course, which took some pressure off, luckily.

Q What did you think about the organisation of the event by the R&A?

DAPHNE VAN HOUTEN: It's been run amazing. Everything is here what you need. The first day was cold. I had a lot of back pain. We had a physio. The physio got me a lot better straightaway. The next day I went again, and today I was smooth, turning well, not a lot of back pain. That kind of stuff here is amazing, just how it's set up. It's set up like a major event, and they do very fine. The course is in terrific condition. I think it's the biggest tournament we have.