U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

May 29, 2025

Hailee Cooper

Erin Hills GC

Flash Interview

Q. (In progress.)

HAILEE COOPER: I was hitting it really well after the first few holes, just hitting it off the tee keeping it in play, keeping it in the short grass, which is nice. And I was rolling some par putts really well.

Q. I believe it's your first U.S. Open since maybe 2018. Coming in as your second one, what's different about having done one before?

HAILEE COOPER: Well, this time I'm a professional, so it's a little different. Last time I really just wanted to make the cut. This time I came in and making the cut would be great, but I was like, I want to play a little better if I can.

Q. Some reactions to how Erin Hills played today, maybe based on what you saw in the practice rounds?

HAILEE COOPER: Yeah, the wind was different today than the practice rounds, any of them. Couple holes played shorter, which was nice; didn't have a 3-wood into a par-4. But then some of the par-5s weren't as reachable.

But overall I played well, the greens were still quick, it was just kind of adjusting to the green speed.

Q. What's been clicking?

HAILEE COOPER: I don't know, I think mentally I'm just really comfortable on the golf course, which for a while I wasn't. There's still shots I get over that I might have to back off, but for a while I was playing golf really scared.

So now I think I'm playing a bit more free, which is nice.

Q. What does it mean to you to be back here with the opportunity to do something financially?

HAILEE COOPER: Making money would be nice (laughing). I like to make money. But I think just being here at the U.S. Open there's not -- growing up I didn't think I would ever get to play a U.S. Open, so whenever I qualified in 2018 it was really cool.

Little girl me was freaking out. And now here still I'm like, this is my second one, might be the last one I ever play, so just really enjoy it. So, yeah.

Q. Back-to-back top 5 finishes for you on the Epson Tour heading into this week. How much did that lend into some confidence coming into Erin Hills?

HAILEE COOPER: I thought it was going to be great. I was really nervous coming in to this week. This morning I was really nervous. First tee jitters. I was really nervous.

But I think overall once I got through that first hole I was able to kind of lean into that and be like, you've been playing well, you've been hitting a lot of fairways, hitting a lot of greens, so just kind of tap into that. And at least I know where the ball's going, so that's nice, but, yeah.

Q. You talked about the nerves. With it being your second start here, how different were the nerves coming this into this start versus your last one?

HAILEE COOPER: Well, last time I was really scared to shank it on the driving range. This time I wasn't as nervous to shank it on the driving range, but nobody was on the right side of me, so it was okay. (Laughing).

No, I think this time was more I was expecting something from myself. I've been playing well so I was like, I just kind of expect a good finish. I think after I got through that first hole I got up-and-down for a par I was like, oh, it's okay. Now you can kind of get comfortable. So just getting back to being comfortable.

Q. How much has the Epson Tour helped you for this moment?

HAILEE COOPER: Yeah, the competition on the Epson Tour is awesome. Obviously Ingrid has won out here and we got to play together last year. The players, a lot of players have come down from the LPGA losing their card, stuff like that, so we get a lot of experienced players.

Week-to-week it's a grind. You have to play your A golf out there to win. It's been a really good challenge, test, and warm-up for this week. Not a warm-up, but it's been really good competition leading up to this week.

Q. Obviously as I've said your game's playing well, back-to-back top 5s. How does your game feel and how does that translated to Erin Hills?

HAILEE COOPER: You have to hit the ball straight off the tee. I've been hitting a lot of fairways, a lot of greens. Out here there's a couple holes you have to place the ball in like an eight yard area, ten yard area, and I've been more comfortable doing that, being more spot on with the ball striking.

So I think just hitting the ball straight. I've lost a little bit of distance this year and it was kind of on purpose to kind of straighten it out. I think it's helped my game overall, so I'll take it if it's 245, 250 down the middle, it's okay.