U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

May 31, 2025

Maja Stark

Erin Hills GC

Flash Interview

THE MODERATOR: Maja Stark, 2-under 70. Maja, tough conditions out there and you played great. Just your reaction to that round.

MAJA STARK: I think me and my caddie did a good job of not putting ourselves in bad positions. There's a lot of runoffs, especially today. They put the pins in some really nasty places. I feel like we played real smart today.

Obviously you never hit all the shots you want to, so I just think we played really smart, and I got a couple of good par putts that I made.

I'm really happy with the steady round.

Q. You worked hard for years to be in this position, leading going into the final round of a major. What will the mindset be like tomorrow?

MAJA STARK: Probably going to go work out in the morning to try to get some nerves out, but I think just keep having fun with it because when I play scared, that's when I mess up, and you can't really play scared at a course like this.

I think I'm just going to pretend that it's any round and accept the nerves that I'm going to have and just focus on my processes.

Q. We saw players chip it over greens, putt off greens. We don't face these conditions; tell us what it's like to face these kind of conditions when the greens get like this.

MAJA STARK: It's so hard because they tend to put holes that are right on the edges of the slopes so you can see going into the grain and up until the hole, and then after the hole you just see that the grain is going the other way. It's just so hard to get the distances right. It's really scary when you know if you putt this five feet by, then that's gone.

So yeah, it's just a big test.

Q. I believe you finished second at the Chevron earlier this year. What did you get out of that experience that you can take into this final round going in with the lead?

MAJA STARK: That was last year.

Q. Playing with a lead, how can you go in and what's your approach going into tomorrow?

MAJA STARK: I think I'm just going to try to play freely. I think that no one has ever played well when they've been playing scared, and I think that's been my habit before, to just kind of try to hang on to it.

Q. When you look at major champions from Sweden, what would it mean to add your name to a list like that with Alfie, Annika, Anna, and Liselotte?

MAJA STARK: That would be so cool because it feels like there are a lot of Swedes right now. Ingrid and Madelene just won a couple months ago. It's going to feel nice to finally feel like I'm up there contending again because it feels like it's been a while.

Q. What's the key to your mentality at a major? Is there something you do to really keep yourself calm?

MAJA STARK: I've just been telling myself that when I get nervous over shots, I just tell myself, okay, but how can I make myself proud right now. I make myself proud by sticking to my routines, sticking to my key swing thought, and I think that calms me down and it makes me feel like I've done everything that I can and that I can control.

If the wind gusts up then that's fine and I'm going to end up in a bad spot, but hopefully our strategy is good enough that we don't end up in that many bad spots.

Q. What were your expectations coming into the week, and how do you make sure they don't get out of hand tomorrow?

MAJA STARK: My expectations were somewhat low. I haven't been playing that well lately, so I feel like I've just been waiting for a breakthrough or whatever.

I'm really happy with how I've played so far and just the mentality that I've had.

I mean, anything can happen. The ball is round. The course is hard. I'm just going to try to do the best that I can and follow my processes, and obviously I'm playing against 80 other people, but I'm mostly playing against myself, and I'm going to try to do the best that I can.