U.S. GIRLS' JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

July 17, 2025

Chloe Kovelesky

Atlanta Athletic Club (Riverside Course)

Quick Quotes

Q. Chloe, marathon match here, marathon finish here at the end. Just talk through what you were feeling when -- how did you win the hole?

CHLOE KOVELESKY: I won with a par.

Q. Walk me through kind of that specifically, the closing hole, emotions when you made the putt.

CHLOE KOVELESKY: I didn't hit a great drive, wasn't in a great spot, but I kind of did what I could and just tried to land it on the front and let it run out to the back. In the early part of our match on that hole, I had a pretty similar putt. So what I ended up having, being the two-putt. I knew just try to two-putt it and see what happens. That ended up working out pretty well.

You know, it's been a long day, so it's just been a little crazy. Definitely a really good match. She's a great player. Honestly, the last three matches have been great matches. It's just been a long, great day, but it's been really fun.

Q. What were some of the highlights? Did you have any highlight shots? Anything you sunk really close or some highlight putts?

CHLOE KOVELESKY: I hadn't made a birdie all day, and then I made three birdies in a row to get the match -- actually, we tied two holes with birdies, and I won the third one to get back to even, lost the next hole, ended up winning 17. The three birdies was definitely pretty helpful.

I think obviously the best putt I had to have made was the putt on hole No. 1.

Q. 19?

CHLOE KOVELESKY: Sorry, yes, hole 19. I had 13 feet to keep going, and it went in right in the middle, so that was really good.

That, and I made a really good putt on hole 15 to win the hole with birdie. It was the first nice putt to see drop, so that was really good. Definitely a lot of confidence going into tomorrow.

Q. How long would you say that putt was, the last one you mentioned? The first birdie you made, I think you just said.

CHLOE KOVELESKY: It wasn't the first birdie, it was the third birdie, but it was to win the hole. We had tied the other two with birdies, and that one was -- it was probably like 20 feet. I was happy to see that one go in, but it was a speedy putt. It was definitely downhill and breaking a good bit.

It was good to see that one finally fall and string three in a row together. It was nice.

Q. I'm curious to know about your emotions and nerves, any pressure you felt, especially coming down the stretch on 18 knowing you were going to 19 and then 20 and 21.

CHLOE KOVELESKY: On the first round, I went to 19. So we passed that territory.

Q. Familiar territory.

CHLOE KOVELESKY: Familiar to know that it's probably going to happen. Again, when you're playing really good players, that tends to happen. We both were just kind of hitting shot for shot and trying to match each other. Definitely ended up being a really good match, but it was definitely great to get the win out there.

Q. How do you feel you've been managing, obviously Georgia in the summer, the heat, long days. You've been doing it for the last few days. You know you have at least 18, maybe 36 tomorrow.

CHLOE KOVELESKY: Second round I had -- the second stroke play round I had a really late tee time. I definitely struggled the last couple holes, like just with my swing. I was definitely like, okay, I think I need to do a little better job eating.

Coach Ryan's done a really good job on the bag and definitely, hey, eating and drinking, make sure you're staying hydrated, make sure you're staying with it. That definitely played a really big part coming down the stretch today, especially since we played, I don't know, like 22 holes, I think.

Q. Just now, yeah, 22 holes.

CHLOE KOVELESKY: 22 holes. That definitely played a big part. It's a long day, so you've just got to definitely eat, drink, and do everything you can to keep your body in shape and keep your body just going. Definitely going to take that into account and go eat and go to bed right now.

Q. Talk a little bit about the course, your impressions to start the week, and anything that might have surprised you throughout the week. Today specifically, I know that I believe they moved the tee. Was that yesterday when they moved the tees up on one of the par-4s?

CHLOE KOVELESKY: Yeah, it's 14. Funny enough, I love 14. There's a funny story behind it. In my first match, they moved the tee up, and I was so sad because I just hit a really bad shot and it did not go very well. It went into the whatever that is, creek thing.

Today I clubbed down because of the wind. I do not know how my ball ended up over the green, but it did, and it was sitting really far down in the rough. I did not -- I'm going to say I didn't expect to get it up-and-down, but I said I have to try and hit this, and whatever happens with this ball. You don't know how it's going to react out of the rough, and it ended up going to like seven feet and I made birdie, so it was really good. And I had sprinkler heads in the way, so it was like come on. That was a really good birdie.

The golf course is incredible. This golf course is in phenomenal shape. Atlanta Athletic Club and the members do such a great job hosting. I came out here for the first U.S. National Team camp last year, beginning of last year, and the golf course was in incredible shape then, and the members treated us so well. Same thing again now.

It's just incredible, and I'm so grateful they have us out here this week because it's definitely in great shape. Just all the stuff they do in the locker room. They've given us a gift every day. That's just more than they need to do. It's really awesome to be treated that way.

Q. I have to ask, having played here obviously during camp and then coming back out, did you feel coming in pretty confident with kind of your, quote, unquote, local knowledge?

CHLOE KOVELESKY: I only played one round out here, but definitely it was nice to just at least have a sort of look on the golf course. I think that it was definitely the golf course is playing a little different than it did then.

It absolutely poured that time we had camp, so the golf course was soft. The greens were pretty -- not slow, but the greens are a lot quicker now, and everything's a lot firmer. Golf balls are running out. Fairways are running out. We didn't play the same set of tees. It's definitely been a little bit different, but it's been awesome. This golf course is incredible.

I was really looking forward to coming back, so I'm happy to be back here. Closing out my junior career here.

Q. Last question, how do you approach tomorrow, the rest of tonight?

CHLOE KOVELESKY: I'm going to go eat. I'm going to go to bed, and I'm going to get up and do it again.