U.S. SENIOR WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

August 19, 2025

Juli Inkster

San Diego Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Please welcome to the interview area Juli Inkster. How does it feel to be back at the Senior Women's Open?

JULI INKSTER: It feels great. It's great to be in the West Coast/San Diego area, so I'm looking forward to it.

Q. Talk a little bit about the golf course.

JULI INKSTER: The golf course is good. The greens are kind of -- the defense here is the wind. It seems it always comes up around 11:00, 12:00. I think the course setup looks good.

But I think -- you can hit the ball well and still have some issues, so it's going to be a good test.

Q. You took a few trips out here. You just mentioned your daughter lives out this way. What have you learned about the course in those advance trips?

JULI INKSTER: You know, I thought it was great to get out here. It reminds me a little bit of the greens at Pasatiempo, the poa, a lot of undulation. It reminds me a little bit of Newport Country Club.

I think it's a good test. Around the green, there's a lot of different grasses and stuff. I think it's very important that you hit a lot of greens this week.

Q. You are fresh off an LPGA start, your first in a few years. Talk about what last week was like?

JULI INKSTER: It was good. I was nervous teeing off. I hadn't played in an LPGA event in a long time, and I'm probably 40 years -- no, 35 years older than a lot of them.

But I'm glad I played. I didn't get to play in the LPGA Seniors this year. I did play in Toledo but that was only two days, and I just felt like -- I always come in here, and even though I practice, it's not the same as tournament golf. Kind of that's why I did it.

Q. Is it difficult to stay competitive ready or do the old instincts kick in when you get on that first tee?

JULI INKSTER: What's different is I have never been the best ball striker or putter or whatever, but I was always a grinder. It's just hard grinding for 18 holes now. Mentally it's just hard to stay in it because you don't do it.

But I thought -- I really played well the first day. The second day I didn't play as well. But there's not a lot of times I'm up at 5:30 for a 7:30 tee time now. Your body is different.

So I think that was good for me to have an early time like that to kind of figure out what I need to do.

Q. I think one of the things fans don't appreciate completely is being able to do that four days in a row, to stay focused --

JULI INKSTER: Yeah, stay focused for 72 holes when you don't do it that much. But I was super impressed with the girls last week. Just up and down the line, the swings, it was impressive.

Q. With the LPGA celebrating its 75th anniversary, what has your time as a member meant to you?

JULI INKSTER: Well, it's meant the world to me and my family. For someone that fell into golf, it's just been a great ride. I can't thank the founders enough and the people that come before me for giving me the opportunity to do something I love to do and make a living and be competitive.

Q. How proud are you of the Tour's growth over those years too?

JULI INKSTER: Yeah, I am. I'm super proud of the way we've grown the game. I think the younger generation can do a little better with growing the game and helping sponsors out and really being involved in trying to get the game into a better place.

I know that's what we tried to do, and they're playing for a lot of money now, and they probably don't think they need to do that, but they need to do that. Hopefully with our new commissioner, we can start to get some of that back on track.