MIZUHO AMERICAS OPEN

May 7, 2026

Brooke Matthews

Mountain Ridge Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Joining us after the first round of the Mizuho Americas Open is Brooke Matthews. Brooke, really fiery front nine. Can you just talk about what was going well for you out there?

BROOKE MATTHEWS: Yeah, pretty much everything was going well. Hit a lot of good shots, had a lot of perfect numbers, and obviously was making a lot of putts.

Snuck an in on eagle on No. 6, so that always helps. And then, yeah, just kind of everything firing on the front.

Q. Yeah, people out here have talked a lot about how tricky these greens are. Like you said, you had a lot of putts going in. Can you talk about how specifically you were setting yourself up to make those putts?

BROOKE MATTHEWS: Yeah, definitely staying below the hole is a big key out here. If you get above the hole the greens are really, really fast, so it's really easy to give yourself some looks that you don't really have a good chance at making or a good chance of even getting close.

So trying to be strategic as you can with your approach shots in. Even sometimes it means you might even be further, but the greens are really fast and rolling really well, so even if you're 15, 20 feet, you could still have a chance to roll it in.

Q. We're playing this event at a different course this year obviously than the last few years and the conditions are a little tricky. There has been a lot of wind and rain. Can you just talk about what you think the key to success at this course specifically is?

BROOKE MATTHEWS: Yeah, definitely a little different than Liberty National. It's a second-shot golf course. Obviously you have to hit it really nicely off the tee, but there is a little bit if space out there on most of the holes.

So, yeah, just really -- you got to play chess out there. It's tough. You can't fire at pins. You're going to get yourself in some trouble if you try to fire at some pins, even when you have wedges in your hands sometimes.

So yeah, just really taking advantage of when you do have a good look at it, trying to make birdie. The par-5s are somewhat gettable out here. 17 was playing really hard today, but the other ones are pretty reachable, so also trying to take advantage of those.

Q. Can you talk about the difference between the front nine and the back nine here? I know the back is playing a little bit harder for most of the field today.

BROOKE MATTHEWS: Yeah, played a lot harder for me today. Yeah, the front nine both the par-5s are pretty gettable. There was also maybe a few pins that were a little bit nicer. One was a little nice; two, three even.

Yeah, the back nine they tucked them a little bit more. The wind kind of swirls back there. Was kind of hard to get a really good number and commit to some of the shots. The wind of kind of blowing away from the hole location so you had a lot of -- I had a lot of like 20-, 30-footers that you're just trying to lag up there for par. So I think that was the main difference for me.

Q. How do you erase that last hole and shrug your shoulders and just move on to tomorrow?

BROOKE MATTHEWS: Yeah, you just kind of have to. Obviously didn't finish exactly the way I would've liked to. Hit a good drive; it just ended up in the bunker by the lip; had to layup. Yeah, had a good look at par. Just ran it by a little bit and didn't make the one coming back.

I look back, I didn't do a lot wrong. Just kind of had a lot of things go well early in the round and that was just kind of the one that didn't go well.

And so I would have taken 4-under at the beginning of the day. Obviously a little bit disappointing now, but I feel like if I'm disappointed with that I'm in a good spot.

Just kind of go out tomorrow morning, it's going to be cold, and do our best.

Q. Can you speak to how you've learned to shake some of that stuff off maybe as you progressed in your career as a professional?

BROOKE MATTHEWS: Yeah, you just have to because, I mean, a bad hole is always coming. No matter how good you're playing something is going to happen. It's golf. You're going to get a bad break or have a bad swing.

If you're trying to be perfect out here you're going to have a really bad time. I definitely hit some terrible shots today and still ended up 4-under, so it is what it is.

It doesn't mean it's not frustrating, but you got to -- by the time you hit the next shot you got to kind of be as over it as you can.

Q. How do you build on this going forward on a golf course that a lot of people have said is playing like a major right now.

BROOKE MATTHEWS: Definitely. I don't know what it's to happen tomorrow or through the weekend. I'm happy that I'm off to at least a pretty good start. I feel like you just got to keep playing smart. You're going to make some bogeys out there. You got to take advantage when you do have the chance to make some birdies.

But, yeah, trying to take the big numbers out of play and just really thinking yourself around the golf course.