MIZUHO AMERICAS OPEN

May 8, 2026

Jennifer Kupcho

Mountain Ridge Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Joining us after the second round of the Mizuho Americas Open is Jennifer Kupcho. Jennifer, got to a hot start on the front nine today. Talk about what was going well out there.

JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, I think early this morning on the front nine there was definitely a lot less wind, hardly any at all really. It was a lot easier to get closer to the pins and honestly just be a little bit more aggressive with the putts.

Come the back nine when it was windy, as it is right now, I think you kind of have to be a little bit careful not to putt to, say, ten feet by or more or even off the green. The greens are really fast, so you just have to think about it and just be careful about what you're doing.

Q. Yeah, the conditions are definitely tricky out here. Can you give us some insight into playing the morning today versus the afternoon yesterday?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, I think -- I don't know how was it yesterday morning, but definitely yesterday afternoon I feel like it was windier like at the start and then it calmed down.

So I don't know if they got wind in the morning but for us in in the afternoon I feel like it was kind of like this morning for us. Not a whole lot of wind. Like not an unplayable course I guess I would say.

Q. And then the back nine is playing a lot trickier. 18 is playing a whole shot above par today. Can you give us some insight into what specifically it is about the back nine that's tripping people up?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: I mean, hard to say honestly. Like 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, all of those hole pin placements were on the sides of a hill. For the wind and the speed we're playing the greens, I don't know that they're going to be playable this afternoon, to be quite honest.

It's a really hard golf course. All of those greens on the back nine are also just more undulated, so there is nowhere to put the pins. Like it's just a really hard greens and that's what it is, so...

Q. To that point, a lot of people have been saying it plays like a major course. Are you feeling that?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, definitely. You definitely have to think through everything. Think about the miss. Think about -- I mean, sometimes in U.S. Opens I definitely think about, okay, I'm just going to lay this 10-footer up so that I can have a tap-in instead of a five-footer back up the hill.

You kind of just have to take your medicine sometimes.

Q. I can see you're wearing like an Under Armour, a number of layers.

JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah.

Q. We some of the players literally running from 18 into the clubhouse. Describe the factor with that. Have you been around like a Northeast winter in a little bit or like --

JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, I'm from Colorado so I'm used to the cold. I mean, it's not bad until the wind picks up.

Kind of once you get to the bottom of the hill it doesn't hit you as hard down there. Definitely up here at the top and when we're finishing, yeah, it gets cold the last couple holes.

Q. Last thing: What's your plan going into the weekend? You're in such a good spot right now.

JENNIFER KUPCHO: Just go out there and keep playing smart. You never know what can hit you. I think you put yourself in one bad spot and you can make a triple, so just playing smart, just continuing to hopefully put myself in good positions, and if not, take my medicine where I need to.