AIG WOMEN'S OPEN

July 29, 2026

Miyu Yamashita

Press Conference

MIKE WOODCOCK: Good morning everyone. We'll make a start to our first press conference of the day.

Delighted to welcome to the interview room or defending champion Miyu Yamashita. If I could begin by asking you just how much it means to you come into this week to try to defend your trophy that you won so well last year at Royal Porthcawl.

MIYU YAMASHITA: Yeah, something I'm really looking forward to and just really excited to get started for the first round tomorrow.

MIKE WOODCOCK: We haven't had someone who has managed to defend this since Yani Tseng in 2011. How much would that mean if you could achieve that this week?

MIYU YAMASHITA: Yani Tseng winning in 2011 was of course an amazing achievement. To be here again, to have the chance to be the defending champion, is something I really look forward to, and just got to focus on the golf and my performance this week.

MIKE WOODCOCK: We'll take questions from the floor.

Q. What was your favourite reaction from the public in Japan when you went home after the victory last year?

MIYU YAMASHITA: When I went back to Japan it was more than what I realized as a reaction he would get. So many people cheering me on. Rather than one person, I just say the overall support I got was just amazing and something that I couldn't have imagined and something I was very, very appreciative of.

Q. Also, your family and friends when you first got in contact with them afterwards, had they all been watching on television, and what was the reaction when you saw them in person?

MIYU YAMASHITA: My family was amazing to see them actually on site as well. They were there when I won, so to be able to celebrate with them straight after the win was a lot of fun.

When I got back to Japan, to have people close to me and celebrate with them was something that I will treasure.

Q. A final one: Who were your heros growing up and what are your memories of the first Women's Open that you watched on television?

MIYU YAMASHITA: Well from a young age my earliest memories were watching Tiger Woods on television. From that moment on I knew I wanted to be on Tour and be able to battle against the top players in the world. Always enjoyed watching him throughout my younger life.

To be out here competing with all these top professionals on the LPGA and playing in tournaments like this is something that I really appreciate and I really enjoy, and it's something that, yeah, I don't forget to appreciate when I'm here.

Q. Hello. What are your impressions of Royal Lytham and can you share a little bit of your strategy?

MIYU YAMASHITA: I think first impression was that there was just a lot of bunkers on this golf course.

The wind, because this course is so close to the sea, the wind is very strong. That's something I'm going to have to navigate through this week. It's definitely going to be a challenge.

But staying out of those bunkers and making sure I manage myself well around this golf course is going to be key to a good performance this week.

Q. I understand your brother is here this week.

MIYU YAMASHITA: Yes.

Q. Could you describe your relationship and his game? I know he's a professional player.

MIYU YAMASHITA: My brother, has had a mixed run of results it's fair to say since he started on the TOUR, but we often practise together. My father is both our coach and we practise together at home and it's actually his first event that he's seeing me outside of Japan.

So hoping he can enjoy to this week and I think it's something he's really looking forward to as well as am I.

Q. So how much fun do you have playing golf, being a professional golfer? What are the things that you enjoy the most?

MIYU YAMASHITA: I love every part of golf, yeah.

Q. Anything in specific? Anything you like the most?

MIYU YAMASHITA: I really look forward to every week the course is completely different, layout is different. So that's something I really -- talking about something specific that I really love about golf.

Q. One more thing: I know distance is not a big issue for you. I see you making eagles on some of the majors. A little player like you, myself, I wonder how do you work on distance and if distance -- what other things are important in golf that are not distance?

MIYU YAMASHITA: As you say, I don't hit it the longest but things like short game and putting are really important to me and getting my distance control right is something I paid really, really close attention to, and something that's really helped my game.

Q. How does it feel to come into a major as a defending champion?

MIYU YAMASHITA: Just something I'm really looking forward to. Tomorrow I've got a great pairing, something that's really exciting. Just can't wait to get started.