U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 6, 2026

Rachel Heck

The Honors Course

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, Rachel, it was a heck of a match. I heard you talking to Amelia after the round saying how much fun you were having and you forgot the feeling and the excitement of winning. Are those the overwhelming emotions?

RACHEL HECK: Oh, my gosh, yes. So much excitement. It was so fun to feel those emotions again, the adrenaline and the nerves. I haven't felt that in a long time, since Nationals probably my senior year, which was over two years ago now.

You know, this is the feeling I really wanted when I decided I wanted to get back into amateur golf and play some more. Like I wanted the opportunity to come down the stretch in a match and have my heart racing.

So out there when I was getting nervous or hit a bad shot I kept reminding myself this is why I came back to play.

Q. We've seen this before. You play some very eventful matches. What is it about match play that just brings out the best in you?

RACHEL HECK: Match play is just such a fun format because it is so easy to leave bad shots behind and move on to the next hole. I had a couple just -- I found myself in some interesting situations to say the least. But it's just so easy to leave those behind, laugh it off, and then get fired up for the next hole.

So match play is just a blast. I was commentating the U.S. Girls last week for -- or couple weeks ago -- for the Golf Channel, and I was just thinking oh, what I would give to play a match right now. That looks so fun.

And so, yesterday I spent the whole afternoon refreshing the leaderboard. I showed up here at 7:00 a.m. because I thought I might be in a playoff. All I could think about was like I just want to be in a match so badly. I want a tee times.

Q. Yeah. Then what's it like to just advance to match play and then win a match that big in your home state? I know you didn't grow up in this part of Tennessee, but can you talk about who is here supporting you and what it means to get the win in your home state?

RACHEL HECK: Oh, my gosh, even though I'm not from this part of the Tennessee everyone makes me feel like this is my hometown. All the Tennessee crowd has really come out to support and that's meant so much to me. My parents are here, my fiance a here, and a lot of little girls are out here from the Tennessee Golf Association, which makes my heart just so, so full.

So they showed me a lot of love this week and I really, really appreciate it.