U.S. SENIOR WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

August 18, 2026

Becky Morgan

Barton Hills Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Here with Becky Morgan, 2025 U.S. Senior Women's Open champion. What has it been like returning as the defending champion this week at Barton Hills.

BECKY MORGAN: Yeah, obviously really cool having the trophy at home and stuff. It feels like yesterday, to be honest. It's really fun coming back here, and everyone is sort of remembering what happened last year. It was kind of a sad moment handing the trophy back a few months ago, but maybe I'll get another one; who knows.

Q. You played the front nine yesterday, played 18 today. What are your initial impressions of the course and the test you and the rest of the players this week are going to face?

BECKY MORGAN: It's pretty generous off the tee, and obviously the greens are big but you have to be in the right place. There's some quite tricky putts if you're above the flag and stuff, and obviously all the greens just fall off the sides. If you miss the green, the short game is pretty massive around here.

I like it. It's just kind of just getting used to -- like last week's greens were relatively small, so these are massive so getting in the right section and obviously not being too aggressive at times because obviously they're a little bit firmer. So if you're over the back, you're dead on most holes.

Q. The one thing you can't practice is competition. How do you get ready for this?

BECKY MORGAN: Yeah, that's good because like you were saying, I haven't played that many events. Last week was really good that it was before here, and obviously I finished fifth last week, so that was a good warmup event coming into here. I haven't played too many events this year. Obviously I got to play Riv, which was fun, kind of. I mean, what a great golf course. But that was my first competitive event of the year was the U.S. Open so I was thrown into the deep end.

The last couple of weeks were good just to get some more golf under my belt, so I feel ready for this week at least, so that's good.

Q. What are some of the fun things that the trophy experienced in the past year?

BECKY MORGAN: Yeah, I didn't -- Leta told me she took hers to a restaurant. I didn't do any of that stuff. But my local pub did throw me a surprise party, which was very nice. They gave me like a tiny little trophy, and one of the flags she hangs above the ladies' toilets. I was kind of a bit like, wow, thanks for that. So no, just a few little parties here and there, but I basically just had the trophy on top of my shelf in my living room. I didn't really ever take it out very much. Well, at all actually.

Q. How does it change how you view having this major title change how you view your career?

BECKY MORGAN: Well, obviously I didn't really win too many events at the LPGA Tour -- well, none actually, like European Tour. Everyone at home has been like really cool about it, and being a major champion is brilliant. It's something I obviously didn't really feel like I'd ever do.

It hasn't changed my life as such, but it's something that I'll obviously never forget, and it's great to have it in my resume, I guess.

Q. And a nice parking space too.

BECKY MORGAN: Yes, I did that video, of course, on the way in.

Q. Becky, first couple days you come back, you get to see a lot of the ladies that you played your whole career with and it's a great time. When does the light switch switch to the competitive side, as soon as you tee off on Thursday, or do you already have that in the back of your mind as the defending champion?

BECKY MORGAN: Yeah, I've got to get through the speech tonight first. That's what I've been thinking about for about 360 days. Yeah, I think as soon as it comes to Thursday -- obviously we're all really good friends but really competitive. Everyone wants to win. It's just such a nice atmosphere, even though we're still pretty competitive. Thursday morning when I tee off is when I'll be back to in the zone, I guess.