U.S. SENIOR WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

August 23, 2026

Maria McBride

Barton Hills Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Please welcome into the interview area Maria McBride, eighth U.S. Senior Women's Open champion. You played in 16 USGA championships and four of these championships. How does it feel to be a USGA champion?

MARIA McBRIDE: It's amazing obviously. It was a huge goal for me to try to get the trophy. Maybe not this year, but maybe in the next few years. So it's been an amazing two weeks.

THE MODERATOR: Speaking of that, back-to-back major wins. You were the LPGA Legends champion last week. How big was that for the confidence going into this week in this USGA Championship?

MARIA McBRIDE: Yeah, it was big obviously, and knowing that coming down the stretch me and Angela was really tight playing the last hole. We were tied playing the last hole. I made a birdie on the last, and that really boosted my game.

Then having a big lead coming into today is sometimes a little hard because, you know, you feel like I shouldn't really lose that many shots. But with the wind today as well, it was a little bit trickier than it's been the previous days, and I started off a little rough, but you know, the chip-in on 9 kind of turned everything around for me.

THE MODERATOR: The first eight holes you said you were 4-over. How big was that chip at the turn going into the back nine with Annika on the charge right behind you?

MARIA McBRIDE: Yes, it was huge obviously, and I tried to tell myself, you know -- I was only after obviously eight holes I was one behind all of a sudden, and then I thought, it's only one behind. What if you were here without having lost those holes? One behind with nine, ten holes to go, there's a big chance still that you can win it.

It really boosted obviously myself to chip in there and then make a few birdies coming in.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Maria, last week's win that you had, that was not a major, right?

MARIA McBRIDE: It is one of our majors.

Q. It is considered a --

MARIA McBRIDE: Yeah.

Q. I looked at your career. You haven't won a major yet, and now you've got two.

MARIA McBRIDE: Yes, I lost in a playoff against Yani Tseng at the McDonald's Championship, and that was really kind of, yeah, a bad loss for me that not having major, one, but I have five LPGA events. So having two majors now, it's really, really amazing.

Q. Looking at your body language, I watched the tournament on TV. It was a little easier for me to write and do all that. It was so positive out there. Did you really feel like you were in control of the tournament there kind of after you had that eagle? I mean, you just looked good out there. You were really confident.

MARIA McBRIDE: It was good that it looked that way. At least I can kind of pretend.

It was a little rough after the 8th hole, but you, you know, my caddie was on me as well; come on, we can do this. Hit a great drive down 9, and we know we can reach it in two. I did hit a really good drive on 9. That kind of boosted myself and felt like I think I got the feeling back again, and my body was working better.

Q. Maria, were there some nerves out of the gate today?

MARIA McBRIDE: No, I don't think it was really nerves. Like, on the third hole where I obviously made a double there, I probably should have hit a 5-iron rather than the 6-iron into the green. I think to me I just tried to hit that 6-iron a little bit too hard and left it out right. Then had a bad 3-putt.

Then, you know, on 7 I thought I was really unlucky. I hit a really good second shot in, and for some reason it kind of released back up against the collar. The collars are pretty high here. So that just made it tricky.

I didn't really feel too nervous because I came out and played a few holes pretty good starting off the round, but obviously you're a little bit tighter because you know you have a big lead. Sometimes that's harder than kind of chasing, but it settled down. Like I said, the 9th hole it really helped me out.

Q. Earlier in the round you mentioned it, but looking at the leaderboard, and you are seeing -- I mean, to us, we're seeing big names up there, Annika, Karrie. How much are you paying attention to that and saying, these are the legends, and I'm right there?

MARIA McBRIDE: Yeah, I obviously looked at the leaderboard. It was hard because we didn't really have too many leaderboards in the beginning there until we come to the 6th hole really. That's when you can see what's going on.

But I knew that they were going to chase, and I knew that Annika was always going to chase up there. Even Catriona I thought was going to be up there and chasing around.

When I dropped those few holes, then I thought it's one behind. Now I'm only one behind; I can still make it. Play well, and it's tough out there, especially coming down the stretch with those holes. 13, 14, 15, 16 are tough holes, and I played them 2-under, so I'm very happy about that.

Q. Then the 16th is very difficult par-3. What did you hit there, and at that point when you made that putt, did you feel like, this is my trophy now?

MARIA McBRIDE: Yes, I think so. I had a perfect yardage for an 8-iron and obviously hit it to 4, 5 feet. It was just, you know, a perfect shot. I was very happy when I saw the yardage that we had there just to be able to hit a nice 8-iron.