FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, August 3rd, 2018

NOTABLE QUOTES: RICOH WOMEN’S BRITISH OPEN (SECOND ROUND)

Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club
Lytham St Annes, England
Friday, Aug. 3

** Live coverage of Saturday’s third round of Ricoh Women’s British Open airs on Golf Channel from 7-11 a.m. ET and continuing on NBC Sports from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. ET.

**Media can also access notable quotes via @GolfChannelPR on Twitter or by visiting www.nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com**

Leaderboard: Ricoh Women’s British Open Round 2 Leaderboard
**Round 2 play will continue until around 8:30 p.m. BST / 3:30 p.m. ET today.

 

On Pornanong Phatlum, leader at 10-under par (5-under 67 on Friday)
Judy Rankin – “This is a player much like Moriya Jutanugarn. She has a lot of precision in her game. She is so consistent. She has a beautiful golf swing that I never see anything that goes wrong. Her golf swing totally fits her body and her height.”
Rankin – “She is a really fine player. Hits the ball straight and can position it really well.”

On Georgia Hall, T2 at 9-under par after two rounds (4-under 68 on Friday)
Karen Stupples – “She has every opportunity to be a major winner. She certainly has got the game and the mentality for it. She is focused, driven and strategic. She thinks her way around the golf course in terms of her swing, putting and everything else. All aspects of her game are pretty solid.”
Stupples – “She hasn’t had a bogey today and didn’t have a bogey yesterday. That means her focus, her scrambling ability, her decision making on the golf course has been really well done, and she has been able to execute the shots.”
Stupples – “She is in charge of her game. She is driving the ball well. She is hitting her irons well. Golf is fun when you know where you are putting it and you are getting the results because of it. The pressure seems a lot less when you are doing that.”

Georgia Hall speaking with Golf Channel’s Cara Banks following her round
Georgia Hall – “I think I’m even happier to shoot 4-under today. Some of the pins were really tough and I’m happy to not have a bogey still. So I’m just really enjoying it and putting well, so hopefully I can do the same tomorrow.
Hall – “It just makes me happy that I see so many people supporting me. I don’t really feel any pressure at all. I just go out there and try to commit to my shot and whatever happens from there, happens. I try not to worry about too much and hopefully try to sink some putts.”
Hall – “I am not thinking about anything yet because it is only two days. We have two days to go and we are only halfway through. I am going to try to not feel anything. I didn’t feel anything on the golf course today so hopefully I can stay the same tomorrow. There are still loads of holes to play and anything can happen on that golf course, so I am just going to keep going.”
Hall – “I didn’t have hardly any time between yesterday and today, a very early start. So I think I might go for a nap, get my nails done, have a look around and just relax.”

On Mamiko Higa, T2 at 9-under par (3-under 69 on Friday)
Jerry Foltz – “It doesn’t appear as though there is a single doubt in her mind when she putts. She’ll get up over it, one or two looks and just goes.”
Foltz – “It is almost child-like in the way she approaches putting. No over-analysis at all.”

On Minjee Lee, T2 at 9-under par (2-under 70 on Friday)
Stupples – “People have seen this coming for a long time. She was a fantastic amateur coming out of Australia. She has been overshadowed by Lydia Ko in many respects, but as Lydia has fallen back a little bit, it almost has given Minjee Lee a little bit of breathing space to kind of find her own feet, find her home in America on the LPGA and really show the world how good of a talent she is at this game. When her putting is on form, she is pretty hard to beat.”
Tom Abbott – “She will be disappointed letting those shots go on 16 and 17, but still, very two good days of golf.”

So Yeon Ryu (7th at 6-under par, 3-under 69 on Friday), speaking with Golf Channel’s Cara Banks following her round
So Yeon Ryu – “When I play 69-69 twice I never complain. To be honest I didn’t have a good start. I bogeyed at the 2nd but I made three birdies in a row on 9 through 11, that definitely gave me more confidence to playing.  I was kind of worried about playing 17 and 18 because they are always playing really tough. I thought to myself, I made two bogeys yesterday and I am not going to do that again. Happy to finish with a par-par and finish with a 69.”
Ryu – “I said that right after the playoff [at KPMG] as well, even though I didn’t win the tournament, I felt that was one of my best performance weeks I have ever done in my professional career. Of course I was disappointed, but at the same time I was proud of myself to see how I handled the situation and how I handled all 72 holes. That was a bit of a disappointment, but that one also made me more confident heading into another major tournament.”
Ryu – “My first Women’s British Open was 2012 at Royal Liverpool. The weather was really horrible. The most horrible weather I have ever played in. But since I played that golf course, I just love to come here and play links golf. This is the home of golf. I get a chance to play the home of golf in front of the English fans and all of the fans. I think that enjoyable mindset makes me feel quite great at this golf tournament.”

On Lydia Ko, T8 at 5-under par (1-under 71 on Friday)
Foltz – “Lydia, like so many players, once put on the clock, plays better. Just uncanny how that happens. How all of a sudden, you get up and hit the shots. Trusting your instincts, trusting your feels, if you will. Not having to over-analyze.”

Lydia Ko speaking with Golf Channel’s Cara Banks following her round
Lydia Ko – “I found the smallest area of the fairway for my drive. Definitely got lucky with that one. I think off that lie I tried to compress the ball a little bit more and ended up pulling the shot. The last thing I expected was for it to be plugged because it wasn’t flying into that bunker. But I think the sand was soft so it plugged, but it also was soft I could get behind the ball enough and get it up and down. That up and down really saved me and it is a nicer way of having lunch after this.”
Ko – “I think with any major championship you need to be super patient. More patient than any other tournament. Here is a tough golf course. I said that the first few holes going out and the holes coming in are really tough. You just need to focus the whole way around. Sometimes making those two-putts for pars really aren’t the end of the world. You just got to be super patient and when you are patient and confident you can give yourself more opportunities. I think I’ve been trying to do that and hopefully I will be more patient over the weekend.” 

Madelene Sagstrom speaking with Golf Channel’s Cara Banks following her round (T8 at 5-under par, 2-under 70 on Friday)
Madelene Sagstrom – “I’m really excited to be at the spot where I’m at right now. I’ve worked really hard over the last few months and I’m really excited to be back and feel that heat again on the golf course. It’s fun.”
Sagstrom – “So I work with Robert Karlsson, so it is fun to be out there and watch him play. Just seeing that whole environment I saw Gullane a week before which was nice too for my Scottish. Just to get that extra little feeling of what do they do really good. It was really fun just to see the guys play compared to the girls. Just a good experience to watch golf. I don’t do it enough, and there is so much to learn outside the ropes.”
Sagstrom – “I think the biggest advice is just to stay patient. Anything can happen and the wind can switch within seconds, so it is staying patient and working those soft shots, because staying out under the wind when it is blowing is really good. Patience is key. Just take it as it is and just find the good spots as you can and find the good spots when you have to.”
Sagstrom – “You never know what to expect when you get to a links course. I think it has been kind of the same wind for the past two days, which kind of has been generous. It is a tough golf course. Once you are in a fairway bunker, you just have to play yourself out. I think it is a give or take on how aggressive you have to be. It’s been fun but you never know what is going to happen over the weekend either.”

On Pernilla Lindberg, T8 at 5-under par (4-under 68 on Friday)
Rich Lerner – “She has some energy today. You can see it. You can feel it. She is really scrapping right now.”
Stupples – “If anybody knows how to grind out a tournament, it would be Pernilla.”
Rankin – “She played well today. I think she has a little bit of that feeling inside of her again that she is in contention.”

Pernilla Lindberg speaking with Golf Channel’s Cara Banks following her round
Pernilla Lindberg – “I drove the ball a little better off the tee and I holed a few more putts. That was really it. I never put myself in any trouble and rolled a couple of nice long putts in today. It felt pretty simple to be honest.”
Lindberg – “I have been playing almost the whole year over in the U.S. and the golf is just different. I know it’s not a big adjustment because we have had pretty kind conditions so far here but still, the turf is a little bit different and I was just a little bit out of sync with my swing but it was good. I got a couple of extra practice days to get ready for this week instead.”
Lindberg – “It is different [playing in a major championship as a major champion] but in a good way. I’m just walking out there with more confidence. I’ve shown everyone and proved to myself that I can do it before. Now I just walk out there with a lot more confidence.”
Lindberg – “My game plan is just to take care of what I’m in control of. I’ll go out there and do my best each and every day and see where it takes me. I don’t tend to look at the leaderboards so whatever the weather or the course gives me I’ll just deal with it and see where it takes me.”

On Brooke Henderson, T8 at 5-under par (2-under 70 on Friday, including a hole-in-one on No. 9)
Foltz – “Up and down round, but she can’t be too disappointed if you look at the current leaderboard and the see all the players on the leaderboard who went late/early vs. early/late the first two days. She is in it.”
Rankin – “She is a very feisty player. She has a lot of heart. She loves the competition and there is nothing that will make her quit.”
Foltz – “Definitely a noticeable change in her demeanor. A little more pep in her step and a lot few doubts it seems in her mind. Her birdie-ace run on 8 and 9 definitely changed her outlook understandably.”

Brooke Henderson speaking with Golf Channel’s Cara Banks following her round
Brooke Henderson – “I’m definitely very happy about it. To get a 1 there and to get my score back to something reasonable and closer to the top of the leaderboard was really cool. I kind of struggled a little bit on the back nine, but I birdied 15 and I’m really happy with how today went.”
Henderson – “I was just trying to hit fairways and hit greens and make birdie putts. To see that drop it gave me a little bit of extra boost to keep going. Like I said, I’m in a good spot and hopefully I can play well over the weekend.”
Henderson – “I have never really played well on links courses until my win in New Zealand, so it gave me a fresh look at links courses and how to play with the wind and the firm and fast fairways and greens. So I think that was a huge boost for my career and gave me a lot of confidence coming in to this week.”
Henderson – “After these two days, it is very challenging and not what I grew up playing on, but it is a lot of fun and you really have to think your whole way around.”

On Friday’s second round at Royal Lytham & St Annes
Foltz – “Most courses the LPGA players play, they are thinking and hoping for a chance to make birdie all the way up until after you hit your approach shot to the green. You are never thinking about trying to get away from a hole with a par. Here, there are 13 or 14 holes that you are hoping to walk away with no worse than a par before you hit your first shot.”
Foltz – “It is fair, but it is relentless.”
Foltz – “So many variables when you play links golf.” 

On the current state of American players on the LPGA Tour
Rankin – “I do think there are some pretty good players in college. More and more players might be making that decision that they want to get their degree and then come and play professional golf. The thing we should look at is how many American players are going through Q School. It is a daunting task to go through Q School. You have to really be a player and play over an extended period of time to get that card.”
Rankin – “The Symetra feels some of that void. A lot of those Symetra Tour players are starting to prove themselves on this tour. The proving ground is that tour. I think it has turned out better for the LPGA than I would have predicted.”

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