U.S. Women's Amateur Championship

Sunday, August 9, 2020

Rockville, Maryland, USA

Woodmont Country Club

Gabriela Ruffels

Quick Quotes


Q. What went through your mind on the last hole? Obviously what happened but just your thoughts when the putt didn't go in?

GABRIELA RUFFELS: Yeah, you can't take any putt for granted out here. These greens are crazy fast, and that did have a little break to it. I was playing it outside of the hole. I actually hit it on my line, it's just kind of heartbreak seeing it horseshoe out.

Rose played great today and got up-and-down. I got up-and-down when I needed to; I thought maybe I had it. But she deserves it.

Q. Does winning it last year make it any easier? Obviously it's tough to swallow, but --

GABRIELA RUFFELS: Yeah, I mean, I'm not really thinking about that now, but kind of the went I went out was pretty disappointing, but yeah, I still had an exemption into the U.S. Women's Open, so that's a plus.

Q. What's the experience you take from this week? Is it just getting more experience in playing and learning more things about yourself?

GABRIELA RUFFELS: Yeah, this is actually the first time I've ever defended a tournament that I've won. So I wanted to see how I would deal with the pressure and expectations, and I feel like I really stayed mentally strong this week, and I feel like I can hold my head high with how I tried to go about my defense.

Q. It seemed like any time you might have opened the door for Rose, she kind of took advantage of it. You had a really close match last year. What were you able to take away from what you did last year to kind of stay in it this year and force it to 18?

GABRIELA RUFFELS: Yeah, Rose was one of the toughest opponents. She never let the door open. Like she was dead straight down the middle, hits greens. What a good player. Her wedge game is amazing, putting is amazing. She's so solid. I can't believe she's only 17. Yeah, all credit to her.

Q. What are you going to take from going into hopefully the college golf season?

GABRIELA RUFFELS: Yeah, just a lot of confidence and knowing that I am mentally pretty tough out there and knowing that I can deal with the pressure and expectations, especially the ones that I put on myself. But just holding my head high. It was a great week for sure.

Q. What's next for you? What do the next couple months look like?

GABRIELA RUFFELS: Going back to Orlando, and then I leave on Sunday for the British Open, and then I have the other three majors. So I have the ANA, then the U.S. Open at the end of the year. Hopefully college season, I'm not sure, but looking forward to the three majors.

Q. What are you most looking forward to?

GABRIELA RUFFELS: I mean, at the moment maybe getting to play in the British Open sounds fun. But yeah, just the three majors I'd say.

Q. How will you prepare for those majors? Will you do any other events?

GABRIELA RUFFELS: I'm just kind of doing the same thing that I've been doing. This week I'll just have a little break, maybe a couple days off, and then -- I mean, Scotland is definitely different golf. I've never played in Europe before, so just get out there and get some practice rounds in, and yeah, just kind of do the same thing that I've been doing.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
100544-1-1003 2020-08-09 21:22:00 GMT

ASAP sports

tech 129