Q. Dana Ebster, 5-under 67. We heard you ended your round with a bang. Talk us through the last hole.
DANA EBSTER: I was so excited. (Smiling.) I asked my son who's caddying for me, I said, How far are we? The distance was for my pitching wedge, but because it was into the wind I said, Well, I'll knock down a little nine.
He goes, Yeah, because the green, it slopes up and it'll roll back down. So I was like, yes. That was awesome. Yay.
Q. And you saw it go in?
DANA EBSTER: Yeah.
Q. Okay.
DANA EBSTER: I was like, Woooo.
Q. Right here we've got a leaderboard behind me. You're tied at the top with Annika. What does that feel like to look at that?
DANA EBSTER: OMG. That's all I got to say. OMG.
But you know what? I'm so thankful for my club back home, Turlock Golf and Country Club. They have supported me. You know, they raised money for me to come out. I'm just the little club pro that came out, and so I'm super excited.
Q. How long have you been at Turlock?
DANA EBSTER: I've been there three years, I think, almost four. They brought me in to start the junior program there and then they put me in the shop like one or two days a week. Of course right before I came here I was out pulling carts at 6:00 a.m. (laughter.)
Q. So what's your title then?
DANA EBSTER: My title?
Q. Teacher?
DANA EBSTER: Yes, but I'm in charge of the junior academy. When I go into the shop I'm a shop assistant.
Q. When do you work on your game?
DANA EBSTER: I play every Friday with my ladies group, and then between lessons I'll get out and hit a few shots and practice chipping and putting.
But, you know, I really don't get a lot of time to practice, but now my kids, both my kids play and my husband plays, so it's super nice that when I finish working then we get together and go play.
Yeah, it's good.
Q. Awesome. Are you still coaching college golf, too?
DANA EBSTER: Yes. I am the assistant golf coach Modesto Junior College, and this year we're going to have a good team. I'm so excited.
Q. What do you think the team would say about it today?
DANA EBSTER: Oh, my gosh. They would be going crazy. But I'm not telling them. They have to look it up if they want to know.
Q. You played professionally on tour with some players that are in this field as well.
DANA EBSTER: Yes.
Q. Did you keep in touch with a lot of them through the years?
DANA EBSTER: Well, like Pat Hurst and I were like best buddies when we were doing junior golf days and the college days. Yeah, especially Dina Ammaccapane. Danielle kicked my butt in the U.S. Women's Amateur when I was 16. I don't know how old she was, but I was 16.
And Pat Hurst, Karen Weiss, Jackie Gallagher-Smith. Juli Inkster was a little bit older than me because we are both from Northern California. And it's funny because my sister in law, when she got married Juli's kids were in her wedding.
Q. Wow.
DANA EBSTER: So that was kind of neat to see.
Q. What does this championship do for you as far as, say, the opportunity to start to hone your game and give you something to shoot for at this point in your golf life?
DANA EBSTER: I don't know. I'm just excited to be here. I'm so happy and I love playing golf, and that's really all I want to do. Just play, and if I play with the 18 Hole Ladies or -- you know, I'm hopefully they will still invite me to the Ladies Invitational, because that's the most fun.
But just, you know, I just love golf. I love to play.
Q. Do the expectations change at all if you're a leader going off tomorrow?
DANA EBSTER: Nope. I don't think so. I'm thinking I'll probably play the same way, just fairways and greens. That's all I think about is just hitting the fairway, hitting the greens. I just like love being the moment. This is like all my life I've worked to play in a U.S. Open and a U.S. Senior Open, and I'm just enjoying the moment and enjoying my time. And my friends came out to watch me and I'm so excited.
You know, I'm just -- I'm one of those people that I always tell my players, I go, Don't get nervous. You know, don't be nervous. Just get there. This is what you worked hard for. We worked all of our life to be in this moment. You know, as a kid, on the putting green, This putt is for the U.S. Open.
And I just am like out there and I turned to my son and I go, Oh, my God, I'm so excited. I go, This is what it's all about. This is what we work hard for.
So that's what.
Q. So if one of your students told you before you left that you would be tied for the lead with Hall of Famer you would have told them what?
DANA EBSTER: I would've told them, um, something wrong. (Laughter.) I would've said, You know, just work hard. Just keep working. And for me, it's a matter of the mental game. The mental game is so strong. I teach it to my son, my daughter, I teach it to my team. Just learn multiple shots, because you got to have multiple shots in your bag. I'm constantly preaching that. Maybe now they'll listen.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports