Q. Here with Alana after a 66 today. Just what made you feel so comfortable out there?
ALANA URIELL: I had my ball striking kind of in order, and then once I started seeing some putts roll in the hole, got even more confidence.
Just started sticking it and putting them in.
Q. When you were walking off with me you said, I'm mentally exhausted. There was a lot of focus out there. Take me through what the 66 was like for you today.
ALANA URIELL: Well, it was like a breeze in the beginning. I mean, I like had a bunch of 12-footers and was kind of just seeing them go in.
Then I chipped one in on the 12th hole and I was like, All right. I guess this is how today is going. So it was super breezy through the first nine, and once people started coming up and I was like trying not to look at the leaderboard, I was like, Oh, okay. So I'm going to have to like really relax and pretend like I'm the only person out here.
That takes a lot of mental energy to pretend everybody is a tree.
Q. You started on No. 10 and you had three consecutive birdies to start the round. You just said, oh, that's when I realized, oh, that's how today is going to go. What was working so well, do you think?
ALANA URIELL: You know, I was feeling my distances really good and the wind was like not as severe as it is now in the afternoon. So I felt like I could really go at a lot of pins and, you know, I was keeping it in the fairway and just trying to manage my ball.
Q. Where has your game been, in your opinion, leading up to this moment? What have you been working onto get to the 66 year?
ALANA URIELL: Well, I would say prior to last week I had missed like seven cuts in a row and it was a great time, loved it. Not really loved it. You know, it just sucks.
But last week I had my coach, Jason Puterbaugh on the bag and we kind of realized like, Hey, this can be fun again and we can make it fun and play good golf.
Once I kind of got a good feel for my game, my coach gave me a lot of encouraging words and it really set in. I was more comfortable with my game coming into this week.
Q. How long have you been working with Jason?
ALANA URIELL: 13 years.
Q. Wow.
ALANA URIELL: Yeah, it's been a long time. He's the best. We're like family basically.
Q. Is he in California like yourself?
ALANA URIELL: Yeah, he's at Aviara. We have Kia Classic at Aviara. That's our home club.
Q. With what, is that when it clicked for you, you think, that, yes, I can play like I just played today?
ALANA URIELL: Yeah, it really clicked once I started like feeling that I could do it. You know, it takes a lot to get to that point, because when you miss a lot of cuts your confidence can get low and you can start seeing your own value in the score that you shoot, and that is a really sucky feeling.
It's not conducive to good golf. Once I let that go and said, Hey, I'm not defined by a score. I'm playing this amazing game. So grateful to be here, to be paid to hit a ball in a hole.
I'm just going to go out there and stay present and do what I can do, and that's what happened.
Q. It's a really awesome positive outlook that you talk about. Is it something you've been working on the last few weeks, mental game, the approach, to the way you've been playing golf lately?
ALANA URIELL: Definitely. Yeah, they say golf is 90% mental and I totally agree with that. Once I started to be more grateful and staying present and trusting in my own ability, it started coming together. Easier said than done. Took me months to get to this point.
But, yeah, it's -- it was a huge progress and now we're here.
Q. Congrats on a huge day, your lowest round of 2021. What will you be working on as we head into the weekend?
ALANA URIELL: Six-foot putts. I missed like three or four six-foot putts. And, yeah, I mean, ball striking is fine. I'm like seeing the ball really well. Yeah, if I could just make those six footers, we would be golden. (Laughter.)
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