Q. Heck of a round. Is that an Aha moment, a, Hey, this is what I've been building for moment?
MARIA FASSI: Yeah. I mean, my coach was here with me this week and she left yesterday. She was like, Hey, let's just go and shoot 7-, 9-under. Like it's what's expected right now. I been working very hard the last eight, nine months, and it's pretty cool to see what we been doing is coming along.
I mean, of course today was an amazing round, but like always there is room for improvement. There is a couple things that I think I should have done differently even today. So that's the best thing about this game, that it doesn't matter how good you play you can always be better.
That's what keeps me coming back.
Q. You had a bogey at No. 2 then an eagle at No. 3. Then six more birdies the rest of the way. How far did your drive go on No. 3?
MARIA FASSI: On 3 was -- well, I didn't carry driver this week. I had 3-wood. But I don't know. It was probably -- I had like 205 to the pin.
Q. Okay.
MARIA FASSI: Hit a 4-iron and it was just a little bit short and was able to make that putt from just short off the green on the left side.
It was a perfect putt, perfect read, and kind of turned the round around, especially after that bogey on 2.
Then I was able to just keep that momentum going, and pretty happy to see six more drop throughout the day.
Q. You've had conversations with Stacy Lewis all year. Seems like she's been a big mentor, especially this season for you. You said no driver in the bag. What was it that you took away specifically from last week, any conversations you had with her, that you brought into this week to help with the positive results?
MARIA FASSI: Well, it's just playing to my strengths. Like I have such an advantage with my length, but if I don't know how to use it then it's no good.
I think I have changed the way I see golf courses. I have changed the way I approach some of my second shots onto the greens.
It's not like I'm playing to keep bogeys away, but I know that my putter is good enough that I'm going to make one or two long putts during the round. And I trust my wedges enough now that even if I lay back off the tee I know I can still hit it close.
So it's just I think getting a little bit smarter, and definitely having Stacy in my corner as well as Angela Stanford, it's amazing to see how much I can learn from them.
I'm excited to see where next week goes. I know it's the end of the year, but I'm excited to be finishing on a good note, especially when I needed.
Q. Yeah. What went into the decision with no driver?
MARIA FASSI: I carry 7-, 5-, and 3-wood, and I needed the 7- and 5-wood more than I needed driver this week, especially on some of the par-5s and off the tee on a couple of them.
So we just thought it was better to go that way. That 3-wood is hella hot. I hit one like 310 today. I'm not losing much.
Q. You heard that, Steve? You had 5-iron into 18 and you hit a 3-wood off the tee?
MARIA FASSI: Yeah.
Q. No driver, is that a game plan maybe moving forward in some spots?
MARIA FASSI: No, I think depends on the golf course. There are golf courses that allow me to take advantage a little bit even more with the driver, but a course like this, it's a short course, it's kind of quirky in some places. Like I don't need it here.
Same thing in Arkansas last week. I don't need it there.
So there is going to be some of those, but I still like the big guy, and I'm going to try to bring him out as much as I can.
Q. Last one I have for you: You will jump quite substantially in the Race to CME Globe rankings with this finish. How much, if at all, was Q Series weighing on your mind, or was it in the back of your mind at all down the stretch coming in to make sure you had some good finishes so you don't have to go through that process?
MARIA FASSI: No. I know that if I play good golf and just focus on that everything else is going to kind of take care of itself.
I been doing that for the last couple of weeks. It's been paying off. So I'm just going to keep that same mindset. Of course, it's a little bit of a relief after a good week like this to know I'm in better standings than I was. I still have one more week to go, and hopefully Tampa in a few weeks.
There is a lot of work to do and I'm excited to get back out, get better, and try again next Thursday.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports