Q. Joined Yu Lui after a solid opening round of 4-under-par 66. You had six birdies on the scorecard. Numbers 1 and 3 and 7 on the front, and then 13, 14, and 16 on the back. You talked about the par-5s. You birdied both of them. They moved the tees up a little, which I'm sure was a welcome sight. How did you get the job done today?
YU LIU: Yeah, actually over lasts two off weeks we did a lot of changes to my swing, and also my short game. So I am glad that the short game part definitely paid off. The swing, I just -- still my tempo was a little off starting off, but I was able to just keep playing steady and just keep the ball in the fairway and try to give myself as much opportunities as possible.
But my putting definitely was able to get the job done today. It made a real difference.
Q. What, if any, of the birdies stood out to you looking back on them?
YU LIU: I think definitely the one on the 3rd, the par-3. So it was pretty breezy today, to be honest, and then I didn't hit a good iron shot and I ended up short-siding myself in the greenside bunker.
And then I just hit a perfect shot and it went in, so definitely turned the momentum in a positive way.
Q. Chip-in from the bunker is always fun. About how many yards was it and what was your reaction to it?
YU LIU: I was -- I would be very happy to walk away with a par, and then ended up with a birdie, so I'm like -- it's definitely good signal, yeah.
Q. I was going to ask you, too, speaking of par-3s, No. 12, all the excitement with the cars, Lamborghinis and the live featured hole coverage throughout the weekend here at Pelican Golf Club. When you step on the tee, does it feel different than any other par-3 that you've played?
YU LIU: Oh, yeah. There is a big grand behind and then there is a lot of people cheering for us, which is really nice. It's actually a very tough hole with hazards along the front and the right side, so today it was playing very hard, and then with the wind, left to right, into.
But I hit a pretty solid 7-iron. I ended up like 12 feet from the hole.
Q. You mentioned some changes or just some work that you did in the down time between events. Can you take me through specifically what maybe you focused on in each area of your short game? And I think you mentioned putting as well. What you specifically work on over the last couple weeks to help your game?
YU LIU: Yeah, putting has never been a strong part of my game. It's always been something I need to put extra work in.
I'm glad with my constantly putting in effort in I'm gradually seeing some results. Definitely this week it's playing bermuda grass, which is my home course type of grass, so I'm just used to the type of grass here. That definitely helped.
It's just nice to be able to see the hard work that I been putting in is gradually paying off.
Q. Where do you practice?
YU LIU: I practice at Four Seasons where they used to host the Tournament of Champions.
Q. And then you mentioned too the scores are lower than they were a year ago.
YU LIU: Yeah.
Q. How different is the course playing, if at all, that you've seen?
YU LIU: I would say the tour is just getting more and more competitive each year. I feel like the girls are improving every year.
So like for me, I just really have to keep pushing myself to the very best in order to keep up with everyone.
Q. You mentioned working on your short game. How key is that on this course, specifically with the undulations in the green and the drop-offs, false fronts that are out there on so many of the holes? How key is short game, especially when maybe you come up short of a green here or there throughout a round?
YU LIU: I would say it's definitely a ball strikers' golf course. It's one of longer course on tour and then the greens are pretty tricky, and with the wind the breezy afternoon round.
For me, you're going to make mistakes at some point. Being able to get up and down and to keep the momentum going, it's really the key.
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