Q. Brittany, thank you so much for taking the time with us. You started off on 10 and you had four birdies on that back nine. May I ask when that momentum started kicking in for you today?
BRITTANY LINCICOME: You know, it kind of started right out of the gate. You know, we started on 10, which is the par-5, so I was just going to lay it up with a 7-iron, be conservative, just ease my way into the round.
Then my caddie was like, We're hitting 3-wood. We're trying to hit it on the green. I was like, Oh, my gosh. I'm already on a fade lie, the water is on the right, like so many things can go wrong.
So just right out of the gate we were just nothing to lose, let's go after 2021 and see what happens kind of round, and obviously paid off.
Q. May I ask which part of your game did o you feel the strongest today, or did everything go your way?
BRITTANY LINCICOME: Definitely my wedges, which have been lacking lately. Today every time I had sand wedge, gap wedge, I it hit it to about a foot, so there was a lot of tap-in birdies, which made the round a lot easier.
Some of the par-5s I knocked it on in two, just easy two-putts. So for the most part it was a pretty easy round, which is nice.
Q. You mentioned this is one of your favorite events because of how laid back it is. How was it playing today with your competitors and also listening to that music on the 18th tee?
BRITTANY LINCICOME: Yeah, super fun. I feel like the music on 18 probably distracted me. That hole is so tough. You just kind of focus on something else and not all the trouble on this hole?
It was great. Josh Beckett and Joe Carter, they were awesome. They were so friendly. We talked baseball a little bit, golf. It was just really like -- especially with no fans, it just makes you think that you're just playing with your buddies and doesn't feel like a competitive round.
So made it a lot of fun.
Q. You were hitting it so well on the range. We were talking about this kind of one-foot draw. You looked like somebody who practices. How has it been and what is it that has clicked recently?
BRITTANY LINCICOME: Yeah, so it was kind of through last year, end of last year, I was doing this drill. You probably saw me on the range with a ball behind it and kind of pushing the ball away with my club. Just kind of makes me slow down a little bit, takes the club lower on the takeaway, takes it back straighter. So many good things that does.
So just kind of put me in a good rhythm on the range this morning and I felt good about my game today. Hopefully can stick around a little bit. That would be nice.
But it's just a great feeling that I've been going with it trying to do every week.
Q. And you have always been someone who plays better in a relaxed atmosphere. But there is a line. There is a line where you just kind of lose focus and you're distracted. How do you know where that line is?
BRITTANY LINCICOME: I felt like that happened around the 17th hole when my caddie and I were talking about what we're doing to lunch and is it going to be a big lunch and then we're not having dinner or are we having a snack and then dinner.
The focus kind of went away after that. It was a long day out there. Yeah, you can only focus for so many holes. Like you said, when golf courses are wide open I tend to struggle on those and do better on the tight golf courses, because you have to focus a little bit harder.
So there is definitely a fine line of chatting with my group and having a good time, but then when it came my time to hit the shot, really focusing and pulling off the shot.
Q. This tournament is kind of in an odd place in the schedule. Short break coming into this and then another break coming after. How do you treat this tournament kind of in the big picture?
BRITTANY LINCICOME: Unfortunately the quick turnaround with Christmas and New Year's and we have family in down, I didn't practice as much as I would've liked. If you know me, that's nothing new.
Obviously being a sponsored event I want to play my best, give it my all, so definitely a quick turnaround. After this I'll practice a little bit. Definitely not going to take off -- I obviously took some time off here the last couple weeks, so we're already done that. We have one family trip we're going to go on, and other than that, I'm just going to keep practicing and get ready for the next two Florida events.
Q. Some players have mentioned that they check leaderboards; some don't. Did you check the leaderboard?
BRITTANY LINCICOME: I do not. I did see some low scores by the celebrities, or they seemed like their numbers were really high, which is really awesome. So cool to see celebrities in different fields playing such great golf. Hopefully get to play with a few of them tomorrow.
Q. Do you think players will continue to be able to shoot really low scores this week, or do you think depending on the pin locations or something that there will be days we can't go that low?
BRITTANY LINCICOME: I think it'll be about the same. The weather seems to be about the same. The wind picked up towards the later half of the round. If the wind picks up that will be a challenge, which it could.
All in all, it's going to be about the same. The golf course is in perfect condition. They've done a great job getting it ready for us. Greens are so perfect. If you get it online you're going to get it in the hole. I think the scores will be about the same.
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