Q. Here now with Alexa Pano after her final round at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. Second top 10 of your LPGA Tour career. What's the week been like for and you how much did last year prepare you to stay in contention and compete towards the top?
ALEXA PANO: Yeah, this week was super fun. Got to have a lot of family out here, my sponsors. Got to meet some of my dream celebrities to meet, and on top of it played some good golf.
So I had a pretty special week. It was a great start to the season.
Q. How much have you played with Lydia in the past?
ALEXA PANO: So we got paired together in Malaysia this year and met a few time before then. Always a blast to play with her. She is one of the nicest people I've ever met, and today was a great day.
Q. To have a front row seat to that kind of performance, she struggled last year and then to come out and win this week, is anything you take from that as you look ahead to your second season?
ALEXA PANO: I think we were joking around on 18 with I dad that she might have won more time than I've been alive. She's so impressive. I am always going to be a fan of hers. Getting to compete alongside her is an honor and something I've always dreamed of doing.
Yeah, it was a great experience.
Q. The last few holes there you really showed some grit. Made a bogey on 13 and rattled off three birdies in the last five holes. What was the mentality? Give it your all I guess.
ALEXA PANO: Not much. It was just grind all day and things clicked a little bit. But I don't know. I felt like I had hit a lot of good shots all day, come up short of a few greens. It was just tough with the conditions.
I guess things just started to go my way towards the end, which was a little late, but better late than never.
Q. What was the thing that maybe most impressed you about Lydia's game today?
ALEXA PANO: Very consistent today. Made a lot of short putts when she needed to. Didn't really give up any shots. Never really had any big errors. She's experienced. She knows what she's doing out here, so I expected nothing less than that.
Q. She also I think made a couple great greenside shots. Bunker shot at 13 and one at 15. Anything about those that particularly struck you?
ALEXA PANO: You know, I don't really remember, but she had some really impressive shots out there today. I know I was watching and felt like I was saying, great shot or great save or great birdie on every single hole.
Like I said, she's a great competitor and it was awesome to be on the course and super happy for her.
Q. Your dad was saying that you found something in your putting last year that really helped turn things around. Talk a little bit about that.
ALEXA PANO: Yeah, I switched to a mallet about midway through the year, which was something I wasn't expecting to do. That was kind of like my backup putter that I was never going to use.
But kind of things started to click with that, got some good momentum going, started to feel comfortable over putts, and carried on every since.
Even when I'm not having great putting days it's not as bad as the start of the season was. So that's been a big help, having some confidence in my putting, because my bike something pretty good.
Q. Had you used mallet before?
ALEXA PANO: Not since I was about seven or eight years old, so a long time.
Q. 27 points, does that feel -- how far away does that feel? That's the number of points you need to get into the Hall of Fame.
ALEXA PANO: Yeah, I don't know. I never thought about that one. I guess we'll see. I got a lot of years ahead of me.
Q. I should have asked that in a way -- can you wrap your brain around what Lydia has done to be only one point away?
ALEXA PANO: It's crazy she's a point away. So incredible. I've looked up to her for a very long time. I'm obviously always going to be rooting for her, and hoping for many more final round pairings with her.
Q. Where does this set you up mentally as you look to the rest of the year?
ALEXA PANO: Yeah, gives me a lot of good confidence going into the rest of the year. Took me a white last year to get some good finishes in. This is really nice. Having everyone here with me was just a really good refresher start to the year.
Yeah, I'm just excited to see what comes this year.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports