Q. Seven birdies. What went well for you out there today?
GABY LOPEZ: You know, I was just very calm out there. I pretty much didn't care about the score. I was happy with how I was committing to every golf shot. And I had a little goal for every shot. It's just have peace in my heart. That was pretty much it.
Q. That's a good goal. You said yesterday you spent 13 hours here on the golf course. Did you get some rest? How did that go? You came out and were blazing out there today.
GABY LOPEZ: Yeah, I went to bed at 11:00 pm and I was really lucky enough and -- really very lucky and blessed to be able to rest and have a late tee time for today.
I'm just really happy the way we fought. We fought until the end, and I'm really happy that when you see rest as important as practice and anything else it pays off.
Q. Joined by Gaby Lopez after a final round 65 in the 2021 Volunteers of America Classic. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven birdies. That's quite a performance in the final round. Start on the front nine. Bogey-free, 31. Started out hot.
GABY LOPEZ: Yeah, I was very lucky to hit it close and give myself some good birdie chances. To be honest, the first two rounds I was having a hard time to read the greens, read my putts, so I asked my caddie a lot times to read every putt with me because I was just not reading it properly. I was under-reading everything.
So I was just stressing whatever we were both feeling. Yeah, we made good putts out there. You know, really happy with how we ended up playing today.
Q. Back nine three straight birdies 15, 16, 17, then a bogey on 18. You mentioned the first time you looked at leaderboard all day was on 18. Was there maybe a few nerves on 18 coming down the stretch?
GABY LOPEZ: Not really. I actually hit a great drive off the tee. I was just very kind of unlucky to hit a right bounce and have my ball up against the lip on the bunker and I couldn't have a shot to the green.
So I actually for the first time looked at the leaderboard, was my putt for par. I just wanted to make sure that I was giving myself a good chance to make the putt. I did, and it's golf. It happens. Sometimes you're going to end up with couple birdies, sometimes with a bogey, sometimes with a lucky shot.
Yeah, overall I'm just going to stick to the positives today, to the way I played mentally, to the way I played physically after being here 13 hours yesterday.
Q. Take us through just the physical demands Mother Nature threw at us. The six-hour weather delay on Friday, change the tee times, and the wind picked up over the weekend. When you can have a finish like you did here, currently T2 at 14-under overall, and you can be sitting in a position knowing that you not only tried your best but you performed with a score that shows it?
GABY LOPEZ: Exactly.
Q. Does that make the week that much more satisfying with everything you faced?
GABY LOPEZ: For sure. You know, my second round we stop after four holes, and we had to come back the next day. It was pretty windy in the morning, so I bet that it played much different that Saturday that we played the second round than Friday.
And I played really good. I shot 5-under in the windy situation. You know, yesterday my third round I was tired. I wasn't focusing enough. I was irritated by little things and I could tell -- I was telling my caddie, like if I don't have the focus you got to have it because you got to keep pushing me.
I just give him so much credit. Without him, without the few words that your caddie can tell you when you trust him the most, I think that's when it makes a change. He really good did a change on me with playing the weekend and making me stay positive and in the present.
Q. You were recently announced as the flag bearer for Mexico at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games later this month. What does that mean to you?
GABY LOPEZ: Yeah, being the banner woman, it's such a dream come true. I mean, you guys can tell how much I love my country. Every Sunday I wear the Mexican color flags on my outfit, and being able to physically carry that flag, it just gives my chills.
This is exactly what I play for. I play for my country, for my people, I play for the new generations to be able to inspire them and get them into golf.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports