Q. Great round today.
EMMA TALLEY: Yeah, thank you.
Q. 7-under par is always fun. I see nine birdies on the scorecard.
EMMA TALLEY: Yes.
Q. Let's start on the front nine; you had birdies at 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9, so four straight.
EMMA TALLEY: Yes.
Q. What was going on to get on such a heater?
EMMA TALLEY: Well, that was actually my back nine. I started on 10. I kind of got mad on No. 1, which was my tenth hole, because I had two three-putts today, and my second one came at hole 1. I looked at my caddie after the round, and I said, maybe I should get mad more often because after that I just started playing really well. I hit it well all day. Left a few putts out there, but other than that I played pretty well.
Q. Was it on No. 1 or No. 2? I see a bogey on No. 2.
EMMA TALLEY: Oh, it must have been 2. 2 then.
Q. So the streak came from an angry Emma?
EMMA TALLEY: Yes, an angry Emma. You don't see it often, but I was mad. And even after the round I told my caddie, I was like, ugh, I made two, and I was like, and I three-putted twice, and he's like, Get over it! I was mad about it.
Q. That fire and that passion, is that something that's been missing?
EMMA TALLEY: No, not really. That's been there the whole time. Just the confidence I think is the main thing. I think this is the first time in a long time that I've been in this position, but it's the first time in a long time that I've felt this comfortable over the golf ball and with my putter. I feel really relaxed. There's a lot of golf left, so just going to stay patient and keep doing our thing.
Q. You started off on No. 10 today, three birdies at 12, 15 and 16 and then just a bogey at 17. Can you take me through your opening nine, but when you made the turn at 2-under on the day?
EMMA TALLEY: Yeah, so we had never even seen 10 through 18. I also hadn't seen 7 or 9 because the day I was supposed to play the golf course there was a rain delay. So I had never even seen most of those holes. I had to really trust my caddie, which thank goodness I do. Had to really put a lot of trust in him and the yardage book because we hadn't even seen the golf course yet.
Yeah, I think sometimes that can be helpful in a way because I didn't even know what was up there to get in trouble. I just kind of hit the ball where he told me to and kept moving.
I actually didn't start that well, either. It looks good on the scorecard, but I had a couple par putts, six feet or so. Yeah, it was just a really solid day. Like I said, I just feel really confident about my golf game, about my mental game, talking to my sports psychologist this afternoon. Like I said, lots of golf to be played, but excited to see that my game is kind of back.
Q. You had a season-best finish at the Volunteers of America Classic. That was earlier this month. You started that tournament 6-under in the opening round, then you shot 2-over on day two there. A lot different of a storyline here. What did you learn from that week to keep you on the straight and narrow hopefully for four days here?
EMMA TALLEY: Yeah, that actually was a big learning week for me. I told my parents and my sports psychologist, boyfriend, that it was just one of those things that I kind of relaxed after I shot 6-under in Dallas. At that point I had missed several cuts in a row, so I was so excited to get off to a good start finally. I told my parents last night, I was like, you know, I'm just going to try not to get really excited about shooting 6-under because I have three more days and I need to do it every single day. Between my sports psychologist, my caddie, my boyfriend, my parents, I think everyone -- and my coaches, everyone around me kind of knows what I'm trying to do, and it's starting to all kind of work, and whatever happens this weekend, it's just nice to see my game going in the direction that I want to, and just build off each experience because truly I have been working so hard on my game and my mental game. It's nice to see everything kind of fall into place.
Now it's happened finally two days in a row, and hopefully I can make it four days in a row.
Q. You talked yesterday about some locals that you mention through the pro-am at your hotel. Any of the new friends come out this watch this weekend?
EMMA TALLEY: I think so. I think the ones I played with during the pro-am are definitely going to come. The girls at the hotel, they probably don't even know I'm leading, so they just keep talking to me about country music. One of the ladies was supposed to go to Nashville, like I said, last September, so she just keeps saying hello to me and we keep talking about country music. She probably has no idea, but I'll keep it that way.
Q. After starting strong yesterday at Galgorm, the next two rounds there obviously on the Galgorm Castle Golf Club course, how confident are you with strong start yesterday and returning here tomorrow to continue to try to put the whole tournament together and come out on top?
EMMA TALLEY: Yeah, it's actually kind of interesting tomorrow. I'm probably going to be paired with my boyfriend and his player, and that's only happened a couple times, so I'm actually super excited, and I always play well when Patrick is around. Even though he may be trying to beat me the next few days, it'll be kind of nice to at least tomorrow be paired together. Yeah, I'm just looking forward to having a fun weekend, and like I said, I'm really just trying to focus on the process.
I know that's kind of like just standard response, and I hate when I hear athletes do that, but it's just the case of what I'm trying to do right now. I'm really trying to stick with what my coaches and my sports psychologist have been helping me figure out the last year or so. So just going to try to stick with it and keep on going and be thankful that it's all kind of coming together, and also stick with my mission, and my mission is to go out and play the best golf I can and hopefully win this thing.
Q. Who's Patrick on the bag for?
EMMA TALLEY: He caddies for Jennifer Kupcho.
Q. They're coming after you.
EMMA TALLEY: I know. I love it. It's fun. Jim is pretty serious on the golf course, and Patrick, he's not like me. I'm a bit more -- y'all know how I am; I'm wild. I like to try to embarrass him and stuff, so he'll be pretty serious out there, but I know I'll probably get a couple thumbs up and I'll try to bug him a little bit when he's not working.
I think it's going to be a fun day, and I'm happy that -- let's just say he's probably very happy at what the leaderboard looks like at the moment. I definitely know he's going to try to come beat me, but I think it's -- it will be a really cool day tomorrow. Like I said, I haven't been in this position in a long time, and I'm going to have my caddie and my boyfriend all in the same group, which is pretty cool.
Q. When you had dinner last night, what were your reflections on yesterday's play?
EMMA TALLEY: I was just trying to hurry up and get to bed. It was kind of a small turnaround. Got to the hotel around 7:30 probably and then had to wake up at 6:00. Didn't have too much time to think, which I think was a good thing.
Q. You played well yesterday, you come and score better here. Tell us about today's round and the challenges the new course gave you.
EMMA TALLEY: Yeah, well, I've only gotten to see six holes out at this golf course, which was kind of crazy, so I had to really trust my caddie and trust the yardage book, and that was kind of difficult on a few holes here and there. But for the most part I'm really happy where my game is right now, my putting. I'm hitting it really well, and I'm just trying to take one shot at a time.
I actually got really mad on No. 10 -- my 10th hole which was No. 1. I three-putted from 20 feet, and I got so mad that I finished the back off pretty well. So maybe I need to play mad every day.
Q. How do you find this experience of the men being involved? You're not competing against them but they're here.
EMMA TALLEY: Oh, it's so great. Like the whole tournament is so wonderful, equal purse. We don't have that any other time of the year. It's really cool to see their golf swings, too. They hit it like rockets. It's just been a really cool experience, and I love being in Ireland. The people are great, and it's just been a good week.
Q. You made some friends, didn't you, some locals.
EMMA TALLEY: I did meet some locals. I met a few guys during the pro-am and I think I'm going to go try to play with them next week. I even gave out my number to Owen, who's 73 years old, and he was so funny. We had a great time, and honestly that kind of put me in a better mood after all the rain.
Q. I believe early in the month you had a 6-under first round and it didn't quite work the second round. What have you learnt?
EMMA TALLEY: I actually hired a sports psychologist back in October. His name is Paul Dewland. I told him after that week, because I actually shot 8-under the last day but two even pars during the second and third round, I felt like I kind of relaxed instead of trying to just keep going, keep going on this mission of making birdies. So I really tried last night, told my dad I just wanted go in and keep going and not get too excited about the 6-under.
Q. There could be some changes Friday lunchtime, but you're leading. That's a nice place to be, isn't it.
EMMA TALLEY: Yeah, of course. I haven't led in a long time. It's been a long time since I've been in this position. But like I said, I think with my mental coach and where my game is I'm really excited for the weekend, but there's a lot of golf left to be played.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports