Q. Let's start with just the round today. You had a nice performance, 4-under par, five birdies I see on the scorecard. You started on the back nine, and that included four birdies, bogey-free on that opening nine.
ALYAA ABDULGHANY: Yeah, we wanted to put ourselves in the best position for the next two days, so kind of making sure that we managed the course well today. Starting out the back nine, there wasn't a lot of wind, so we wanted to take advantage of that, and it worked out great.
Q. Is this your first time at stage 2?
ALYAA ABDULGHANY: Yes.
Q. What have you found about the week and the competition that maybe comparatively speaks to what you've heard but also kind of forms your own opinion of how tough it is?
ALYAA ABDULGHANY: Right. I always expected stage 2 to be a tough field. Everybody here has either played on the mini-Tour or the LPGA and came back. Just knowing that going into this week I had to have my "A" game, and seeing everybody play, like the scores from yesterday, it didn't change the way I played. I just needed to make sure I was in contention all the time.
Q. Was that your main goal, just contention?
ALYAA ABDULGHANY: Yeah, my main goal this week is really to put myself in the best position to see Q-Series, so I think I've done well for the first two rounds, so hopefully we'll be able to see that again for the next two.
Q. How did the two courses in your mind compare and contrast over the two days?
ALYAA ABDULGHANY: I definitely think Panther is a little quirkier. There's definitely a lot of tee shots that you need to think through and make sure, especially with the wind.
Bobcat is no different, but it's just a little bit more of the water is in play. But honestly, both courses require precision when it comes to approach shots and making sure you give yourself the best chance with those birdie putts.
Q. You're a USC Trojan?
ALYAA ABDULGHANY: Yes.
Q. What year are you there?
ALYAA ABDULGHANY: I actually just graduated.
Q. Graduated this spring?
ALYAA ABDULGHANY: Yeah.
Q. Did you take your extra year?
ALYAA ABDULGHANY: No, I didn't take my extra year. I just did the usual four.
Q. How do you feel USC prepared you for the next stage?
ALYAA ABDULGHANY: USC did an amazing job. The program has done so much for me in terms of exposing and traveling to different places, like finding what to do on different grass and things like that, especially going out to Florida, knowing the conditions that I needed to play in and what I needed to practice. USC helped a lot in my preparation.
Q. I feel like there are so many USC grads who either play on the LPGA or Symetra right now, and there's so many of you that are on your way to the next level. But everybody is unique in their own way, and they all seem to have their own unique story. What's something about you that makes you stand out in the Trojan family?
ALYAA ABDULGHANY: I don't know, I feel like my class especially, the ones that have graduated with me, we've all been really strong players, and I think what makes us unique would be the fact that we have a lot of patience and we don't really give up, knowing how the conditions are going to be this week. We always have our "A" game. I never doubt anything from these girls. It's good to be able to be playing with them in the field because I know they're always going to play their best.
Q. Is there anything off the course that people don't know about you that would help them to get to know you a little better? Something you enjoy doing?
ALYAA ABDULGHANY: I do like to read a lot, which is -- I feel like I'm a really rare species in that sense. I love books. I love reading books. I love collecting and carrying books.
Q. Is that a goal, a book collection? Or have you started one?
ALYAA ABDULGHANY: I've started one, but I'm a long ways from it being collected. There's a lot of books out there. Ideally in my dream house I'd like to have a lot of books.
Q. Who's a favorite author or two?
ALYAA ABDULGHANY: My favorite author would be a Japanese author. His name is Haruki Murakami. A lot of his works are translated already, but the way he approaches writing is very unique, and I like that.
Q. Did you study writing or anything -- what did you study in school?
ALYAA ABDULGHANY: No, I'm a business major, minor in sports media, which is a little different than my hobbies, but I feel like something that I'm so passionate about I would rather have it as a hobby.
Q. Where did you pick it up? Was it a family member or did you just kind of pick it up along --
ALYAA ABDULGHANY: I don't know, I've been trying to figure that out myself, too. I really don't know. I think back to all the times that I've read, and I guess maybe -- I started -- my very first book series was the Percy Jackson series, so I think that kind of brought me into like, oh, this is good, like reading is cool in a sense. Yeah, I think getting started on a good series is what I think probably got me into reading.
Q. Today what would be your go-to book, still Percy Jackson or something different?
ALYAA ABDULGHANY: What do you mean?
Q. Do you have like a -- you can go back to the novel X amount of times and it never gets old?
ALYAA ABDULGHANY: I don't know, that's so hard because there's so many out there. I'd probably say "Catcher in the Rye," J.D. Salinger. It's always a classic. I love the story line. The plot always catches me.
Q. Is that something you try to -- do you ever see that in life, some of the plots of the books you read?
ALYAA ABDULGHANY: For sure.
Q. Or even on the golf course?
ALYAA ABDULGHANY: There's a lot of the books that come from real life, and you can always relate to them. Yeah, it's nice. Yeah.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports