Q. To start, second to the last shot of the day, beautiful chip. How did it feel to end on that note?
MARIAH STACKHOUSE: Felt really good. I think my ball striking as the round went along got better and better, which I think is evidenced in that shot.
Kind of was like, it's a little downwind, but I'll play it close to the number and then flew the green right into the bunker. I'm like, I'm never mad at anything like that as long as it felt like it was a good shot and I executed the play that I wanted.
Then you just got to go take what you got. Then to almost hole-out from a the bunker there felt good. Easy up and down. I think that was kind of the theme of the day. I think I only missed one up and down from a missed green, so my chipping was solid.
Actually had a chip-in for a birdie on one hole. I made some really good putts. Couple 24-, 25 footers. Had one short one, one 12-footer. So it was just a really solid round. I made some great par saves from putts as well, too.
So just one of those rounds that you kind of felt in control.
Q. And then after a solid round like that, how do you prepare for the remaining three days of golf?
MARIAH STACKHOUSE: Yeah, you know, I'm just going to kind of start with the same routine I did this morning. I think the mornings are going to be cold every day. I was actually really concerned about that and just making sure my body was moving, so actually woke up really early this morning and did a 50-minute workout session.
I knew I really needed to stretch and really needed to feel loose before I got out here because it was so cold, so I just set the 5:00 a.m. alarm and did what needed to be done.
Q. Awesome. And then obviously this week is a lot of pressure and people are saying sometimes it's even more pressure than Q-Series in December.
MARIAH STACKHOUSE: Yeah.
Q. How do you balance having that pressure but also keeping positive and keeping in your golf game for the week?
MARIAH STACKHOUSE: You know, I agree with that sentiment wholeheartedly. I think second stage is tougher than Q-Series in the mental aspect.
I think coming out here I said you know what, especially with the weather looking like it did today, I said, it's going to be a tough day. I said, get some birdies, capitalize on opportunities, and minimize error.
That was literally my focus for the day. I wanted to hit as many greens as possible and just be putting. That's just what I focused on the whole way around. Any time my approach shot didn't execute, I just didn't get upset with myself. Let's just go try to make up and down.
And I think as long as you can kind of stay away of high expectations on weeks like this and just play solid, play calm, if your game is with you, it all shakes out.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports