Q. All right, ready? Here with Lizette Salas, a bogey-free free day; tied the low round of the week this week. Just take me through what this final day was like for you.
LIZETTE SALAS: You know, I had zero expectations. I've kind of been going through some struggle on the putting green, as everyone else has been going through with poana, but I knew I've played well here before.
I knew it was coming, but like I just had to stay patient and stay confident. And I knew my family was going to be out here supporting me and cheering me on, and as the cheers got louder my confidence kept rising.
We hit the back nine and I didn't really take advantage of 16, the Aon Risk Reward hole.
Then I was coming down the stretch looking at the leaderboard, and if I need to stay within the top 20, I need to birdie 17, so we did that.
And then we got into trouble on 18. Working on a new stroke, a new setup, and just rolled it in for a nice solid par on 18. Pretty happy.
Q. I was going to ask how clutch was that par? Take us through the final hole for you.
LIZETTE SALAS: Well, lucky to be in the first cut off the tee, and then didn't really hit a good second shot in the rough there on -- pin high left.
Chipping on these poana greens are really tricky, so I gave myself ten feet.
But we read the greens well today, and just kept my head down and found the bottom of the cup.
Q. We were talking a little bit earlier about your nephews are here, your entire family is here. On Instagram we a the Salas Clan out supporting you.
LIZETTE SALAS: Yeah.
Q. How excited have you been for a week like this and for us to be back on the west coast, and what's it been like being host to your family in the crowd?
LIZETTE SALAS: Yeah, some of my family members haven't watched me play in two years. Being so close to home, they're excited to do the drive home yesterday and drive back this morning.
I was trying to convince them just meet me on the back. It's totally fine. But they've been so supportive and the cheers got pretty loud. Almost seemed like I was leading the tournament.
So, you know, they'll be out next week and I'll be kind of on home soil, the L.A. event, so we're off to a good start for this event.
Q. You said that you felt as if you were kind of working, that you knew that something was there, and that definitely clicked today.
LIZETTE SALAS: Yeah.
Q. Did it also help that the family was there? Did they see that kind of click as well?
LIZETTE SALAS: Yeah, definitely. We kind of talked about it yesterday and how frustrated I was. You know, I played well here before but it wasn't really clicking.
Today we just went out there, had some fun, and I just saw my little three nephews, 8, 6, and 4, just having a good time. You know, try not take it so seriously, but at the same time, build up some momentum for next week.
Shot 8-under in Thailand, so we know the game is there. We just have to stay patient.
Q. Can you describe some of those changes that you were talking about you made with your swing and setup?
LIZETTE SALAS: Yeah, with my putting mainly. I was really frustrated after round one, that we went conventional last three rounds, and I haven't done that in about two years.
I had a FaceTime session with my swing coach this morning just to kind of go over some key points and change the setup a little bit.
Yeah, made seven birdies today, so he's going to get a chuckle out of it. Swing-wise it's been the same the last couple months. We went to a shorter driver, which I thought was going to decrease my yardage, but, no, on the contrary, it gave me some more yardages off the tee.
The major thing is I'm pain-free with my back and health is good, so that's the major thing, and is it makes golf a lot more enjoyable.
Q. What were you able to do to be pain-free?
LIZETTE SALAS: Just a lot of maintenance, working on just recovery. I added pilates to my strength and conditioning.
The beautiful thing is all three, four of my teammates or trainer, coach, caddie, were all in sync. We all know what's going on with me and my body, and we just have a game plan and we're just going to stick to it.
Q. Did that have any impact on you starting your season later, not playing Florida?
LIZETTE SALAS: Yeah, so we decided to -- you know last year was a lot, you know, with the mental health and with my body, and so we needed the extra time to recover.
I just wanted to miss golf for a little bit more and then get that hunger back, get that grind back that I love so much. We got it back a little late, but we're happy to be back.
Q. You talked about next week, getting ready with it being the first major of the year in Chevron. What are your thoughts about it being the final trip to Mission Hills?
LIZETTE SALAS: Yeah, it's pretty sad, you know. I remember going there as a teenage girl, watching Lorena with my little sign, and my dream is to always jump into Poppy's Pond.
I've had some really good memories there, and the fact it's going to be the last one, it's kind of bittersweet. It's a new beginning for Chevron, which we're really thankful for, but that just means I got to go to work next week and make sure I get to jump in there.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports