THE MODERATOR: All right, joining me here today ahead of the CME Group Tour Championship is Lindy Duncan. Lindy, you were named the Heather Farr Perseverance Award winner at the Rolex Awards on Monday. Can you just talk about what that means to you?
LINDY DUNCAN: Yeah, that was an incredible honor. I was so shocked to receive that award and I was really excited about the process and very nervous because I didn't really know what to say.
But spent a lot of time thinking about the speech and it was great experience. It was a lot of fun.
Q. You were also recently elected as a player director. Talk about what it means to be honored in these ways by your peers out here.
LINDY DUNCAN: Yeah, definitely. That process was really cool. I know a couple of the player directors on the board now and it's a great group. I'm really excited to try to add some value and keep growing the Tour.
Q. You've had your best season to date this far. Talk a bit about how you've managed to grow so much off the course and also continue to improve on the course?
LINDY DUNCAN: Yeah, definitely. I've been very transparent about kind of my journey and the ups and downs, and all along I've just been trying to get better really in my game and finding holes in my process.
And it's really just an effort to try to get better and compete harder because the competition is so great. So just trying to find any little way really. So it's been a very fun process and it's nice to see a lot of the consistent results from that.
But the grind does not stop, so there will be a lot more work to come.
Q. Looking ahead to this week, the Tour Championship, what's going to be your focus this week?
LINDY DUNCAN: Yeah, my game is in a good place. I'm hitting it well, getting a feel for the greens and all the slopes. Practiced well.
So the conditions seem like they should be pretty warm and I generally like playing -- the hotter it is the better I swing it seems like, so I hope that works out for me.
Q. Lindy, I know you didn't know about the award for too long, curious, give me the nuts and bolts how long you spent on your speech toiling over it and the feedback you got from other players in the room.
LINDY DUNCAN: It was a long process. I've changed it about 20 times. I just kept rewrite and rewriting it. I actually really enjoy writing. It's something that I have done a lot this past probably two years, just different things I'm thinking about I just write about it and try to think about 1000 say it a little bit simpler.
And in a room full of people like that at the Rolex Awards it was very intimidating and I've never given a speech before. Ever. I've just only talked to you guys. So I was like, I don't know what I'm doing. I couldn't read the speech. It was kind of a mess but I got through it.
That's what Sean told me, just get off the stage right before I went up, so that really helped. But, yeah, spent a lot of time rewriting it and trying to understand kind of like where I was and the changes that I had to make to kind of get to where I am now.
And that process -- it was actually a lot of fun. I was joking with Leona about how stressed I was about giving the speech, but writing it was kind of therapeutic and a lot of fun and I enjoyed it. Yeah, it's just a fun process to kind od get things down on paper.
Q. And then feedback you received?
LINDY DUNCAN: Yeah, I've gotten a lot of hugs, I've gotten a lot of great job on the speech, a lot of kind words. Especially Auston Kim. I've just really connected with her a lot this year. She's always just so kind. So, yeah, a lot of great feedback.
Q. I was going to ask what was the most impactful feedback you got. Whether it was a text, something you saw online, what was the coolest response to your speech?
LINDY DUNCAN: Yeah, gotten a lot of messages. I didn't really -- like yesterday I was getting back to a lot of the messages and it was just a lot of like being inspired. I think that if my story can do that and inspire anyone to like keep working hard and keep their dream going, that means the world to me.
Q. Lindy, I love the speech, too. I'm going to go of the rails for a minute. Without mentioning low points in golf, what do you consider someone chasing their first win? What's been your highlight so far? What's been your high point?
LINDY DUNCAN: High point would kind of be just this whole year. I've really played freely and my game has gotten better, so I just feel so different on the golf course than I used to feel.
So every time I play, whether the score is good or not, I typically just come off feeling like I gave it everything I had, and that's a great feeling. I really enjoy putting in the work, and kind of allowing myself to be in that mode every day, I've just enjoyed it.
So as far as like a high moment, the Chevron was incredible, but there has been a lot of -- even last week I was close to missing the cut and really started playing well and then had a great weekend, and that felt like one of the best tournaments of the year for me because I went from being 4-over in the second round and finishing 10-under for the tournament.
I mean, that really felt amazing, too.
Q. This is kind of the weird question. My apologies. Graduated from Duke.
LINDY DUNCAN: Yes.
Q. Why?
LINDY DUNCAN: I graduated from Duke because I wanted a degree and I really enjoyed it. I loved everything about team golf and I love Coach Brooks. I loved Duke, Raleigh Durham, and it was a very important time for me to get better as a golfer.
Q. But you were always pretty good; great results through amateur golf and into college. I'm sure this was something you probably wanted to do for a living when you were a little girl.
LINDY DUNCAN: Uh-huh.
Q. Any temptation to --
LINDY DUNCAN: Uh-uh. I wasn't ready. I was kind of homeschooled a lot growing up and I would not have been ready to take on a big stage of like a professional game.
I needed to go in steps and that was a very important step, to be away from home and learn how to do things.
Q. Have you used your degree yet?
LINDY DUNCAN: Have I used it? My psychology degree from Duke? I feel like kind of, on myself all the time. (Laughter.)
Q. Thank you.
LINDY DUNCAN: Thank you.
Q. I know you're a alum of our Girls Golf program. You had such a powerful speech. We shared that out to our members and on social. Looking at you as an LPGA player, obviously a role model for that next generation, what do you hope this girls following you can take from you specifically?
LINDY DUNCAN: Yeah, I think my journey has had ups and downs. You know, I've definitely thought about doing other things a lot, but if it you love something like I love golf and you want to figure it out, there is a way.
And you ask for help and get the right people on your side and work together as a team you can do a lot of really cool things.
So I think answering that question for yourself is important. If you love it, don't quit. It's not going to be easy. It's going to be a struggle for everyone. We're all in the struggle together.
So I think a lot about my sister's mantra, struggle less, fight harder, never quit. If you have that attitude in life, in whatever you choose your career, you can go a really long way and have a lot of fun along the way.
Q. Looking at the next generation, what would you love to see in terms of just more girls in the game?
LINDY DUNCAN: Yeah, I think golf and especially women's golf is really close to just exploding, and I think there is a lot of excitement around our game. The young girls that I met who are in college now or are going into the college age, their games are really good.
So the game is just getting more and more elevated. They're hitting it so far. That's a big part of it. Our courses get longer pretty much every year, so the farther you hit it you're going to have a big advantage.
They also don't have the same scar tissue that a lot of veterans have, like myself.
So it's -- I think it's a very exciting time.
Q. As a new board member, just your thoughts on the job that Craig Kessler is doing so far and how you hope you can impact the Tour in that way.
LINDY DUNCAN: Yeah, I think Craig is great. I met him a couple times and I really like him. Our last player meeting was awesome. I think he's really passionate and very focused on specific things.
What I hope to bring is kind of the same energy. You know, like I think we're so close, and what do we have to do. Answering that question I think is going to be difficult, and I think that the pieces are there. It's kind of just bringing it all together.
So I hope I can be of value, and, you know, figure out everything that we can. But I know that everyone behind the scenes is working really hard.
Q. You and Lydia couldn't have had more different roads to get to where you are. What have you learned walking alongside her as a good friend, and did she share anything beyond that about the board? Obviously she's done that too.
LINDY DUNCAN: Yeah, haven't talked to her much about the board yet, although she said I would enjoy it getting a behind-the-scenes look and working closely with the LPGA. They're all great people, and I've known them all for a very, very long time -- except for Craig because he's new.
Yeah, I could definitely write a book on everything I learned from Lydia. It all comes from working hard. She's such a professional, you know, with her time management and her scheduling, just everything she does. There is a purpose and a meaning behind it. She works so hard. I've just never seen anyone work as hard as her. She's just a caring, loving, kind person, and when you're around her you just feel good.
She's taught me so much about how to treat my friends and -- because she treated me so well, and her whole family. I definitely try to take a lot from what I learn from her and take that and use that in my whole life.
Q. I have one other question. We saw Sean Foley come with you the other night to the Rolex Awards. Seen a lot of reposts in your story of work you've done virtually and together. Can you just speak to how instrumental he's been in your journey?
LINDY DUNCAN: Yeah, he's been great. We were joking in the pro-am yesterday that he's seen stuff in me but it was just a matter of getting myself out of my own way. I can't share how he described it because it wouldn't be appropriate but you can kind of get the idea.
So I mean, he's helped me so much with my swing, little things. The first time I asked for his help I was aiming so far right and hitting low left shots and I could not figure that out. So our very first lesson was just alignment. It just grew from there, little things. You know, even today we were on the course and learning new short game shots and learning pin position here, wind direction here, what kind of shot, the lie.
He's just been around for so long and knows so much about golf, so we really golf nerd out. We both get excited about things. So it's a lot of fun.
Q. One other question about being a golf nerd. How many notebooks do you feel like you have?
LINDY DUNCAN: I've thrown them all out. Yeah, I had stacks and it was -- kind of part of this year for me was just sort of purging, just getting rid of a lot of stuff. I threw everything out. I have a lot of stuff on my phone saved, a lot of the Word documents that I don't really organize because I'm too lazy.
The actual notebooks are all gone.
Q. Anyone else you feel like is a golf nerd that you nerd out with player-wise out here?
LINDY DUNCAN: Player-wise golf nerd? I think Leona is up there. We talk a lot about golf. She's a pretty good golf nerd. Pretty smart.
THE MODERATOR: Perfect. Thank you so much, Lindy.
LINDY DUNCAN: Thank you.
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