THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Team Kilted Koalas. Do you guys want to walk us through your experience with the course and any highlights of your rounds?
GEMMA DRYBURGH: I'll go first. I think we had three birdies in a row on our front nine. Cassie had a chip-in, which was nice. It was our first missed green, and we just chipped it in.
CASSIE PORTER: No idea.
GEMMA DRYBURGH: Yeah, it was a perfect uphill chip. We hit a few putts and drove really nicely.
CASSIE PORTER: From my point of view, we drove really nicely. We assigned the holes really well. I was on evens, and Gem was on odds.
We drove the green on 12, which was nice, and that set up a really nice birdie for Gem. Yeah, we just rolled really well together.
Q. You touched on this event, but how would you say you complement each other's games?
GEMMA DRYBURGH: Yeah, we obviously have different games. Cassie hits it further than me, and I'm nice and down the middle usually. Like Cassie kind of said, we kind of picked the right holes for each other, and I think we gelled really well. We complemented each other really nicely.
CASSIE PORTER: Yeah, it's really nicely to be able to -- I guess, I have full faith in Gem that she's going to make the six-footers. It makes golf a little bit easier when you're not worried about leaving it six foot.
Q. How is your strategy going to change between today and tomorrow with the format being different?
GEMMA DRYBURGH: Tomorrow is going to be very different just -- we haven't even talked about who's going to go off the tee first. It's just going to be depending on how we're playing each hole, we'll strategize and hopefully be a bit more aggressive as well.
Tomorrow is about birdies and today was kind of more steady. Obviously we made a few birdies today, but we can make even more tomorrow.
CASSIE PORTER: I have nothing to add. I'm kind of new to this. Gem is holding my hand through the whole thing. I'm here for a good time.
Q. Can you talk about the partnership and how it came to be. Obviously Kilted Koalas kind of speaks for itself. Talk us through the process.
GEMMA DRYBURGH: Cassie is a rookie this year, and I met her at the start of the year and kind of hit it off. Friendship is going as the year goes by as well. Obviously I'm Scottish and she's Aussie.
CASSIE PORTER: Keen sense of humor, which really helped.
GEMMA DRYBURGH: Tell them how you came up with the name.
CASSIE PORTER: It's really original. I asked ChatGPT. I'm really sorry, I wish I could tell you that I came up with it myself, but I didn't.
GEMMA DRYBURGH: It's perfect.
CASSIE PORTER: It was the first suggestion, and I was like, hey, that's great. And ChatGPT came up with a really nice logo. And I don't know if you've seen them, but we have really cool shirts. We'll be selling merch at the end of the week if anyone is interested.
GEMMA DRYBURGH: Merch dropping soon (laughter).
CASSIE PORTER: We made a deal. At the end of the week, if we win, we get the logo on our backs. Great motivation.
Q. Great start. Kind of talk about your guys' experience playing in a team format. Obviously Cassie coming in as a rookie, I think team is pretty big in Australia.
CASSIE PORTER: We have a lot of team events as juniors in Australia, but I haven't played one in ages. It's nice to come out and have a great time out there. We were pretty relaxed on the 1st tee today.
GEMMA DRYBURGH: She was taking selfies on the 1st tee.
CASSIE PORTER: Yeah, but it was great. We had a great day, and I'm excited for more.
Q. What's the mindset heading into the rest of the week? Obviously at the top right now, a lot can change, but what's the mindset heading into the rest of the week?
GEMMA DRYBURGH: Just keep it steady. Just go have fun out there really. That's the main thing at the end of the week. Just cheering each other on really.
CASSIE PORTER: We've had a great week. Our caddies are great. We all get along really well. It's a good vibe out there.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports