Q. All right here with Natasha Oon after an even par first round. That was an exciting round for you. I hate to start out with the down note, but tell us what happened on the second hole.
NATASHA OON: I mean, the sun was shining, I couldn't see a thing, and I think I hit my shot to the right. Had a really long bunker shot in and I skulled it into the back; had to take a drop; chipped out; just chipped back and two putt.
I was like, okay. I am back. That's okay. You know, I got a lot of holes to go. My caddie, David, was really, really good with my mental game and he was like, there is a lot of golf to go.
Pros, they have the famous, they mess up early on and come back, so I kind of used that as an inspiration. I had so much fun. So just getting back there, just trying my best, I was like, this is golf. This is golf.
Q. It's called one shot at a time for a reason. Take that in and you move on. Good job bouncing back. How were you feeling the rest of the day?
NATASHA OON: I'm feeling good. Had the first tee time so I had a lot of time to myself. You know, it's a big, big walk so we were joking on the way up we're going to eat a lot, so I'm just feeling really, really chill and I'm going to see how tomorrow goes.
For now it's over. I did my best. That's all I could do.
Q. What did it mean to be back? I saw you after you tapped in for par on 18 that big sigh of relief, like I did it. It's over. What does it mean to you now?
NATASHA OON: It feels good. Definitely feels good. I thought I would be way more emotional on the first tee. I just feel like I've just been waiting for this moment and I have a job to do and I'm going to go out there and play some good golf.
It was early in the morning and it was -- everybody felt really casual. I felt we had a good group, yeah.
Q. Didn't look like you were stressed because when I walked up on 18 and you saw me you gave me a good look there. Were you feeling as calm as you looked on the outside throughout the round?
NATASHA OON: I was just laughing at you holding tripod, or I don't know on if it's a tripod, but like a selfie stick, and you were like being really still and I was like, oh, my goodness, Anthony, you get everything. So it's really fun.
I loved it.
Q. Walking off 18 you see family, friends; you're giving them hugs. What did that moment mean to you?
NATASHA OON: I took them on a ride. I think I took them on a ride, and just to finish really well, they were so proud of me, so honestly just seeing a crowd of the people that I know means a lot to me. It meant a lot for sure, yeah.
Q. Couple weeks ago I asked you what your expectations were coming into this tournament. You said I have none. Do they change after the first round that you played well and were able to bounce back?
NATASHA OON: No. Still no expectations. Definitely the second hole I was like, whoa, okay, I got some work to do, but one shot at a time like Christina said. Just had so much fun. Enjoy the shots, the putts. Let's enjoy the nature around us. There are people watching us. It's all about going through the journey and the process of a round, yeah.
Q. One last question: Now that your story has been out that this LPGA is back in the Bay Area, you're serving as inspiration to so many other people not only fighting physical, emotional, but mental challenges. What does that mean to you?
NATASHA OON: I'm just one of many stories and my story keeps on going, and I hope they're --no matter how long or short it is, if they just keep looking and just keep trying to find the answers, I hope to them that they look at my story and they say, hey, there is one more added to the percentage that this could work out.
So I'm just like kind of evidence that, hey, work at it; you'll find your moment.
Q. And then I had one last question, too. There has been a lot of positive feedback and comments about your press conference. The mish-mosh they put together on social media have you seen any of the comments? What is your reaction? Anyone sent it to you?
NATASHA OON: Yes. Okay, so I have a few. So like everyone came up to me and was like I saw your video. I saw your video. Saw your video. My agent was like, I saw your video. I'm like, am I really that funny?
So, you know, no one is really going to bring me back down after that.
Also one of the comments was from Mary_Kate who was also an Elphaba on Broadway. Fun fact. On Epson Tour I played in Albany, New York. Went to Manhattan for two days. My flight got canceled and I went to Wicked on Broadway and she was a standby and became my Elphaba. So the fact that she was like, hey, diva I want to be friends, I reached out to her and we had a converse. I was defining gravity inside and outside.
That was Wicked. I'm happy, so, yeah, I mean, it's been really cool. It's been really great. I'm glad to share the energy.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports