Q. Joined now by Maja Stark after her first round at The Chevron Championship. Bogey to start the day but really, really good golf following that. Just take us through the round.
MAJA STARK: Yeah, I mean, haven't been able to practice that much the past few days with all the rain that came in, so was kind of nervous going into it.
But then, yeah, ended up in a divot on my -- after my second shot on the first hole, so I thought, oh, man, it's going to be one of those days.
But I moved on from that bogey and finished or started with two straight birdies after that I think.
Q. Uh-huh.
MAJA STARK: Yeah, felt like I got back into a good groove. I mean it wasn't always pretty but it worked and I felt like we had a good strategy so that it didn't have to be perfect all the time.
We know what my game looks like right now.
Q. Other than the nervousness, like you said, hadn't seen the course because the rain. Started with a bogey. What's the mindset after going into hole No. 2?
MAJA STARK: I think it was just to go for it and just remember just what I had to do instead of like being scared. Because hitting into a par-3 with a 5-iron is scary sometimes, so then you have to do it and so I think that's just been my mindset the whole day well.
Q. What was the longest club you hit in on a par-4?
MAJA STARK: 5-iron -- no, 4, 4-iron.
Q. What hole was that?
MAJA STARK: 11.
Q. 11, yeah. How would you describe the conditions out there in terms of the mud?
MAJA STARK: Surprisingly good I think. I haven't had any mud balls or any problem with water or anything, so I've been spared from that.
I thought it was going to be worse than it has been, but, yeah, not too bad.
Q. What was your first impression of the golf course when you got here?
MAJA STARK: Fun. Lots of variety. And I love when you just to have like carry into the pins or into the greens because you get stuck if you hit kind of a bad shot.
So I kind of like that you get rewarded for good irons.
Other than that, it's fun. They have a lot of holes where -- a lot of shots where it's scary and I really like that. I feel like that's what a major is supposed to be. They had a lot of tucked pins today. They had a couple that were three from the edges and, yeah, we don't have that usually.
So it was fun.
Q. Feel a little U.S. Open-esque in that regard in terms of how you were challenged?
MAJA STARK: Yeah. I think so.
Yeah, just a bit wetter.
Q. Yeah, right. Mentally have you learned to bounce back from bogeys? Anything you've done differently that you have learned to give yourself more grace in the past couple seasons?
MAJA STARK: I think a lot of it has to do with just getting older, because, I mean, sometimes it feels like it's the end of the world to make a bogey, especially in a major, especially starting with it.
But now it's just like, well, I made bogey on my opening hole so many times before and it doesn't have to dictate the whole round.
So, yeah, it's nice to be at this point in my career where it doesn't feel like -- you know, we have so many opportunities and stuff, it feels more like a normal week, but more intense I guess.
Q. How do you feel like you set yourself up for the week after today?
MAJA STARK: Long week. I don't really know what the weather looks like for the rest of the week, but I think it's really nice to get my putter back working because last week was a mess.
So I'm really happy with that and I feel like it gives me confidence that I can save when I mess up. So, yeah, just going to keep plodding along and doing -- focusing on myself.
Q. Did you change your putter or did you spend hours working on now putting? What did you do?
MAJA STARK: No. I have basically the same putter. Just added a line on top of it. No, it was just very mental and I just had my caddie film a couple putts and then I realized some things.
It was pretty easy to fix it. So, yeah, was just very in my head last week and tried all these different things and they weren't working. All I needed was to just film one and it's fine. It's so annoying. I hate golf.
Q. You talked about since you won the U.S. Women's Open last year it's been a little bit uncomfortable for you. You look so much more comfortable and settled had yourself and happy sitting here talking to you. What's changed or what have you worked on to kind of settle in for the rest of all this?
MAJA STARK: I had a lot of anxiety after the U.S. Open and, you know, switching caddies, too, after the summer and then it just felt like I didn't know what I was doing anymore.
So I didn't feel comfortable at all on the course, so ended up getting a lot of the professional help with the mental stuff. Now I feel like I'm back, you know. I have a mental coach, sports psych, therapist, like I got a lot of people working to help me practice I'm really grateful for them.
So, yeah, it's just been a while -- yeah, been working on it for a long time but finally feels like it's not a big problem anymore and I know how to handle the anxiety out there.
Q. Do your cats help?
MAJA STARK: Yes. (Laughter.)
Q. Have you gotten a third one?
MAJA STARK: Oh, well, no. No, I can't get a third one. A third, the next major, then maybe.
Q. Was it due to being more so under the spotlight after winning the major? What did you feel like it stepped from and why was it kind of challenging for you?
MAJA STARK: I don't really know. I think it was probably more spotlight, a little more, yeah, just expectations from others. I still felt like that was just another week and I did things well there.
But then I felt like, you know, you get comments and stuff saying, what's happened? You just won a major? Why do you suck all of a sudden? That does take some energy and it just makes you focus on the wrong things. Then I got even more stressed and anxious.
But, yeah, it was really -- I guess I felt like everything was good that week and then it was just like, what do I have to do to get back to that. Then I was just kind of stuck in the past for a long time.
I really didn't like that.
Q. How proud are you of yourself to have gotten through that and how has it helped you to have gotten through that tough time?
MAJA STARK: I mean, it's been huge because I felt like it was the end of the world. Like I hated playing golf last fall. I mean, yeah, I just didn't want to be on the golf course because I felt like I could not hit the ball straight. I could not play well at all.
And then it was nice to kind of go back to like my old caddie that I've been working with for a few years. He knew that I could play well, so he wasn't stressed at all about my game.
Then it felt like after Korea, kind of got into it a little bit more and we're just so comfortable with each other, so that's also a huge help.
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