THE MODERATOR: Hello and welcome to the 2025 ShopRite LPGA Classic. Joined by Kary Hollenbaugh, sponsor invite this week. Talk about how excited you are to be here in week. I know you just came in the U.S. Women's Open, but different week, non-major we're here on the LPGA. What does it feel like?
KARY HOLLENBAUGH: Yeah, it's so cool just having that experience and to be able to play with the best players in the world. I'm just super excited to go out and play some golf and just enjoy the experience and play with the LPGA.
Q. You played in a major last week. Obviously this isn't a major, but what were your takeaways from last week's competition, and what did it feel like being out there?
KARY HOLLENBAUGH: Yeah, it was so cool to be out there playing such an amazing course like Erin Hills and playing with the best players in the world. And the course is definitely a tough test, so I think it prepares you a lot for future courses.
I think just learning how to stay patient and just use your advantages, I think that's good for this course, too, just learning from that experience. Kind of every tournament that you play, you get a little better.
Q. What about this course this week and maybe, too, some of the LPGA players you saw this week or are hoping to see this week or anybody that you notably saw over the past two weeks?
KARY HOLLENBAUGH: Yeah, I played with Ashleigh Buhai in the practice round, so that was pretty cool, and then Jeongeun Lee5 in the actual tournament rounds and I saw Brooke Henderson and she was really nice. She always smiled. Allisen Corpuz, all those girls that I've looked up to, and Nelly Korda especially. It was really cool to see them up close in the actual tournament.
Q. What have you noticed most about their games? What do you think makes them a bit different and what you strive to be like?
KARY HOLLENBAUGH: Yeah, I watched a lot of the coverage the last two rounds, and I think they just stay really patient, and they honestly hit so many fairways and greens, and their short games are amazing. It's just super consistent, and that's how they can perform so well in every tournament.
Q. You're a rising senior at Ohio State. Got another year left. Just talk about what you're most excited about this summer and then leading into your last year at college.
KARY HOLLENBAUGH: Yeah, I have a little bit of a lighter summer, but I'm excited I'm playing the Western Am and then the U.S. Am hopefully. So I'm excited to play in those and then get back with my team. Our team is amazing, so it's just so exciting to be with them and I miss them already.
I think just working towards some more goals next year and Big Ten championships, national championships, and just getting back with them and working hard.
Q. You earned a spot in this field by being the winner of the Therese Hession Regional Challenge. Talk about, too, just learning that you'd be getting a spot in the field and what that meant to you.
KARY HOLLENBAUGH: Yeah, they've always had an exemption for that tournament into the LPGA at PV. So I didn't think there would be one for this year because they weren't having it, so it was super cool to kind of realize that I had an exemption into an LPGA event for winning that tournament. It's such a great field, so it was an honor to be able to play here and to also win that tournament.
I'm super lucky to play my first LPGA event.
Q. Since the Therese Hession tournament is Ohio State's tournament and you tied the tournament record as the individual winner, what did it mean to you to win that tournament and win Therese's tournament who has done so much for the Ohio State program?
KARY HOLLENBAUGH: Yeah, it was so special. I was the first Buckeye to ever win the tournament, so I think just having my name in that history, and I think -- Coach Hession has helped me a lot with my game and she's just done so much for the program. She's just been there every step of the way with all of us. She comes to watch us any chance she gets.
I think just being able to honor her and win the tournament, she was there with me on the last hole, so that was really special. She was like, you won, and she was so excited. It was just such an honor to be able to win her tournament.
Q. Have you talked to her leading into not only last week but into this week and pieces of advice she's given you?
KARY HOLLENBAUGH: Yeah, she always texts me before every tournament and she just tells me to play my own game and just to keep fighting and stay really patient and just enjoy the experience is what she normally tells me.
Q. You played the U.S. Women's Open last week. You're here at the ShopRite. This is your first ever regular season LPGA event. Even stepping foot on the property, first impressions being here, walking around, seeing an LPGA event as a player?
KARY HOLLENBAUGH: Yeah, it was cool. It was definitely a lot more than I was expecting. Junior tournaments don't compare to this. It was just cool seeing everybody that's there willing to help you. It was definitely, like, everybody needs your credentials, which I found out.
There's a lot more that goes into this, and it's just cool to be able to experience an LPGA tournament before I turn pro.
Q. Along those same lines, I was watching a feature on you, the Augusta feature with your parents' comments, and one of the comments you made struck me as interesting. You work really hard but never really expected to get here. If you can just talk about that and the fact that you are here, that you've arrived, and how good that makes you feel to know that your hard work and commitment and tireless efforts is starting to pay off and that you are, in fact, here?
KARY HOLLENBAUGH: Yeah, it's super cool. I feel like my game has just kind of trended in the right direction, like super consistently. I haven't seen a lot of, like, highs and lows. So I think just kind of now getting to the point where I feel like I'm getting better and better and then seeing the work paying off, and I think that it's cool just to be here and just to have the experience for the future, playing in the U.S. Women's Open and then playing in this LPGA tournament right now is really exciting.
Q. Are you the type that comes out with expectations, like I know I can do this and I'm going to do this, or are you the type that would rather see how things go and then formulate your opinion on what you can expect?
KARY HOLLENBAUGH: I think I'm the type of person that always has expectations. I think that that can be good and bad. I just try to enjoy the experience, but those expectations are always in the back of my mind.
Q. Best part of your game, what are you most confident coming into the week with as far as your game?
KARY HOLLENBAUGH: Yeah, I think my putting is probably the best part of my game and the thing that I love to do. So anytime I get to the green, I'm excited to try and make the putt. I think that, and then probably accuracy off the tee normally.
Q. First press conference; give yourself a grade. How do you feel like you're doing so far?
KARY HOLLENBAUGH: I feel like I'm doing okay. Yeah, pretty good. You ask good questions, so...
Q. Previously I asked you why you're so excited to be here. You're just like, I love golf, I'm excited to play more golf here. Can you talk about your golf journey and why you think you still feel that way?
KARY HOLLENBAUGH: Yeah, I think I've learned to love golf a lot more. I think the first couple tournaments I played I had so much pressure on myself, I think I got second in my first-ever golf tournament, so it was like those expectations have been there since that.
I think that I just keep working really hard and trying to get better every tournament, and I think golf is the type of sport where when you have a bad round, I always just want to play again, play another 18 holes.
I enjoy playing golf so much, and just every shot I enjoy hitting. I think that's probably why I just keep playing and working hard at it, just so I can keep playing more golf.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports