THE MODERATOR: All right, joining us ahead of the 2026 ShopRite is Jennifer Kupcho, our defending champion. Jennifer, can you just reflect a little bit on your win last year and earning that here at an historic LPGA event?
JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, I think it meant a lot to me last year coming off a bit of a rough start at the beginning of the year. Kind of reminded myself I could do it again.
Also, this was my first-ever LPGA event here at ShopRite back in my rookie year, so super special to win it, and then be able to come back this year. It's exciting.
Q. Yeah. This is our third Donald Ross course in a row. Kroger and Mizuho were both at Donald Ross courses. Can you just give us some insight into the courses, the setup, and how it plays for the LPGA?
JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, I think compared to the last couple events, this Donald Ross course is definitely a lot easier. It always plays a little bit short. The greens are small so you kind of have to be pretty spot on with your wedges. Because the course is so short you have a lot of wedges.
Yeah, compared to the last couple weeks I think those were -- the greens were much more crazy and undulating, so you can take a little bit of a breath going into the greens this week. (Smiling.)
Q. Looking ahead to the rest of this year, obviously a Solheim Cup year. You've competed on Solheim Cup before. Can you talk about what it means to represent the United States in that capacity?
JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, I mean, any time you get to represent your country it's obviously a great honor and always super fun to be alongside teammates that you're normally competing head-to-head against.
Yeah, it'll be a fun year. Hopefully I can make the team. I'm excited to go back over to Europe. I played in Spain, so it's definitely a different atmosphere over in Europe compared to playing here on home soil.
So I'm excited for it:
Q. So starting with the Solheim Cup, how can you use this tournament as a springboard to get back onto the team?
JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, I think just going out and playing. I think one big thing I've worked on this year is going out and having fun, not necessarily worrying about the outcome or what it could mean.
I think if you get too far ahead of yourself you kind of start to put way too much pressure. So, yeah, just go out and have fun, do the best I can.
The greens are definitely tough and bumpy, so you kind of just take it for what it is. If they go in, great. If not, don't take it personal.
Q. So there was no event last weekend. Coming into this weekend, how did having last weekend off impact your preparation come into this year's ShopRite LPGA?
JENNIFER KUPCHO: Honestly, like we obviously have a lot of off weeks throughout the year, so it's kind of all the same for me. On an off week I kind of take it easy, practice a few days, do a lot of workouts.
I got a Peloton last week, so maybe going a little too much on that. It's exciting and fun kind of just taking some defending down time being at home. I always enjoy doing that.
I think using this week to get ready for the U.S. Open, back in competition, just to be ready for next week as well.
Q. Since this was your first LPGA Tour event after Wake, so go back to playing this event for the first time. What were the nerves like playing this event for the first time, and fast forwarding to winning on Sunday, just that full circle moment.
JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, my very first event as a pro was actually the U.S. Open. It was before this that year, so like the LPGA -- coming to the LPGA it's like you don't know all the rules, what you're doing, credentials and stuff. I obviously played U.S. Opens before so that's obviously a lot of pressure.
But coming to an LPGA event is completely different. I had my dad on the bag. Yeah, kind of just like seeing what everybody does week in and week out was a little bit of an adjustment.
But yeah, then to fast forward to last year and getting the win, I don't know, it's a long time coming, right? Lots of years later, tough course, kind of remembering what I thought of the course back then. I really took that into consideration last year. I think when I showed up here my rookie year, I was like, wow, par-5s are really gettable; golf course is really gettable. You kind of just go for it and hope the putts fall, and that's really what I did last year.
Q. On the final day, Mother Nature was not the best on that final day.
JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yes.
Q. Going back to that quickly, with Mother Nature being the way was, was there a different plan of attack that day because of how the conditions were, or was it just birdie as many as you can coming in?
JENNIFER KUPCHO: I really think it was just like birdie as many as I can. Like it was sprinkling but more just like annoying, not necessarily actually just getting anything wet.
So I think that was a bit of a blessing. It kind of just felt like a normal round. It was more like the little bit of mist of just annoying, so for that reason I don't think it really changed much.
Q. This is year 38 of this event. ShopRite is the longest-running title sponsor on the LPGA Tour. As a pro, as a player, and with ShopRite, you know, the complementary hotels and like other sponsors are doing, what does it mean to you as a player to have partners and title sponsor in ShopRite that give not only so much to the community, but gives so much to you guys?
JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, I think to all the sponsors that we have on the LPGA, they're all stepping up and really doing the most that they can to elevate the women's game and elevate our Tour.
Yeah, for ShopRite to be able to give us a hotel here on site, it just makes everything easier. You're here; really don't need a car; you walk out and putt if you want to in the afternoons; don't need your caddie.
It's all just the simplicity of everything. They make it super easy here being on site.
Q. Speaking about the site, is there anything particularly about this course that makes it comfortable for you to play at?
JENNIFER KUPCHO: I feel like there is not really any tricked out holes. It's all very straightforward. The holes are pretty like arrow straight. Kind of just hit it and then hit it onto the green.
The greens aren't very undulated, so it's not really a big deal if you miss it on one side of the green and the pin is on the other. If your wedges are going in, your putter is falling, you can definitely go low.
Q. You mentioned a little bit earlier about how winning last year like was a finally ah-ha moment, right?
JENNIFER KUPCHO: Uh-huh.
Q. You've had a really strong last four outings on the Tour. Has last year's win kind of recalibrated your focus, or was it kind of like the moment that you kind of felt like, hey, I can do this and I can do this at a high level again and again? Was it something you said last year coming into this year that was like, hey, I can replicate that?
JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, I think last year made me realize I kind of do the same thing every year. Looking back on it, I start out slow from the offseason. I would say compared to most girls, like I take a lot of time off. I put my clubs away this year for an entire month during December and January. Most girls don't do that, so I know I'm going to start out rough beginning of the year, and kind of around April, end -- beginning of May, I start to come out.
So, yeah, I think through that win last year I was able to understand like this is the trend that I do, so just be patient with it and just keep working, and then I'm going to spring when I spring.
Q. Jennifer, congratulations on the win last year. The golf course is going to be wet, and with the 54-hole event, fast start means a lot anyway. Will it mean more this week because people will be able to fire right at the flag?
JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, I mean, you can definitely fire right at the flag if everything is really soft. I also think on these poana greens it also makes them more bumpy, so it's going to be harder to make putts as well if it's wet and soft.
Q. On a different subject, how has the level of play at the amateur level impacted what happens on the LPGA Tour in that college players seem more prepared, higher level of competition now? So how does that impact them? They get out here on the LPGA Tour and they seem ready to win right away.
JENNIFER KUPCHO: I think it just goes along with the growth of the women's game and the growth of golf in general. We're getting a lot more players starting really early, a lot more girls going college, and then, yeah, that transitioning into coming out here and playing really well.
I really think it's all started from the beginning of we're getting ourselves out more. More people want to start playing golf, and that's transitioning through and it's just taking a while to see it.
Q. My last question: Is there a danger on a young girl or high school age girl maybe burning herself out by pushing herself to hard at a young age or people around her pushing her too hard?
JENNIFER KUPCHO: I think it depends on the person. I think we definitely see that, but I think any time someone comes to me and asks me for advice on what should I do with my kid, I say put them in a bunch of different sports.
Growing up I played basketball all through high school, so like I put down the clubs every winter, same as what I do now. It works different for every person.
Like I'm sure other girls out here never did that and they're playing well, too. It really just depends person by person case, and you kind of just have to see how it is as a parents.
Like it's kind of your call I guess to see if they like it, and I think you got to give the kids a chance to decide, hey, do you want to go out and practice or am I making you.
It's the balance of figuring that out as a parents.
Q. That's where I would've gone next. You went there for me. Thanks very much. Appreciate your answers.
JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah.
Q. Just a couple of quick questions: First of all, the ShopRite is a unique event. It's 54 holes, but been around since 1986. What does it mean to win an event like that and win an event that Annika Sorenstam has won, Nancy Lopez, Betsy King has won? Not many tournaments in the LPGA Tour can boast the list of past champions this event can.
JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, I mean, I think that comes from it being around for so long, having the standing partner in ShopRite.
But, yeah, to be able to say -- I mean, it's a pretty historic venue out here, so to be able to say I've won it with all those names is really special.
Q. What do you think of the purse increase and the other changes ShopRite made? The player lounge, the player family lounge; you mentioned staying in the hotel, and stuff like that. What do you think of those changes and what do those changes say to the people on Tour?
JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, I think it just shows that ShopRite is stepping up, along with all of our partners, stepping up to really raise the game and help those of us that travel all the time make our lives easier and help us do everything that we can to the best of our ability.
It just shows that we have a bunch of sponsors that are willing to step up and continue with the times out here.
Q. You mentioned your trend is to start slow and around this time of year get going. Looking at your results, that seems to be the path you're on now. Do you feel like you're ready to play your best golf or like you said ready to spring ahead this -- as we get set to play this week?
JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, definitely. I think my ball striking kind of has really showed that it's going really well. Obviously you never know what's going to show up during the week so you kind of just take it how it is.
Yeah, obviously the way I've been trending it's going well, but you can't get too far ahead of yourself. Just keep practicing and hope it continues.
Q. You mentioned this a little bit, kind of the growth of women's game and seeing a lot of younger girls come will up through the ranks. How has it been going from being a rookie and playing this event and maybe being someone that can provide mentorship for younger girls?
JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, I think -- I mean, definitely this year but even last year the amount of rookies we have out here, it's like I don't even know some of them. You obviously know the games but you're like -- sometimes you're like, who is this person? It's interesting because like I don't feel like I'm that old, but then I look around and I'm like, okay, I've actually been out here for a few years.
Yeah, to be able to talk to them and give them mentorship and have them ask questions it's pretty cool to be in that spotlight instead of where I was as a rookie doing the same thing to girls like Ally Ewing, Emma Talley, girls that aren't out here anymore.
Q. One last one: You talked about the mentorship. Today is the final, USC vs Stanford in the women's championships. Assuming you've been following that a little bit.
JENNIFER KUPCHO: I have. Yeah, I've been watching.
Q. So you were there when you were at Wake. When you finished college, it's like and you Maria Fassi were wanting to --
JENNIFER KUPCHO: Uh-huh.
Q. So with USC and Stanford, Stanford's team is just all-world everything. You've got Megha Ganne, Catherine Park are going to be out here LPGA Tour soon. What does it mean about the future state of women's golf and the LPGA Tour coming out of college ranks based on the NCAAs?
JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, the girls that are there in the NCAAs playing the individual, playing the teams, they're all really good. They're all going to be really stacked when they come out. I think we're definitely going to see them out here competing with all of us for sure.
I think that's kind of the thing, right? Like it's a bit of a turnover out here. You have the older girls going out to start families and then you have the new really good studs coming up from college.
Yeah, it'll just continue to change, and I think they're all really good players were we're excited to see them out here.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Jennifer.
JENNIFER KUPCHO: Thanks.
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