Q. All right, joining us after the first round of the JM Eagle LA Championship is Natasha Oon. Natasha, 6-under today. How did it feel out there and what was going well?
NATASHA OON: I felt like a professional. (Laughter.)
I don't know. Hitting really good shots and putting everything in and doing what I saw on TV. I saw some really low scores and I was in the afternoon wave and I was like, wow, these girls are killing it out there.
I had a few looks at the course beforehand and I was so confused the whole time. Like this is not possible. This is a crazy course.
But just to shoot 6-under and tell myself that's possible for you, that's pretty cool. That's pretty cool, yeah.
Q. You've had your mom out here this week. Been doing some cute vlogs on Instagram of exploring LA things. How do you think the balance off the course helps with the performance on the course?
NATASHA OON: I definitely came here earlier and I played at Riv and I explored SoCal and was able to settle in a little bit. I did a lot of putting work as well beforehand with my coach Joey Farrow, and we just like dialed it all down and I just felt so confident in my putting. Definitely helps.
And trying out new smoothies and doughnuts, that's so fun. You got to make traveling fun because you're not home all the time and my mom and her reactions to American food is so funny. She just doesn't like some tangy stuff. I mean, she tried pimento cheese and I have a video of it and I need to post it, but she doesn't like pimento cheese. She's not hip. My bad.
Q. I was just wondering how has it been having Juli Inkster like as a mentor, and what's some of the most memorable advice she's given you on and off the golf course?
NATASHA OON: Oh, she's so herself, and I think her and being a competitor and saying to yourself it's not over, I mean, game to her houses not knowing what to do because it was in the middle of coming back.
I was like, I don't know how to get back. She was like, Natasha, you have so much talent. Like if you don't get out there I feel like you're going to regret it. I just really held that and held the weight of that.
She's always believed in me and so someone who has so much legacy and so much work done in women's golf telling you you're good, that does a lot for your confidence. Even though I felt like I fell out of the game a little bit and fell out of love with it a little bit, they always greet me and they are always there for me.
Yeah, so it's just a stable, stable thing to have when your life has been really rocky. I was really, really grateful for that. Yeah.
Q. Speaking of those rocky times, you also said it was hard to watch the LPGA sometimes while you weren't playing. What changed mentally to allow you to come back motivated instead of discouraged?
NATASHA OON: That's really cool that you brought that up. I don't know. I feel like when you're alone out there and there is no cameras and there is just you and the golf course, that's when I felt like my passion was the highest.
You feel really in touch with nature and everything. At the end of the day we're all playing golf. Remove the ropes and the cameras, remove the crowd, it's you and the golf course.
At the end of the day we have to remember that no matter where we are when we're out there, you're challenging yourself and I just had to have fun with it.
Like I had to play music and be with my friends and I had to just find that vibe, that like 6:00 p.m. round like on a sunset and have some Zara Larson in the back, and like, oh, I'm hitting shots like this; let me do that crazy shot. Let me like flop it like Phil Mickelson. Like what's 3.52% of slope. Just go crazy with it.
And I think bringing that into the Tour and also honoring how much I worked hard in the Epson Tour year and giving that to her that was very important. Honestly it was like really hard. I don't know if I should do this, yeah. So, yeah, uh-huh.
Q. What's it like -- obviously very consist round and not so up and down today. What did that feel like?
NATASHA OON: Oh, it was great. I mean, I definitely had some weird shots out there today, but I gave myself some good looks and angles. Yeah, I just started -- felt like a professional with that clean scorecard.
You know, I just -- it's such a cool thing to experience just hitting shots, being more dialed, seeing yourself progress. It just feels like work is paying off and I'm doing the right things. Sometimes maybe not, but it's just like always a trend, right?
So, yeah.
Q. Juli Inkster said she feels like you have your joy back. Do you feel like that as well, whether you're playing good or not that you have the joy back playing golf?
NATASHA OON: Yeah, I definitely do. I definitely have a lot of fun with it. I was so nervous actually this week, but also out there -- I mean, I played with Aphrodite and I was so in awe of how good she is for her age. I was just talking to her and I was like, you're so cool and poised. I wish I had that, you know.
So it's just meeting people and looking at how amazing they are. And I played with Albane and I was also like a fan of her growing up. So it was just like the people really helped me for sure, yeah.
Q. Have you gotten to meet Chizzy and Akie Iwai and what do you think about their game?
NATASHA OON: I met them in Sharon Heights. I didn't know how to say like dancing in Japanese so I just did like, hey, (Lush Life dance moves.) Because I really want them to do the Lush Life by Zara Larson. They're like, oh, okay, we'll do that dance.
Every time I see them, I'm like, come on. (Lush Life dance moves.) I don't know, they're really cool. She shot really low today, 9-under. Yeah, wow. Felt like I did everything I could out there.
Yeah.
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