THE MODERATOR: Welcome, everyone, for our final press conference of the day. I'm pleased to be joined by Albane Valenzuela here at the Mexico Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba. Teeing it up in Mexico, I know your father is from here, I know you are of Mexican descent. Tell me how excited you are to be teeing it up this week.
ALBANE VALENZUELA: Yeah, very excited to be here in Mexico, obviously last name Valenzuela, it's a huge part of my identity being Mexican. It's something I'm very proud of and definitely when I set on the schedule coming back to Mexico this was an event I was never going to miss. Super happy to be here. The water is incredible. Location is also spectacular. I always say we just get paid to be on vacation, basically, to be here. It's just really special.
Q. How have you been enjoying the course and maybe some of the stuff off the course this week at the Fairmont?
ALBANE VALENZUELA: Yeah, the course is really spectacular. I definitely watched when the guys came here and played on the PGA TOUR and just very fun to watch, and it's a challenging course. It plays pretty long for us. I feel like a lot of the holes we play from the back tees and had some long irons in, and I think the wind was a huge factor this week, so will be a good challenge, and the resort is awesome. So far, so good.
Q. Looking at the field we have, we have eight Mexican golfers in the field who play under the Mexican flag. What is it like to see so much talent from Mexico out here teeing it up in their home event?
ALBANE VALENZUELA: Yeah, it's always great when you get to play in your home country. I feel like you always get a lot of support. I felt that playing the Olympics, even in Paris, I felt close to home, and it's just really fun when you have friends and family that get to watch. I'm sure they're having a great time.
Q. With Lorena coming this week, she's a huge part of this, was she someone you ever looked up to when you were little and what's it like to have her involved?
ALBANE VALENZUELA: Oh, my gosh, Lorena is the GOAT. She's the coolest player. She's probably one of the reasons I started even playing golf. My dad won with Lorena back in the day the Spirit, like a form of world championship, if you want to call it, and he always said how incredible of a human being she was. Me growing up and as a teenager, she always took time to talk to me, brought me golf balls, brought me her polos, and I just always had very fond memories of her. I think she's the most gracious, humble champion that golf has ever produced.
Really one of a kind, and the fact that she's here this week supporting is super special.
Q. I was curious what the U.S. Open next week, is it hard not to look ahead to that event and stay focused on what you have to do this week?
ALBANE VALENZUELA: Not so much. I mean, obviously majors are a huge part of our calendar, pretty much what we all think about. But at the same time, I always take every week almost the same. It's a tournament you're trying to win. You're trying to perform. We have a great opportunity this week. It's a great course. I think the sponsors are really excited about it. I'm just focused on Mexico right now.
Q. How familiar are you with the course?
ALBANE VALENZUELA: Not familiar, just the nines I've played yesterday and today. That's about it.
Q. Did you avoid the giant hole on the 7th hole?
ALBANE VALENZUELA: Yeah, you're better off avoiding it, that's for sure. We hit a 3-wood if we're too close from it with a downhill lie because that could be a little bit tricky, but it's a fun hole. The course is really beautiful. There's some water holes, some holes in the jungle. You go across mangroves and stuff. It's really cool.
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