At the U.S. Women’s Open, the kids say more than the darndest things

ERIN, Wis. — Asterisk Talley calls Yani Tseng the GOAT. Jude Lee says she’s incredible. 

Nevermind the fact that they were both around start-of-grade-school age in 2012, the last time Tseng won. 

The point here is they know their stuff. And as teenagers, they also haven’t yet been overwhelmed by all kinds of other stuff. So an idea was hatched that maybe the best wisdom you could mine during pre-U.S. Women’s Open press conferences … was from 17-year-old Lee and 16-year-old Talley. 

They didn’t disappoint. 

Below are five gems: 

What one teen tells another teen 

Talley’s a vet now, after making her U.S. Women’s Open debut a year ago. 

Her advice to Lee, making her first appearance this week at Erin Hills?

“Yeah, the only advice I would give to Jude and to any other player in the field,” Talley said, “is just to really block out the noise of other people and of the crowd and everything.

“I think that’s something that these big stages present, is just kind of outside forces kind of putting — affecting your mindset of the course or your game, and I just think blocking out the noise of other people, other players on the course, just not really thinking about what they’re doing and kind of focusing on your game and focusing on the course and that’s all you have to do and just play your game.”

This thought might not hurt in other arenas, either. 

How does a 16-year-old handle golf’s biggest stage?

Talley did more than debut a year ago — she tied for 44th. 

But how?

“Yeah, I think just not really worrying about things outside of my game or outside of the course,” she said. “Just try and focus on getting my game ready for this week and then trying to play my best, and I can worry about all of that later, is what I feel like. Just trying to go to the range, get ready for today, and then tomorrow it’ll be a whole different story, and then finishing out the week and then looking back on what I did and seeing what I can learn.”

One moment at a time. Speaking of …

What does golf’s biggest cliche actually mean?

Golf’s biggest cliche is arguably ‘one shot at a time.’

How often do Lee’s and Talley’s coaches tout it?

“I mean, I’ve been told that my whole life, from any coach I’ve ever had,” Talley said. “It’s like pretty much the most important thing in golf. If you get out of position, you’re not worrying about, ‘How am I going to get to the green?’ It’s more like, ‘How can I get into position?’, and then I can worry about hitting the green. 

“So then it’s just like, ‘What can I do to put myself in the next position for the next shot?’, but you’re always worried about that single shot that you’re on and how I can execute how I want to.” 

Said Lee: “Yeah, just staying in the present is really big, just like Asterisk said. Golf is a game played between the ears, and just staying in the present, not getting ahead of yourself and not thinking about the past. That’s crucial.“

But exactly how hard is ‘one shot at a time?’

“It’s not as easy as it’s preached to us,” Lee said. “But I guess just having a routine, like Sandra Palmer told us yesterday at the Am dinner, like having a routine is crucial, and I think everyone has a different way of getting into that and clicking into their zone, and just whoever finds that the most is the best player.” 

Said Talley: “Yeah, I get told a lot that it must be pretty hard to think about that, and I do think it’s pretty difficult. A lot of people think it’s hard to forget the past of what you just did on a hole or something, but I think it’s hard to not think about the future of what I’m going to do because that’s how what you just did affects. 

“If I made a bogey on the last hole, I’m thinking about how I can make up for it, but that’s probably what’s the hardest is not trying to go for everything after making a bogey or something because you’re trying so hard to make up for it, but really you just need to keep making pars and the birdies will come.”

Small ball works. 

Do you picture anything?

U.S. Women’s Opens can overwhelm. 

Does Talley picture anything?

“Yeah, just trying to stay calm throughout everything,” she said. “I think just kind of picturing like I’m just at home is something that kind of helps. I don’t really do that on the course, but it just kind of has the same feel as I’m just playing another round of golf and this is just the same tournament as always.”

Golf is golf. Same clubs, same ball. 

What befuddles them 

Even phenoms aren’t immune to golf’s fickleness. 

What befuddles Lee and Talley?

“Always the mental part of the game is super hard to deal with, especially in tournaments like this,” Talley said. “You can get easily discouraged if you do something wrong. But it’s really hard to look past that or trying to forget about things that you did wrong. Just trying to figure out how I can deal with those things on the course, especially on things like this where everyone is watching you and everyone is kind of judging how you play and how you bounce back from things like that. 

“So just trying to control your mindset and trying to have a good mindset throughout the whole round and kind of forgetting your mistakes and trying to improve yourself.”

Lee cited Tseng, a five-time major winner who’d fallen off before qualifying for this year’s USWO. 

“It’s not about what happens to you, it’s how hard you bounce back from that,” Lee said. “I think what’s really befuddling is how easily golf can come to you sometimes but how hard it can be sometimes, and that can change in a matter of hours. I just really think, like, the ongoing mystery of the mental game, like Asterisk said. That’s the one part of the game.”

What a game. 

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