Morgan Pressel made history when she first qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open at the tender age of 12. Her appearance at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club back in 2001 led to a significant increase in teens and pre-teens signing up for Women’s Open qualifying, forever changing the makeup of the championship.
Pressel, of course, went on to clinch a major championship title at age 18 when she won the 2007 Kraft Nabisco (now the Chevron). After 16 seasons on the LPGA, the former prodigy shifted focus to her work in television. She’s now lead analyst for LPGA coverage on Golf Channel/NBC and adds the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club to her work schedule next month.
The USGA recently held back-to-back media days for the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens, and Pressel participated in both, teeing it up at LACC for the first time as well as Pebble Beach Golf Links, which hosts the Women’s Open for the first time in July. It’s also the first U.S. Open for the North Course at LACC.
Golfweek was on hand for both media days and caught up with Pressel to talk about the significance of both venues and her key takeaways. The following are excerpts from that conversation:
I absolutely loved LACC. I didn’t really know what to expect. Obviously, I had never seen it, most people in the world have never seen it, and I was just blown away.
It has great character, is very undulating, more undulating than I expected it to be. It’s stunning, another thing I wasn’t expecting being in one of the biggest cities in the country. The views are gorgeous. It has a great mix of tough holes, scorable holes. I just thought it had a great variety of different shots that you have to hit. I loved everything about it. I thought it was just an awesome day.
The 4th hole of Los Angeles Country Club, North Course in the Los Angeles, Calif. on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022. (Copyright USGA/John Mummert)
I think it will get firmer, and I think that the greens will get quicker. But I also think the greens are so severe that they can’t get too much faster, not that they were anywhere near tournament speed. Some hole locations could get really severe if the green speeds are really quick, which I would expect them to see.
I’d love to see some more rough. I feel like the rough wasn’t quite where the USGA would want it just yet. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it being a good bit longer, especially around the greens, not including…
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