Lizette Salas is tired. After coming up just short of a win at last week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, not to mention finally unburdening herself of self-doubt in a frank and unfiltered discussion on mental health, no one would have blamed her for taking a week off, time to recalibrate, put her feet up and relax at home in Los Angeles.
Instead, right after that close brush with major glory, Salas got on a bus with 15 of her fellow Americans for a day of team building at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Georgia ahead of September’s Solheim Cup. A quick flight to Dallas for the Volunteers of America Classic brought the Team USA veteran back to reality.
“I'm still running on a little bit of adrenaline from last week,” she said with a laugh during her press conference on Wednesday. “After play was done, went down to do some Solheim Cup bonding. That's what I was striving for, to be in a good place to where I felt like I earned that invitation. Monday did that; Tuesday flew up here, took it easy. Still going to take it easy today. Another task at hand with these next four days here in Texas.”
If Team USA were to be named tomorrow, Salas would qualify for the squad via the Rolex Rankings, after she improved to No. 24 in the world following last week’s runner-up finish. This week in Dallas is a homecoming of sorts for Salas, who spent much of her offseason here trying out a new coaching team. While the coaching change didn’t stick, the friends she made in Dallas are still in her life, giving her extra motivation to find that energy to get back into competition mode.
“I feel like I can take what I did last week into this week. Honestly, it's a different ballgame, different golf course, but my gameplan doesn't change. I think understanding my strengths and my weaknesses and applying that to this golf course, I think we can play well this week,” said Salas. “I also think conserving my energy as well since I typically don't play after a major, but considering this is a home game and it's Texas, 4th of July, I was excited to play and excited to have Volunteers of America continue the support and have the fans out.”
Salas will kick off her week on the first tee Thursday at 1:26 p.m. CT, playing with Celine Boutier and Jeongeun Lee6.
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