JOHNS CREEK, Ga.
A Mexican-American with a hardscrabble road to the LPGA Tour, she attributes her stubbornness to talk about such matters to her Hispanic background.
“It was hard for me to even speak about it just because I felt like other people are going through the same thing,” she said.
She led by one shot over Charley Hull of England, who had a 68 for the best score in the afternoon.
She had mud on her ball from rain earlier in the week, and it hooked some 50 yards left on the par-4 eighth hole, down an embankment and into the water.
Salas spoke on days getting darker before it got light, and the turning point was a month ago at the Pure Silk Championship at Kingsmill, site of her lone LPGA Tour victory in 2014.
“I had to take care of my mental health, and that’s something that a lot of people don’t really take into consideration,” she said.
“I just understand myself more, and I’m at a point where I like myself again, even when days aren’t as good as others,” she added.
One of the books she read was titled, “I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter,” which she felt was like an autobiography.