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U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 2, 2018

Madelene Sagstrom

Shoal Creek, Alabama

Q. Very few people were able to make a run today. You seemed to put a lot of good holes together for a good stretch. How is that possible?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: I was really feeling the butterflies on the first tee this morning. I was like, this is what I play for, so I was trying to take advantage of that. I got off to a really good start. Hit some good fairways and good putts. I have been trying to figure out the greens this week. I made some good putts in the beginning.

Q. The greens seem to be tricking everyone. What is it about them?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: They are tricky because it's a lot of small breaks and a lot of the cups are in tricky positions. It's this extra little turn or not turn. I mean, it's the USGA, they are trying to trick us out. They are doing a good job.

Q. What is the largest margin you think is overcomable?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: It's golf. Anything can happen when you play golf. I think everybody is trying to go out and play their game and do as good as they can and hopefully shoot as good as score as they can. You never know what's going to happen out there.

Q. Did you get to play many practice rounds?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: I played 17 holes Monday. I saw 18 tee shot, but I didn't play 18. Then I just got some practice in both Tuesday and Wednesday. I played here before and when I was in college. I have seen it before.

Q. Was it much different from when you had played it before?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: Like I thought I wasn't remembering it, but it came back to me when I was here again. It's obviously longer. The wet conditions makes it pretty tough. It's nice. I like it a lot.

Q. You overlapped Smylie Kaufman at LSU, right?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: I did. I went one year with Smylie.

Q. Did you call in any course knowledge from him this week?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: I did not actually. Maybe I should have called him. His parents helped me find my housing this week. I'm super excited with the family I'm staying with this week. We have an LSU connection, so it's very nice.

Q. You looked confident out there. Talk through that mindset and how maybe your confidence has come the last few week, months, years.
MADELENE SAGSTROM: I mean, I think confidence always goes up and down. I started the year struggling a bit and trying to put some good scores down. Now I'm getting comfortable being in situations.

Today I just got that. I'm really nervous and it's awesome. This is the position I want to be in. I want to sit here and feel that pressure. That's what everybody wants. If you want to be up top, that is what you are going to feel. I was trying to compose myself well. I mean, I'm doing my best. If it doesn't go my way, it doesn't go my way. I'm just going to enjoy it. I had a really fun shot on 18 and I pulled it off. And I was like I want to do it again. It's kind of that feeling all day.

Q. Have you had to work to get to that place?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: I mean, I worked pretty hard mentally. I have always loved the challenge of golf. I love the fact that you can always get better next day. I'm going to hit some balls now. There's always something you can do better, so I think that's the biggest charm of the game. You can never be too good at this. That's what inspires me to become the best player I can be every day.

Q. How would you sum up your sophomore year around the LPGA?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: The nicest thing is coming back and knowing where things are. I know where the bathrooms. I love the fact that I've been here before. Not everything is new. We go to some new courses, but just the fact that I have seen things. It's not like I'm trying to figure out where everything is. I can focus more on golf and relax the other part. I've also figured out do I like to stay in hotels, do I like to stay with families, what people do I like, all that stuff. It's more much relaxed. I feel like I can do my job better and focus more on the golf part.

Q. Are you a social media break, I hear?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: I am on a social media break. People are like, did you see that? I'm like, sorry, I have haven't been on Instagram on three weeks today actually. I haven't clicked on the button once and I'm really excited about it.

I feel like I love social media for what it is. I want to use it in a good way. But I started noticing that I was avoiding doing other important stuff, so I decided let's break. Let's focus on myself. Let's figure out and not having all the distractions behind. That's my idea behind it.

Q. What are some of the other things you have been doing instead of social media?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: I will admit I have done a lot more house ideas on Pinterest. It's more spending time with family and friends and just trying to get rid of emails and booking stuff. I'm a big procrastinator. But just like putting time away. I look to draw and read. Just putting time away for stuff that I enjoy and not trying to compare myself to everybody else in the world.

Q. What do you read?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: I mean, I'm a self-help nerd. All of those books. Lately, it's a lot of stuff. It's everything I can find. I was listening to meditation book last time, so that was really good.

Q. What is your favorite self-help book?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: I like The Untethered Soul. Is that the word? Yeah. I love that book. It's really good.

Q. Is it house ideas on Pinterest? Are you a new homeowner?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: I have dream and goal for this year to buy a house. I'm very inspired at the moment. It's slightly over budget.

Q. Where are you based right now?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: Orlando.

Q. Do you have a house in Orlando picked out?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: Not yet. Realtor is my second most used app.

Q. What is your game plan tomorrow? What goals are you setting for yourself?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: Same goals as today. Go out and have fun. I'm really enjoying it out here with David, my caddie. Go out and really do my best. I can't control what anybody else is doing. Going to commit to all my shots. Hopefully I'll get a good score down. If not, I'm just going to see it as a learning experience and take it with me with everything that we're doing.

Q. Is there anything you have been working on with your swing or putting stroke that you feel like is clicking and helping you out this week?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: Yeah. I've had a lot of problem hitting the ball really far this week. I've struggled with distance. It's been going really far here. I have been working a lot on compressing the ball better which I'm doing which is also why the ball is going really far. Just committing to my lines and not standing there doubting it. Okay, it is what it is. I'm going to choose this and go for it.

Q. How long have you and David been together?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: Since Singapore.

Q. What is your relationship with Robert Karlsson?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: He is my mentor. Basically have daily contact, text messaging and FaceTime. It's more of the mental part of the game. We're discussing what happens here, how do you think about this. Also just sharing experiences. He has been on tour for so many years. How should I schedule, what should I do, how should I prepare for a major coming up and all this stuff.

Q. How did that mentor relationship come about?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: It was through the National Team.

Q. They do that, they assign --
MADELENE SAGSTROM: They did a project when I was starting as a pro. They were going to see how does mentorship work for our girls. He was with me at Q School in 2015. He was with me in Q School and then we worked together my Symetra year in '16. I wanted to keep working with him by myself. So we've stepped out of the box and we're doing our own thing now, so it's pretty cool.

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