KPMG WOMEN'S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

October 8, 2020

Linnea Strom

Aronimink Golf Club

Quick Quotes

THE MODERATOR: We're here with Linnea Strom who's in the clubhouse at 2-under 68. Linnea, you've got to feel really proud about how you played today. Tell us about your round here at Aronimink.

LINNEA STROM: I think when I started today and my mindset going in this morning was just to try and play smart and hit as many greens as possible. The greens are pretty big, so even if you're on the green you can have some really long putts. But yeah, I just tried to find good spots on the green and hit some good putts.

THE MODERATOR: So you had birdies on 2 and 3, then 7, 11 and 12. Can you tell us about those birdies? Were there any that stood out or was it just steady golf today.

LINNEA STROM: The birdies were all really steady, hit the fairways and then hit the greens, and yeah.

THE MODERATOR: You had several weather conditions; you weren't off too, too early but still early enough for it to be pretty chilly, and it's still windy but now it's bright and sunny. We're not used to playing majors in conditions like this. What's the overall experience of playing a major here in October?

LINNEA STROM: Yeah, it's for sure a bit different. But I think for me coming from Sweden I'm pretty used to these conditions and especially the chilly mornings. But the wind for sure was the tricky part today, I think especially my back nine today it was -- like when the wind was across it was hard to say if it was going to help or if it was going to hurt the ball, so I think that was the toughest part today.

Q. The wind, was it like a guessing game for club selection? I know it was gusting out there and maybe you'd pick a club and then the wind would do something else? Was that a problem for you?

LINNEA STROM: Yeah, well, a little bit. I mean, when we played hole 8 today, like the first two girls hit it over and then one was like 30 yards short of the green, so the wind is for sure gusting out there, so you don't really know what it's going to do when it's your turn to hit. But I think overall for me I just tried to take a good decision together with my caddie and then just trust it when I was hitting.

Q. Could you describe your birdie at No. 7 and then what happened for your bogey on 8?

LINNEA STROM: Yeah, so my birdie on No. 7, I actually hit the tee shot a little to the right into the rough and then hit a good 7-iron to the green pin high to the left of it and holed that putt, so that was a very good birdie. And then 8 is a long par-3. I think I had 170 meters to the flag. So I just pulled my 4-iron a little bit long left and then hit a good chip shot but ended up missing the putt.

Q. How did it feel for you to finish getting up-and-down on 9 and saving a 2-under round?

LINNEA STROM: Yeah, that was a good feeling, of course, and then I hit a poor third shot into the green but then saved an up-and-down, so that was good.

Q. You're one of the longest hitters on the LPGA Tour just looking at the stats. Did you use that to your advantage today?

LINNEA STROM: I think so, yeah. Actually when I played a practice round here I could kind of feel like if I'm hitting good drives, I think it will have a good advantage here, and my driving was really good today, so I think for sure it's an advantage, especially in this wind.

Q. Tomorrow is Annika Sorenstam's 50th birthday. Just wondering if you could speak to her inspiration or just how you felt having her kind of be such a leader with respect to Swedish golf.

LINNEA STROM: Yeah, well, I met Annika for the first time when I was 12 years old at her Annika camp in Sweden, and I think after that camp that was when I decided that I wanted to turn pro and I wanted to be an LPGA star. So she's for sure motivated and inspired me to be where I am today, so I'm very thankful for that.

Q. Speaking of your length, what was the longest club you hit into a par-4 today, do you remember?

LINNEA STROM: The longest club into a par-4? I don't know. I think I hit a 6-iron at some point, yeah.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks so much, Linnea.