GAINBRIDGE LPGA

February 25, 2021

Annika Sorenstam

Lake Nona Golf & Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Really just that one bad hole.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, well I need to better obviously. My goal was to shoot level par or better, so I have a lot of work ahead of myself. But like you said, I played pretty decent. That's really what I've been doing lately, have a few good holes and one or two that really just mess my score up.

So wasn't really surprised, but that's what you get when you're not as consistent. I'm not as solid and just down the fairways as I used to. Seems a little bit more stressful this type of golf. But I'm happy. I'm here for the experience. I'm here for being here at Lake Nona and having my kids around and hubby on the bag and friends around. That's really what matters to me nowadays.

And then to be able to play with Madelene and Anna was cool. Anna was the first scholarship winner we had with the foundation, and Madelene, worked with her a little bit here and there. To play with them was really cool.

I couldn't have asked for a better start i that sense, and that's really what it's really all about for me nowadays.

Q. Obviously, Ava, Will, you're out watching your mom. First time you've seen her compete in an LPGA tournament. What was it like, Ava - maybe Will you can jump in there as well -- watching your mom play?

AVA: I'm proud of my mom.

Q. Good job. And she made the shirt, right, Annika?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yes. She spent several hours several evenings together with my assistant. It was her idea, her design. She's the creative one and she's my little entrepreneur. Very proud of her and nice to have her here with me.

Q. Will, you've inspired your mom to get back on this golf course. We all should be very proud of you. What was it like for you watching your mom play?

WILL: It was fun. (Indiscernible) it was probably for other people back then, but it was still really fun to watch.

Q. Well, I played against your mom. She was tough. Is she a tough mom? Yeah? (Laughter.)

WILL: In a good way.

Q. Yes, good call, good call. Thank you Annika. Ava, Will, you guys are superstars.

Did the day turn out like you thought it was going to?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Score-wise I would loved to have tore been a little better. You know, if I look at it objectively it's one hole that really messed it up. I was trying to get back at it, but I can't remember the last time I had a triple or hit it out of bounds. So that certainly put a damper in the round.

Overall I really had a good time. I thought the course was playing beautiful out there. Playing with Anna and Madelene was a highlight, and to have everybody here, family and friends, just doesn't get much better than that.

My goal this week was to go out there and get some experience again and kind of get used to what it's like to put down a score and finish a hole and not have no Mulligans or gimmes.

So I did that, so overall I hit some fairways, hit some greens. Of course I could have been more aggressive on the putts. I could have been more aggressive on some of the iron shots. But I'm at point in my life now where it's not automatic. I don't stand there and it's not going -- it's not a pin seeker the way it was. Now it's more, Okay, am I a green seeker.

So I did okay. It's a little more stressful golf I must say, but overall it's fun. I really did enjoy it, so I'm in the going to focus too much on that hole. Just going to forget about it and move on and take the memories that come with it.

Q. (Indiscernible.) When you took a drop, the rules have changed three times since you last played golf.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, they have, especially the dropping part, and I just want to make sure that I was doing the right thing. I was hoping that you could swing up that gate, but that didn't work.

But, yeah, I got to stay way from the rough and just play from the short grass. Be a lot easier. I don't have to worry about it, because a few holes later the ball ended up in a sprinkler. I just wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing. I mean, I really haven't studied the rules in 13 years, and like you said, they changed a few times also. Rules is not part of my daily life anymore.

Q. As much as where you are in life right now and what this day was all about, is there any part of you at times that felt the old Annika kick in terms of frustration or anything like that?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, I mean, you hit a putt and you just know it's not online, it's not the right speed. A lot of tentative shots out there. I'm not really sure what I'm afraid of, but I think just going out there and sometimes protecting it, which I'm not really used to doing. But then again, I have nothing to protect.

Just funny how the mind works. I think when you get a little older, I told Mike, he is like, Did you push that putt? I said, No, I just think my hands are doing funny things. But some of the things just through the routine I think is very similar. I think some of my mannerism is probably very similar. I don't hit it as far, but then you kind of go about the same things you've always done.

I think those things come automatically.

Q. You had a wonderful moment with your kids. What did you guys talk about? Was it kind of cool to have those moments and maybe get out of the competitive mindset for a little bit?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Absolutely. Yeah, after Ava talking about her test today that she didn't do as well as she should have. That got me fired up. I said, What happened? She said, Don't worry, mommy, I got to redo it. That calmed me down.

Yeah, certainly not about golf. I don't think she really cares about it. She's more interested about other things. Will is more, Keep on going, you did really well. I saw in school you were doing well, but it was just that one hole, mommy. They come from two different perspectives. They're very different.

It's fun to have them there, the support and the love. By the end of the day when I get home now I'm their mom, it's time to have dinner on the table, time to put them to bed, maybe do some homework, maybe even some laundry, and then back tomorrow morning, back to the tournament head on and go out there and do my best.

Q. You think you'll be more aggressive tomorrow?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I need to be more aggressive, I really do. I can't leave putts short. I mean, they need to go in to have a chance. I want to give myself the very best chance, but it's also I don't really have the speed as much as I used to. I'm in a different place.

Before I felt like I've always had another gear. I've always had another gear. I don't even know if I have a single gear now. So you just do what you do.

But it's nice to be out here. If I can continue to drive it -- you know, I think I did pretty good. I missed maybe two drives. I think that's okay. Maybe a few more greens and then maybe roll it a little bit more aggressively, then we'll see what happens.

Q. What was the biggest change from the last time you played? Not about your game, but the whole environment on the LPGA. Notice anything?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I mean, it is different. I feel like the players are -- maybe there is a few more international players. I feel like they're out there grinding a little differently with technique, more with instruments and digital equipment. I feel like a lot of the players fitness-wise are a lot stronger.

I think I it's just -- no, I think the LPGA is in good shape. I really do. Obviously all the protocols and like you mentioned, the rules and the regulations are different, how they go about things, to booking the tee times, I mean, I didn't know any of those things.

I think they just streamlined things better. It was professional when I played, but I think it's gotten even more, just fine tuning that. I can really tell that Mike Whan and his team have done an excellent job with everything.

It's just nice to see women's golf is in such a good place. It's fun.

Q. What shot were you most pleased with today?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Probably the wedge I hit on 14. I was pleased. I took the driver there. I'm not as long as I used to, but I was aggressive I think off the tee and gave me a good chance for birdie there.

And I hit a really good actually 7-iron on the hole before, the prior, 13. It just kind of took off a little bit. I hit a few good shots and some of them I got away with, but those I take.

Q. How far were you on that wedge?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I want to say I was 95, yeah.

Q. What were the feelings and emotions when you arrived here this morning and then on that first tee?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I mean, I was nervous. I actually did some meditation at home this morning trying to calm myself down just to have a few moments for myself and just kind of get the inner peace, that inner strength and see if I could just elevate myself a little bit and come here.

Then I saw a lot of friends. They had Annika shirts and it was just nice. I just wanted to do well. And then once you or your name on the tee and all of a sudden fairway is this wide and then you hear your name and all of a sudden it's like this wide.

And you know they're going to hit it further than you, and sometimes I try to hit it a little harder, which I shouldn't, because you can only play your own game, which is what I teach these young girls all the time. Play your own game.

It's hard when you don't do it all the time and really trust yourself in doing it shot after shot. It's quiet slow out there, the pace of play. I told them on the 9th hole, we were waiting, I said, This is the hardest part of getting old. You get some stiff. I need to hit some balls between shots and start moving because your body tightens up.

So we were kind of joking about that.

Q. Scale of one to ten, in terms of nerves and stress, the first tee shot? If Colonial was 11...

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, Colonial was 11. This was probably seven or eight. I don't remember what it was when I played fully or full time, but I'm sure I was up there eight or so at some of the majors on a Sunday.

But then I was able to channel my thoughts and focus on good shots, and I had a lot good shots to visualize. I don't really have so many good visualize nowadays, so I really had to focus on, Okay, where is the last one that I did well that I can remember.

So it's just funny. I'm in a different place with my game. But it's also fun. When I talk to friends about this and they say, Well, this is how golf is for all of us. Well, it never was few me. It was relaxing and I felt confident out there. Today it's a little bit of a rollercoaster up and down and it makes you stay on your toes a little bit more than it used to.