U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

June 2, 2022

Anna Nordqvist

Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Anna Nordqvist, 4-under 67; great round today. What was working well?

ANNA NORDQVIST: Thank you. I really didn't make a lot of mistakes out there. When I did, I put myself in good positions to make up-and-down.

But overall I felt like it was really solid. That's about all you can ask for in a U.S. Open.

Q. When you first saw Pine Needles this week what did you think someone would need to do to play well out here?

ANNA NORDQVIST: The course is hard. Even if you have a shorter iron in on some of the holes, like you've just got to really hit the right areas on the greens or they're going to roll away really far.

I think it's a great golf course, a little bit different from a lot of other courses that we play. But yeah, I've never been here before, so I was very positively surprised and just very excited that we're coming back because I missed the last one when Cristie won.

Q. You had three straight birdies on 14, 15, 16; can you talk us through those briefly?

ANNA NORDQVIST: Yeah, 14 is such a hard hole, playing all the way back today, and I think I had 207 in so I hit a great hybrid in to probably 20 feet, made that putt.

Next hole I hit a wedge into probably 15 feet, made that one.

Then I hit a great little 6-iron in on 16 to about five or six.

Just very solid, and I feel like the greens are really nice and they're rolling very true. I feel like I've been rolling it really well.

Q. You've always been known as a very disciplined player; what is it that's different about this than other courses we've played championships on?

ANNA NORDQVIST: I definitely would say majors get my adrenaline going a little bit differently than some of the other courses. I feel like a lot of courses we play are not so penalizing when you're a little bit off line. Certainly not around the greens.

That's why I like the way the major sets up. You don't necessarily have to shoot 20-under to win.

I think I like that challenge and having the discipline and maybe not going at every pin and accepting a 30-, 35-footer on certain holes because some of the pins are really hard out there.

Q. Have you always been that way? Have you always been a player who was able to play away from pins when necessary?

ANNA NORDQVIST: I think ball-striking has always been my strength of my game, hitting a lot of fairways and a lot of greens, so it probably favors me when it gets a little bit tougher.

And I think I'm pretty stubborn and I just hate to give up, so I think that's probably more than anything kind of the trait I need on a week like this.

Q. You had to withdraw last week, not feeling well. Are you back to feeling 100 percent?

ANNA NORDQVIST: Yeah, last week was really hard. I played in the pro-am and just didn't feel good at all. Being one of my sponsors MGM last week, I love match play, so it was really hard sitting that one out, knowing that I love that golf course and I love that format.

Staying in bed until Saturday night, it obviously wasn't ideal preparation for this week, but I am feeling better and followed all the protocols that I had to.

Just had to pace myself probably a little bit more this week. I have a little bit of a cough still and probably a little bit of my voice still missing. But feeling a lot better, so I'm just very grateful to be able to tee it up this week.

Q. When were you able to start preparing for this championship?

ANNA NORDQVIST: Well, I didn't see my clubs until Monday afternoon here on the range, so yeah, between Tuesday last week and Monday this week I didn't really get out of bed.

Q. Does not having a chance to prepare kind of lower your expectations for yourself a little bit?

ANNA NORDQVIST: I mean, definitely I've been working really hard, so I think last week was the hard one, knowing that I had to sit out. But just the way it is.

I feel like I've been healthy the last couple years, so I'm just very grateful for that.

I think being out on Tour for a couple years now, I think there's got to be a part of like the experience that I have to embrace, and I think coming into this week, just knowing that obviously excited to play, I think that probably meant more than anything.