AUGUSTA NATIONAL WOMEN'S AMATEUR

March 31, 2023

Andrea Lignell

Quick Quotes

Q. First impressions?

ANDREA LIGNELL: I mean, the course is in great condition, as always. I mean, I just had a blast out there. It was so much fun.

Q. Do you have a favorite hole?

ANDREA LIGNELL: Yeah, I kind of like 14 and 17 actually. They're just par-4s, but kind of set up well for me, so I like them.

Q. What was your favorite shot you hit today?

ANDREA LIGNELL: I mean, it must be on hole 12. It was just such a beautiful golf shot right there, just over the creek.

Q. Do you have an Augusta caddie?

ANDREA LIGNELL: No, I'm just having my own caddie, my swing coach.

Q. What's your on-course relationship like?

ANDREA LIGNELL: Actually this is the first time trying out the caddie-player kind of relationship, but it's been working out pretty well.

Q. Do you tend to agree on a lot of things?

ANDREA LIGNELL: I would say we agree on most things. He's just letting me make the first decision, and if he disagree he'll tell me, but usually we agree on things.

Q. Who did you play with today?

ANDREA LIGNELL: I played with my teammate at Ole Miss, Chiara Tamburlini, and then I played with Meja, my Swedish teammate.

Q. Was it pretty relaxed?

ANDREA LIGNELL: It was really relaxed. It's it was just so much ton out from he can which check.

Q. Have you had the opportunity to play with Annika recently?

ANDREA LIGNELL: No, I did not.

Q. Did you just meet her?

ANDREA LIGNELL: I've met her a few times, yes.

Q. Tell me what she's been able to give you for guidance?

ANDREA LIGNELL: She's just such a humble person, and you would not tell that she's one of the greatest of all time. So no, I just really like how she's just so calm, never lets anything get out of her hands, so yeah, I just love her. She's amazing.

Q. What she's doing now for women's golf and her tournament and even the the Annika Award, the stamp she's putting across golf, what do you think about that?

ANDREA LIGNELL: Oh, yeah, it's just absolutely amazing. I played the ANNIKA Invitational a few times back at home in Sweden and it's such a cool experience that she gives back to golf in that way. It's just amazing.

Q. We kind of pressed pause on the tournament from yesterday and now we have the final round tomorrow. Where are your nerves at this point?

ANDREA LIGNELL: I'm kind of enjoying it right now. I think this was like well-needed for me, like a practice round in the middle to get my nerves down to calm down and just have fun today before tomorrow.

Q. How much experience do you have in this position on this sort of stage?

ANDREA LIGNELL: To be honest, not much. I mean, I played in the final in the national championship with Ole Miss, but that's as far as it gets. So no, definitely not this big. Never.

Q. What will you do tomorrow morning to kind of level yourself?

ANDREA LIGNELL: I guess just try and have a calm morning, just try and get some food. I guess I'll be nervous, but just try and eat something at least.

No, not think too much about it. I know it's going to be a lot of people. I'm going to be nervous, obviously. But no, just make sure to try and have fun out there.

Q. I'm sure you'd rather be five shots ahead than five shots behind. Is there any sort of freedom, however, in being aggressive and knowing that you've got to make birdies?

ANDREA LIGNELL: Yeah, I would say because you have nothing to lose basically so you can just go out there and chase the lead. If it goes that way, yeah, it does. But yeah, definitely.

Q. We talked so much about relying on moments, whether it be the national championship and keeping your composure and being in tight tournaments, but for someone in your position, are we overplaying what experience is? Sometimes you just have to get out there playing?

ANDREA LIGNELL: I do agree on that. That is just so important to just go out there, have fun, just play like it would be a normal tournament for you and not put too much pressure on myself for sure.

Q. Is there ever a moment in a tournament that you've thought, okay, I'm thinking back to this shot and how I hit it and the confidence it gave me for what's ahead?

ANDREA LIGNELL: Yes, for sure. That is a really great thing to think about for sure.

Also just to get that confidence, like you said, to just think about, okay, I've done this before and just get a good feeling out of it.

Q. Have you always had that sort of measured approach, or was it something that you worked on over time?

ANDREA LIGNELL: What do you mean about the measured approach?

Q. Just focusing on having fun --

ANDREA LIGNELL: No, actually kind of recently I worked on it a lot these past two years. I had a bit of an issue with it before, and then just after that like Coach Kory, my head coach, she just said, is there a way we can change this or make it a bit better, because it's just way more fun to just enjoy yourself out on the golf course than getting mad at yourself for no reason. So definitely more this past year it's been getting a lot better.

Q. What was the turning point?

ANDREA LIGNELL: Turning point probably last summer because I was kind of disappointed in myself last spring how I handled myself on the course, and I really wanted to change that. So yeah, last summer for sure.

Q. Would you say your nerves here are a little bit better than they were at the national championship?

ANDREA LIGNELL: Probably, so far. I'll tell you tomorrow, but as for now, for sure.

Q. If you put on your golf analyst hat, what's the challenge in trying to erase a five-shot deficit to a player like Rose?

ANDREA LIGNELL: I would say probably you have to really put yourself in the right spot. Off the tee is really important because you have the tree line, to stay in the fairway, but also hit the right spots on the green because you can miss on spots that are impossible to get up-and-downs. So just be really cautious about where you hit your approach shot.

Q. What do you think you do better in this field than anybody else?

ANDREA LIGNELL: I want to say my mindset is really good. I try to stay really patient all the time. My assistant coach, Zach, he always used to tell me it's not a sprint, it's a marathon, so kind of just stay really patient and not get mad over a bogey or a par that you wish were a birdie.