SOLHEIM CUP

September 23, 2023

Emily Kristine Pedersen

Madelene Sagstrom

Finca Cortesin

Team Europe

Quick Quotes

Q. Another bit of blue on the board for Europe, another fantastic match. How much did you enjoy that?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Yes, a lot of fun. I think we were 10-under today, so it was pretty solid golf all the way around. And then just we backed each other up. I think when I backed out a little bit, Madelene stepped up, and so I had a lot of fun playing with Madelene.

Q. It was fantastic golf. We've seen a lot of that. How much more comfortable have you felt as a team and as a group today out on the course and having experienced that?

MADELENE SAGSTROM: I think everyone got frustrated with yesterday morning. Nobody wanted that outcome. But at the same time, we all knew that good golf was in us and we fought back really good yesterday afternoon, and I think this morning was also a good fight back.

I think we were happy with a 2-2 this morning and now coming out, I mean, our goal is always to grind our match out and we did a good job from the start. I think everyone, we tied and birdied all the first eight holes or seven holes.

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: We lost an eagle on the 1st.

MADELENE SAGSTROM: Yeah, it was just incredible golf from both sides and we're happy that we're on this side of the outcome.

Q. There was so much hype and build-up about the best European team to come into the Solheim Cup. What did that do? Did it reset the mindset a little bit? Because since then, it's been such brilliant golf.

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: I think sometimes you just need a little bit of talking to, so then you know where to go and you get back to square one and then you start over, and that's what we did. I'm so proud of everyone on the team for picking ourselves up, picking each other up, and at no stage has there been like a down mood. Like, there's been no disbelief from the team, even after the first matches. So yeah, just plodding away.

Q. When you see that blue on the board and you've got the opportunity to add another one in this session heading into what is always a massive day in the singles, how much drive and motivation do you get from not just your own performances, but also what's happening around the course in the other matches?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: I think we all want to play well and the fact that we're doing that and winning matches, it's a good sign for tomorrow. So I think everyone's just happy to go out there and grind it away and get more belts under on this course. The greens are really tricky. This afternoon, we were like, oh, we might have figured something out here. It was really nice. We made some putts. It's just a tough golf course and a tough week and everyone wants to perform their best, so we're just trying to do our best.

Q. What was the turning point from the hottest American start ever to now it could be a tie ball game heading into singles?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: I think we picked ourselves up. For me personally, I hit a really good 3-wood on 11 and that made me be, like, you know what? Just say F-it and then go for it, and that's what I did and it's been pretty good so far.

Q. Has there been a thing that Suzann has told you, said at any point, that really kind of helped inspire, I guess, the comeback?

MADELENE SAGSTROM: I think that just her belief in us. She also knows it's golf. Unfortunately -- well, from what I know and what I saw, like, yesterday morning wasn't that bad. So I think that just, like, bad golf, bad shots, maybe some bad strategic stuff happens sometimes, but as long as you're trying to learn from those things and move on and try to be better, I think that's really what she is trying to focus on. Okay, the past is in the past. All we can focus on is what we're doing this afternoon and today, so I think that she is -- she's really good at letting go. She gave us a little kick in the butt, like, come on, step it up, do what you're here to do, and I think we're all doing it.

Q. We're not in the best shape physically, but you guys, I mean, walking this golf course is very difficult. You have obviously done four of these sessions. How are you feeling at this point, energy levels --

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Great. I feel good. I'm happy that we start at 11 tomorrow and not at 8. But, yeah, I feel good. I think adrenaline is good. I've been working out hard. I've been working out mentally to get myself in shape to this. I said to Suzann, I'll do whatever you need me to do, so I was kind of prepared that I had to be physically strong, mentally strong to be able to do five, and I think that I've done so.

Q. What did you guys do in the run-up physically, I guess, to prepare or train?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Well, I just -- I work out a lot in the gym, like, lifting weights, doing some cardio, stuff like that, just to keep fit because I want to be able to do this, I want to be able to play lots of events in a row, and I think you have to be physically strong to do that.

Q. How would you characterize your guys' season and then how you played this week?

MADELENE SAGSTROM: Emily is playing great, by the way.

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: I think this is probably the best that I've played this year so far.

Q. Good timing.

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Yeah.

Q. Why do you think that's happened?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: I don't know, I think I've been playing good all year, but just haven't kind of figured it out. I think the mentality of a match play, that it's just the next -- like, it's so present what's right in front of me, I think that's a good mindset for me, and I'll try and keep that over to when we go back to normal weeks.

Q. How do you get a sense that something is building in the afternoon? Are you really tracking the scoreboards? Are you using your ears to hear the cheers?

MADELENE SAGSTROM: I would say I don't feel like we're tracking the scoreboards. We're just focusing on our match. We do notice when there's a big roar and we say to each other, That has to be Europe, and then we smile about that. But we mainly try and just focus on our own match and then obviously --

Q. Is that hard to do?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: No, there's not a lot of scoreboards out there.

MADELENE SAGSTROM: Not really in general because I think that you know if you leave a little bit of attention -- give a little bit of attention away, that they're really going to grab on to it right away. So you have to be really present, you have to really focus on every shot that you're trying to do because you can't give away anything. Like, everyone here is really, really good golfers.

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: There's no relaxing. It's just constantly pressing the speeder.

Q. Were there any surprise pairings this week? Suzann kind of made headlines saying Friday morning, at least, you guys knew on Monday, but any of the teams that we have seen over the past two days, is that different than what was expected or just kind of the game plan?

MADELENE SAGSTROM: I think most people are actually -- if she would have said, You play with that person, obviously, people have history of playing good with certain players, but I think everyone was kind of expecting to play with anyone, really.

I mean, I think that most games here work really well together. I think this was kind of -- well, I guess, I played with Nanna last Solheim. But Emily and I play extremely similar. It was a different feeling for me today. It was great. Like, we could actually talk about strategy. Like, we could talk about clubs. Like, how much do you take off that one. And I actually kind of really, really enjoy that. So it worked really, really well.