THE ANNIKA DRIVEN BY GAINBRIDGE AT PELICAN

November 10, 2023

Emily Kristine Pedersen

Pelican Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Okay, here with Emily Kristine Pedersen after her second round at The ANNIKA. Leader in the clubhouse. Walk us through your round. Stats were kind of the same today. What felt different out there?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Obviously I started really well, 5-under on the front nine. Holed some good putts. I think the greens were so pure in this morning. Not that they weren't this afternoon, but I had a few good rolls to start with.

Then I think it got a little bit more windy out there and my back nine was not as I hoped. I hit a few uncommitted golf shots that I'm a little bit mad at myself about. I mean, that happens.

Hopefully I can commit a bit more tomorrow and keep it going on the whole round.

Q. And you still had several birdies out there. Birdied 11, 14, 16 again today. Anything in particular you remember about those holes that maybe you really like after two rounds?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: I don't know. Like I think sometime when they get a little bit tight it sharpens my focus a little bit. I've hit pretty close shots on both 11 and 16. I've hit it to like ten feet on 16, ten feet today, and then pretty much two feet yesterday.

14, I hit the green in two and two-putted, so it was just, I don't know, sometime it just happens on the same holes I guess.

Q. You broke the 36-hole scoring record by one shot out here. What does that mean to you?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Oh, that means a lot. Glad I holed the last putt then. (Laughter.)

I didn't know. That's nice. It's always good to break some records out here. I feel like the girls are so good and it's such low scoring, so that's cool.

Q. What is it about the big moment that brings out the best in you? Obviously this week had some work to do and you're doing the work. I look at Solheim. You always seem to play well in the biggest moments when your back is against the wall. What's the difference-maker for you there?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: I don't know. I think maybe when the gun is to my head a little bit it sharpens my focus and I can't think too far ahead about what's happened in the past and what's going to happen.

I can think a little bit more about what is right in front of me. When I get nervous I try to break my day down and break the holes, and I think that's maybe what helps me.

Q. When you look at the scenario, obviously entering the week and the scenario you're in, what did you think about? Did you lock in on your process? I know you said you dial in a little bit more. Does that kind of stuff creep in at all, or you just kind of stay golf focused?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Obviously I know where I am at the CME. I know I want to play next week as well. But at the end of the day I also know, and I've made this mistake so many times in the past, to think about oh, if I finish this, go in and look at the projected standings, and now I'm just like, you can't do anything about it.

So I'm just trying to focus on putting together a good day, a good hole, good shot every day. So many times I've looked ahead and it's not gone well, so I'm trying to do something different.

Q. What did your performance at Solheim Cup do for your confidence in the last stretch of the season?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Definitely helped me that i could help be one of the parts to help carry the team a bit. I think I really stepped up in a way that I probably was a little surprised I did myself, and I think a lot of other people were surprised I did too, obviously not being the highest ranked or anything in the team.

It definitely gave me the confidence to kind of have to be, okay, you have to perform now and go out and do it. So that was definitely something I'm building on.

Q. Fans that I talked to love watching you because you're like them. You hit a bad shot, you show it. Everybody else does, too. Unlike them, you can let it go.

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Yeah.

Q. How do you get to that point?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: It's taken ten years. No, I don't know. You know, I'm just trying to be thinking about don't make two mistakes in a row. When I hit one bad and then sometimes I'm trying to keep it in and it just builds in my head, I just need that release to get it out. My mental coach says you have five seconds, and when those five seconds are over I have to look forward to the next shot and think about the next shot.

Sometimes I take a little bit more than five seconds, but I think just trying to not make two mistakes in a row is a mindset that I'm really trying to do. So if I made bogey, my biggest goal on the next hole is to hit the fairway and try to build from there.

Q. Just one last question from me: We're at the end of the year. If you had to look at your year as a whole, what's been your favorite moment so far? You might say the Solheim hole in one, but I didn't know. Maybe it was something else.

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: That was pretty epic. No, I will say Carlota is a great friend of mine. When I got the last single at Solheim, I said to Mikey, I hope we win, but I hope Carlota has the winning moment. It was awesome for my friend to -- like I know how much it means to her and we've been talking about it for so many months. We're staying together this week and we're still talking about it. I think that's probably one of the highlights, to see her do that.