PNC CHAMPIONSHIP

December 17, 2023

Annika Sorenstam

The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club

Press Conference

Q. I don't know anyone that embraces the spirit of this championship more than you. Just your second year, you've been holding some huge putts, waving to the crowd. Describe this experience this week.

WILL SORENSTAM: It's the best week of the year. It's so much fun to be here. Thank you to PNC.

Q. I can see tears in your eyes. I know it was an emotional walk down 18. Was it emotional for you, Annika?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It is. It's so much fun. We have a good time together. Obviously he wanted to do a little better today but I think just walking together and is having a good time, and I was walking pretty fast on 18. He said, "Slow down, Mummy, I want to enjoy this moment. I think that's kind of what we did.

Q. Those are happy tears?

WILL SORENSTAM: Yes.

Q. I know you have your grandfather on the cart behind you and Dad and Eva here, truly a family affair, and some heros in the game. Justin Thomas had some tips for you on the range, including weighing you down in the wind. Talk us through that.

WILL SORENSTAM: He keeps telling me I need to weigh more. So he put some golf balls in my pocket so I don't fly away.

Q. How long did they stay in there?

WILL SORENSTAM: A couple minutes until the wind stopped.

Q. How much do you learn from the likes of Justin Thomas and other players in the field this week?

WILL SORENSTAM: It's so much fun being able to play with them, and he told me, it's just fun. Just have fun out there. Don't feel like it's so pressurized. Career

Q. You've won countless major championships and you're a World Golf Hall of Fame member. How much fun is this week compared to what you've achieved in your career?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It's hard to compare. I'm super proud of my career but now is a different chapter in my game, and hope to give him the next generation. And he's really embracing it so much. We have fun together and we practise together, and just to see the level of the game and walk with everybody, this is really a highlight for us.

I told him, my game is on its way down and his game is on its way up. I'm looking forward to some years together. I think we improved this year, maybe not score-wise, but we are climbing that scoreboard slowly but surely. Many of these teams have been here for many years. We are excited to be here and just enjoying it together.

Q. Tell me about the bunker shot on 18. That looked like a lot of fun.

WILL SORENSTAM: Yeah, I was nervous, but yesterday we were in the other bunker, and I caught it thin and I wanted to just get my revenge on that bunker.

Q. Well, it was well-played. What are those moments like for you in front of the crowd? You handled them so easily.

WILL SORENSTAM: Yeah, it's a lot of fun because people, they are just there to support me, which makes me feel better about it.

Q. And tell me about the emotion that you felt coming down 18, where did that come from?

WILL SORENSTAM: Probably because I don't have to wait a year to do this again, and that year felt like a long time to wait and have to do it again.

Q. What was your favorite moment this year, this week?

WILL SORENSTAM: Spending time with her and making some putts.

Q. What was your favorite moment?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: We have a lot of highlights. I mean, his hole-in-one, I wish I would have been there, but just for him to get off to such a good start, and you know, everybody being here, we feel fortunate, my parents and Mike's mom. This tournament is such a warm tournament. We are competitive, and there's no doubt, we were mad at ourselves because we feel like we left some shots out there today.

But still, you come up here and you feel support from, you know, everybody here, and it's just -- I don't know, it's just I love the format. Scramble, it's pressure but then it's not pressure and it's like you can have a good shot, and then you can help and you have a bad one and he picks me up.

But I feel like I let him down a little bit today, which I'm a little disappointed about. I wish I could have -- because that's my role a little bit. I've got to be the strong one and today I wasn't as strong as I needed to be.

Q. The game has meant so much to you. What does it mean to you that he loves this so much?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It's so cool. I mean, he's really a golf lover. It's golf, golf, golf. He knows so much about the game and I talks about the PGA TOUR and this. It's just fun that he's taking that over.

But also, with Mike's dad being a player, but I think most of all, I think any parent, as you will find out, when they find something they love, that makes you happy.

Q. Who is your favorite pro this week apart from your mom?

WILL SORENSTAM: Tiger was really nice to me this week, he as always really nice. But he was super nice this week; so I wasn't expecting that.

Q. I saw you chatting to him in the bunker. Did he tell you anything good?

WILL SORENSTAM: We were just talking about stuff.

Q. Did he give you any tips?

WILL SORENSTAM: Just to have fun.

Q. And you did?

WILL SORENSTAM: Yeah.