AUGUSTA NATIONAL WOMEN'S AMATEUR

April 4, 2024

Louise Rydqvist

Quick Quotes

Q. Can you start by talking about how you feel about your performance today. You finished 1-under total on a really difficult day to be playing. Everyone seems to be struggling. Walk us through how you're feeling.

LOUISE RYDQVIST: Yeah, it's extremely difficult out there. It's so challenging. It's even more challenging to go out here and top 30 makes the cut and plays Augusta National on Saturday, and you want to go out there, you want to hunt, and you're desperate for making birdies, but at the same time you may actually be hunting but just making pars. Just stay very committed and patient and just keep doing what you're doing and taking very, very smart and committed lines and yardages is going to make you perform well today.

I also hit the ball very well, so I'm very, very happy about today's round.

Q. This is your first year here and you're going to be going to Augusta National. How does it feel to be able to make that last round and play there?

LOUISE RYDQVIST: I mean, I've dreamt about making ANWA and getting the invitation to this event for four or five years, so just being here is an accomplishment, and now I can actually soak in that I will be playing Augusta National on Saturday. Also in contention for the win.

I am extremely overly excited to go play the practice round and the par-3 course tomorrow and then go out there and do my thing on Saturday.

Q. Going into today, did you kind of have a feeling that the conditions were going to be any different, and mentally how do you approach knowing that the course was going to feel different because it had dried out from the morning?

LOUISE RYDQVIST: Yeah, so I started on 10, and I think me and my caddie were on 13 tee, and we were like, this is a tough four-hole stretch we just went through, and it's fine. We're 1-over. We're just going to keep grinding. If the opportunities are there for birdie we're going to try to make them, but otherwise we're just going to stay patient and not take too risky of lines and just commit to the targets that we choose.

Q. Today and yesterday you really settled in during your back nine. Can you talk about how you think that's going to benefit you on Saturday, having that patience and being able to know that you're going to settle out and finish strong?

LOUISE RYDQVIST: Yeah, it's always important to finish strong, but I think just keep going with my patience, I think it will definitely pay out in the end, so yeah.

Q. Walk me through 18 where you got the birdie. Walk me through that hole. How big was that for your round?

LOUISE RYDQVIST: Yeah, that was definitely huge for my momentum. I came off a really good drive, and then I hit my target on the second shot, which was straight into the wind. You have a bunker to the right and water to the left, so you just want to hit it straight and hope it goes in the fairway.

I had a little bit of an in between number, so I decided to go for the higher one and just hit it soft and hopefully it just stays on the top of the ridge, which it did, and then I had a 30-footer down the hill, and luckily it hit the hole and went in. That was a huge gain for my momentum moving forward with today's round.

Q. Right now only four players under par compared to yesterday. How difficult was every shot?

LOUISE RYDQVIST: It's so extremely difficult. You take a target, you pick a yardage, and you pick a club, and then you're over the ball, and the gust either starts or it calms down, so it's either one of them. At that point you've either just got to commit to what you're hitting and do it, or you step away and take a new decision.

But it's definitely difficult to commit and just trust whatever you choose to do.

Q. You're one of 13 players in the field that are on the Annika award watch list. 13 of the 15 are in this field this week. You're surrounded by the best amateurs in the world. When you get on these bigger stages compared to the regular season collegiate events, how do you prepare for that mentally, physically? What goes into it?

LOUISE RYDQVIST: Yeah, I think what I do is I try to prepare it like practice-wise, and I get to the course for the practice round, just as I normally would because it's what I'm used to. But mentally you go out there with a mentality that you want to compete and you want to be one of the best because the best are here.

The competitive side of me definitely thrives for sure.

Q. Are you a leaderboard watcher?

LOUISE RYDQVIST: I'm not going to lie, they're everywhere. I can't avoid them, so I have for sure watched them out there, yeah.