THE AMUNDI EVIAN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 11, 2024

Ingrid Lindblad

Evian Resort Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Excellent opening round. 7-under par. Starting on No. 10, went out in 2-under par and then dominated the front nine with five birdies, no bogeys. Imagine you're pretty thrilled right now.

INGRID LINDBLAD: Yeah, I would say it's a pretty simple round of golf. I think missed two fairways, missed two greens, so was just in it the whole round. Was just trying to hit the targets that we been talking about.

Q. This is your sixth major championship. First as a professional and first time here at Evian. What are you enjoying most about the challenges it presents?

INGRID LINDBLAD: You know, every hole is different. There is no flat lies so you're kind of always hitting into a green that's sloping one way and the fairway is sloping the same way, so you just got to be careful where you hit the ball.

Just really got to commit to some shots out here and just trust that the ball is going to go one way.

Q. You enjoy a distinguished amateur career. Only turned pro last month. Three events on the Futures Tour. What's the best piece of advice you have been given as you embark on your pro journey?

INGRID LINDBLAD: I would say to keep most things similar to like what you've done before. Like don't change your swing coach and don't try to move somewhere where you haven't lived before and just try to keep most things the same way as you had it the past couple years.

Yeah, don't change too much.

Q. What an incredible start here. Your first professional major I believe.

INGRID LINDBLAD: Yes, that's true.

Q. What does that mean to you to be here in Evian?

INGRID LINDBLAD: I mean, it's been amazing. Weather is great and that helps a lot. Just I kept saying if you don't play well, you can just look at the lake and enjoy the views. It's really pretty and the course is in great condition.

It's a bit on the softer side on the greens, which probably helped the scoring today, but I think firm the greens up a little bit and they'll probably change a little bit.

Q. Just in general, what were some of the key highlights for you to get around this place in 7-under?

INGRID LINDBLAD: Just overall, I just hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens. Wasn't really in any trouble. The only trouble I was in I got a bad lie in a bunker on a par-5 and literally hit a normal bunker shot out of the bunker to hit it on the fairway and then hit my 4-iron to three feet.

So it's just maybe not the routine birdie, but I'll take it.

Q. What was it like preparing for this major particularly?

INGRID LINDBLAD: To be fair, our weather in Sweden has not been the greatest the past couple weeks. So I really wanted to hit some more uneven lies, but it's been raining and windy every day, so it wasn't really like I wanted.

But I was home for about ten days so kind of saw my coaches for a little bit and chilled out for a little bit.

Q. We've seen low scores here before. Is that something that you know you have to take advantage of those scorable opportunities?

INGRID LINDBLAD: I just think -- I said before I tee'd off today, kind of just trust the process and the score will come. So that's kind of what I did today.

And if you trust that process, then the score comes, I mean, then yeah, just take advantage of it and keep rolling in some putts.

Q. You've been playing pretty good on Epson Tour. Played three events, T25 and T2, already up in the race to the card.

INGRID LINDBLAD: Yeah.

Q. What has that prep work really helped to you prepare for this major test as a professional now?

INGRID LINDBLAD: I mean, those three weeks were -- obviously like it was my first three weeks as a professional, and then the week before that I played the U.S. Women's Open at Lancaster. It was like a really long four weeks.

But I think just overall, I kind of like learned something like every week. I think the hardest thing was probably the routine around the events. It's not the same as a college event or a regular amateur tournament, so just kind of getting used to it.

Obviously on Epson you had to show up for practice round, so like going a little bit more with the flow I think, but just -- I think those three weeks were pretty good preparation actually to get used to things.

Q. You have that bracelet on that says, "be where your feet are." How much is that a reminder now that you're a professional trying to get your feet under you and really being where they are at this point?

INGRID LINDBLAD: Yeah, I haven't really thought about it much today. I was looking at it kind of this morning when I put it on.

But that's the thinking like with the process, just trying to one shot at a time and like do what you can with that shot.

Q. You've had a lot of success in major championships as an amateur. I know obviously first Evian. This is a whole different kind of ballgame.

INGRID LINDBLAD: Yeah.

Q. What's so different about this major championship compared to some of the other places you played?

INGRID LINDBLAD: I was talking about this early in the week. I was kind of saying because I've only played like the AIG Women's Open and U.S. Women's Open and those greens are always rock hard, so I kept saying -- I was like, just play kind of links and longer courses than the U.S. and then I come out here and everything is slopey.

I would say the greens are a little bit more receptive than I thought they would be. Probably firm up.

But just it's a totally different course. It's not the same as the other ones.

Q. Just looking ahead, three more rounds. Obvious tournaments aren't won on the first round, but how you build on such a solid start?

INGRID LINDBLAD: I think that was the thing, like in the middle of the round I was like -- sometimes I get too far ahead of myself and I was just like, just keep going. Keep hitting the fairways, greens, and try to roll some putts in.

I think that's what you got to do. You can't really force it, especially not on a course like this. You just have to commit to the shots and don't try to force it anywhere.