U.S SENIOR WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

August 1, 2024

Annika Sorenstam

Fox Chapel Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Three birdies, three bogeys. How did you feel about the round today?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I'm disappointed. I came in here, I felt really good and I played well the first two days, and today I was a little tentative. I really didn't release the club, and it was just very cautious golf. As you know, there's a fine line of being aggressive but then also being patient and having a strategy, and I just felt I really didn't have the courage.

I'm disappointed about that, and obviously finished with a bogey on the last. Never makes you feel good.

But I love the course. I think it's just really fun, and I have it in me, so if this is going to be my highest score of the week, then this will be okay.

Q. When you made the semi-turn and you birdied 1 and 2, did you feel like you were gaining momentum at that point?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, so obviously the greens were a lot faster, and I think that made -- I played Monday so I felt good about it, and then they were really slow, and then all of a sudden they were really fast, and it kind of got me on the front nine, and I tried to adjust to the speed, and as you know, these greens have quite the undulation, so speed really, really matters.

I think that played a little bit with me, but then I rolled in, like you mentioned, on No. 1 and No. 2 and then I felt a little bit more momentum.

But it's a fun course to play. I'm surprised how well it has dried up and how well it played because as you know, the weather has been a little tough.

Q. Even though you consider it not the greatest round, you're still right there, only three strokes behind.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, as you know, this is a marathon. I don't know what the percentage of the first round is, maybe 10 percent of the tournament, and then the longer we go on, the more it's going to matter.

But I do know I've got to do things differently. This is not going to hold up. I've got to play a little better, and I look forward to it.

Q. Everyone has played in the heat before, but how --

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It was pretty hot. Living in Orlando you'd think I'd be used to it, but I've been gone for about two months, and I've been coming from fresh mountain air, so coming here, it was hot. But just make sure you hydrate, and if you can find some shade, find some shade. I'm just going to hit a few putts now and then I'm probably going to take one of those cold plunges. Our housing -- Jake Levin, who lives here, is a member, he has one of those cold plunge. I think I'm going to go there, and I think the temperature in the water is going to go from 50 to 60 in a heartbeat.

Q. Your son, while you're teeing off, he's helping someone --

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I know, she fainted. But after two of us hit. I think hopefully it was the heat and not our swings. But he was there and he got her a chair and really made her feel comfortable. Glad she's okay, which is the most important part.

Q. Probably makes you pretty proud as a parent?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Oh, I'm proud, yeah. He's a good golfer but he's also a wonderful human being, which obviously matters more, so proud of him to step in and help this young lady when she needed it.