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HSBC WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSFebruary 27, 2014Caroline HedwallSINGAPORE MEGHAN FLANAGAN: We welcome Caroline head we will into the interview here at the HSBC Women's Champions, 67, leader in the clubhouse, you have to be pleased with the way you started. CAROLINE HEDWALL: I played very solid and I think in the beginning of the round, I gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities. I started to get impatient, and so my caddie helped me a lot, just telling me to stay focused and stay patient and they will start to fall and they did on 14 and 16 and I actually holed quite long putts. MEGHAN FLANAGAN: Almost reminiscent of some Solheim Cup putts. How long was the one on the back nine? The stretch on 14, 15, 16 definitely got you going. CAROLINE HEDWALL: Like 14, that must have been maybe 36 feet or something. And then on 15, 12 feet, so that wasn't that long. And then 16 must have been 24 or something, yeah, 25. MEGHAN FLANAGAN: Talk about that stretch of birdies, looking at leaderboards, knowing you wanted to get in the mix of things there? CAROLINE HEDWALL: On and off I was on the leaderboards, I saw that I was still up there so I just had to stay patient, which I did, and it was just nice to get up there and get the three birdies in a row. Then it was just a solid good start, and then I'm happy with that and hopefully I can keep that momentum for the rest of the week. MEGHAN FLANAGAN: Now, you had two solid starts to start the season, two top 20s. What were your goals or mind‑set coming into the season coming off the off‑season and what were you doing in the off‑season to get prepared for 2014? CAROLINE HEDWALL: I've just been working hard and then actually I think I just needed a break for off‑season. I just took three weeks off just to not think about golf for awhile, and I went skiing and actually bought an apartment in Sweden and got to focus on that, so that's really nice. Then I went to Thailand the week before I played the Australian Masters to get a good week of practice and from then, I'm just trying to, you know, keep playing and shooting low. MEGHAN FLANAGAN: The apartment, first big purchase? CAROLINE HEDWALL: I haven't been sure if I wanted to move to the U.S. or stay? Sweden, so obviously it's a big thing to buy my first apartment. MEGHAN FLANAGAN: Very big. Any interior decorating skills? CAROLINE HEDWALL: Not yet. I've been changing some doors and changing wallpapers in the living room and stuff. I just enjoy doing that. MEGHAN FLANAGAN:  So you're handy? CAROLINE HEDWALL: Yeah, I really enjoy that. So that's what I'm looking forward to next week when I go back home again to do some of that. MEGHAN FLANAGAN:  Well, winner's cheque would help out with the nice furniture so we'll work on that. Last year you had a very solid year, almost your break out season on Tour, as well as the Solheim Cup, you had such a good week there. How much did last year give you confidence or make you more comfortable where you knew you belonged out here on Tour and being in contention to win. CAROLINE HEDWALL: That's where I really realized I belong on the LPGA. I was Top 15 on the Money List and played decent golf. I just didn't get that win. I had three top threes and I had a great week at the Solheim Cup. So I just really felt like I belonged and this week I'm obviously looking for my first win on the LPGA. MEGHAN FLANAGAN:  Was there anything in the off‑season you reflected on that you thought, I need to do this, X, Y, Z to get into the winner's circle, because everyone talks about you on the brink, we expect you to win very soon, is there anything specific you thought of? CAROLINE HEDWALL: Well, I know my ball striking is good, so I just need to putt better. But at the same time, I know I'm going to putt enough practice on putting, so that's my main focus to just get the hours done. Q. Is a major and world No. 1 realistic targets for you? CAROLINE HEDWALL: Well, of course, in the future but I want to take one step at a time. The first goal is to win on the LPGA and then I can start talking about majors. It's kind of being ahead of yourself when you start talking about majors when you have not even won on the LPGA first. I'm going to take one step at a time and I hope my golf career is going to be a long one. Like I said just take one step at a time and now my first goal is to win out here. Q. I'm sure you were often asked Annika's influence, are you still in touch with her or do you follow her much? CAROLINE HEDWALL: I don't really stay in touch with her. I see her at golf tournaments sometimes when she's commentating and she was the vice captain at Solheim, but she's obviously been a great role model. When you saw how great she was out here, that kind of gave you the confidence that maybe if she can do it, I can do it, coming from Sweden and everything. Q. Are there LPGA players you feel intimidated by? CAROLINE HEDWALL: Well, obviously a lot of the players out here have been‑‑ I watched them on TV, but when you get to know them, all of them are very nice. So I mean, at first, yeah, like my first year, I know I was focusing on them being on the range and it was kind of a nervous moment to hit balls around some of the players around here but at the same time you get used to them and see that they are normal people just like others. Q. I just want to ask you a little bit about the LET. Obviously you've come up through there and now also having some events in Asia, will you be playing much LET as well and any other events in Asia this year? CAROLINE HEDWALL: Well, I'm going to play the events in Asia are the ones that LPGA host, because we don't really have time to play that much on the LET now. It's hard to combine the two tours because the LET, the schedule this year is just looking awesome so we can actually plan our schedule and skip a couple of events‑‑ so there's not much time. But I'm obviously going to play the co‑sanctioned events, the British and the Evian. I hope to play the one in‑‑ the Swedish event, as well, if that fits into my schedule. I haven't decided yet but that's obviously a tournament that I want to play. Q. 15 is playing to be the toughest hole but you birdied it, and there are a lot of players struggling with the strong winds and it's really dry. How did you overcome it today? CAROLINE HEDWALL: It's a really narrow tee shot, but I hit a great drive there and I just hit a soft 8‑iron into the green and hit it fairly close and made the putt. It's really the tee shot that it depends on, you need to hit a good shot and I did and now I'm in the middle of the fairway. So from there it wasn't that tough but that tee shot is definitely intimidating. Q. What do you think you need to do to sustain the momentum over the next three days? CAROLINE HEDWALL: Just keep focusing on myself and I have my swing coach here this week, I have my sister here this week, I have a great friend, Henrik, on the bag. So it's just nice to have people around you that you know care about you and we have great atmosphere and a lot of fun together. So that definitely helps me keep the momentum I think. MEGHAN FLANAGAN:  How often does your coach come out with you? CAROLINE HEDWALL: Well, he came to Thailand when we had that practice camp and then this weekend, he's probably going to come out‑‑ four or five times more this year. MEGHAN FLANAGAN: What's his name? CAROLINE HEDWALL:Johan Andersson.  This is our ninth year together, for a long time. MEGHAN FLANAGAN: I wanted to lastly touch on International Crown. Anna got the win last week, you must be happy for her, fellow Swede. You have a good‑looking team, what are you looking forward to about Team Sweden and getting to hold up the Swedish flag? CAROLINE HEDWALL: Obviously it's always been an honor. I grew up playing for the Swedish golf team as an amateur and I always enjoyed that time, and an in a and I played together. So that's just a great honor to represent Sweden, and I think we're going to have a great team going into that event. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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