|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
KRAFT NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIPApril 2, 2014Anna NordqvistRANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA THE MODERATOR: It is a great pleasure to welcome in last week's winner from the Kia Classic, two‑time winner this year, Anna Nordqvist. Talk about somebody coming in on a hot streak. You're all smiles. ANNA NORDQVIST: Yeah, I'm all smiles. Obviously feels great coming in here. I know this stop is many of one of us favorites on tour. I'm so excited to be here. THE MODERATOR: You won a major championship back in 2009. Looking for another one obviously. Do you feel like you're a completely different player today than you were prior to winning the first one, much more prepared should you win more majors? ANNA NORDQVIST: Absolutely. Like you said, I feel like a completely different person today than I did 2009. Didn't even do my rookie hours for media training. I was thrown right into it in 2009, having to do press conferences winning that major. I think it's been quite a journey these last couple years. My game has improved a lot. I feel like I learned a lot from my mistakes being on tour for five years. You mature. I think I matured a lot as a person. I'm a lot more comfortable with myself, in my game. I feel like I'm in a much better spot now than I was in 2009. THE MODERATOR: How have you changed? What things have you learned specifically? What is the biggest thing you've learned over the time you've been on the LPGA about yourself or your game? ANNA NORDQVIST: When I won my major, I didn't even have my full status on tour. It was my fifth start. It was kind of overwhelming. All of a sudden I was thrown into ProAms. You're used to everyday life. I think the biggest difference, you make it a lifestyle. I have a lot more friends now obviously than I had then. Worked hard on my game. I feel like I can't even compare myself to the player I was then. I think I had maybe four top 10s that year, ended up winning two. 2012, two years ago, I had 12 top 10s. My consistency has probably been the biggest difference. I feel I can be up there a lot more. I've been up there in the majors last year. In order to win tournaments, which is my goal, I feel like I have to be up there. That's a position where I feel like I'm putting myself in recent years. THE MODERATOR: If you keep getting those really big checks, you get more friends, a lot more people call you. We'll take some questions. Q. You have a pretty decent record at this tournament. You've been in the top 10 three times in the last four years. Playing the way you are, knowing you can play this course pretty well, how do you feel coming into the week? ANNA NORDQVIST: I'm excited to come back. I went to Arizona State University, played quite a bit of desert golf. Maybe that's why I've always had a special passion for this tournament. It reminds me a lot of Phoenix where I used to live. You get to manage your game, play the ball off the tee into the greens. I feel like that's one of my strengths. Maybe that's why I've had success in recent years. Feel like my game is in a good spot, so obviously I'm excited to go into this week. My confidence is high. I'm having a good time. Q. It's always a golf course where people said you have to hit the ball good off the tee, long and straight. A lot was made on TV last week about your increased distance off the tee this year. Can you tell us about how you went from 240 to 260? ANNA NORDQVIST: Yeah, I think it's a combination. I told my trainer Kai Fusser end of November that I was staying in Florida over the winter and I wanted him to work out with me. I wanted to hit it hard in the gym. I also changed equipment, TaylorMade this year. The driver has probably gone from the least favorite club in my bag to my most favorite club in my bag. New golf balls. I have a new swing coach. I feel like a lot of the changes, you go up on the tee, you hit it further. I definitely think that's helped. But this course is not all about length. The rough is not as thick this year as it has been in the past, so it's not as penalizing. It definitely helped me when I won in Thailand having more distance off the tee because I could carry some bunkers I've never been able to carry in the past. As long as I can keep it straight, that's my main focus. Q. Who is your swing coach now? ANNA NORDQVIST: I work with a Spanish guy, Jorge Parada. Q. When you're walking on 18 on the way to the green, you pass the Walk of Champions, the pond, Dinah Shore's statue, what is that like? ANNA NORDQVIST: I think this tournament brings back so many memories. I was telling my caddie today when we were walking down 18, I remember the shot Karrie Webb won from off the fairway. I just couldn't remember what year it was. I'm looking at the signs there. It ended up being 2006. That's quite a bit away. But you remember like it was yesterday. Been so many good jumps in that pond, obviously. I think this tournament has a great history. There's been so many great players that have played it over the years. I played this tournament since 2010 and it feels like I remember this course on top of my head. But it just means so much. Walking down 18, all the good memories. I want to make my own memories hopefully one day, too. Definitely you look at the water and hopefully you'll be jumping in there one day. Q. Are you a good swimmer? ANNA NORDQVIST: I used to be a swimmer when I grew up for six, seven years. I would say I was the most dedicated swimmer without any success. But I loved it. Q. If you dove in, would you swim a couple of laps? ANNA NORDQVIST: I don't know. We'll see. Q. You talked about how you thought about leaving the tour at one point. What were some things that happened since then that have caused you to rethink that? You also talked about the hard work you put in. What were some specific things you've done? ANNA NORDQVIST: I've always been a very passionate player. I'm very ambitious and a hard worker. Doesn't matter what I do in life. I wanted good grades in school. If I was playing soccer, I wanted to be good in soccer. When I finally picked up golf at 13, I wanted to be really good at golf. You put in so much hard work. It's tough traveling, managing everything. It came to a point at the beginning of last year where I felt like I lost the love for the game, the passion I used to have. I questioned whether it was worth putting in all that hard work and not being happy on and off the course. I made some changes. My younger brother, Mattias, he's a really good golfer himself. He came out and ended up caddying for me last summer. He's been such a good inspiration, helped me get my attitude back and inspiration back and love for the game last summer. Started working with a new caddie, Jason Gilroyed, on my bag now since July. He's been a positive influence. Just having a lot of positive people around you that make you believe in yourself when you start to doubt yourself. You start doubting if it's worse practicing when you'd rather think about you want to do something else. I definitely questioned whether it was worth it or not. But I kept my head in it. I've been a person that never wanted to give up. I think that's what I did thanks to a lot of the positive people I had around me at that time, that told me not to give up. End of last year was pretty disappointing because I felt like I didn't play that bad but didn't see any results. I had a lot of top 15s last year. I was very consistent. But I wanted to come back and win tournaments. End of last year I told myself that I was going to work a lot this winter, give it my all. For me it's always been all or nothing. I decided I'm going to give it my all for a couple more years, or you never know. I definitely found the love for the game again thanks to a lot of friends and family around me. THE MODERATOR: There were probably some tears of disappointment in the tough times. Did you allow yourself some tears of joy in Thailand or at Kia? How was it emotionally? ANNA NORDQVIST: Yeah, I think Thailand was probably my most emotional win on tour because I won the end of '09 and I won an unofficial event in Jamaica 2010. Ever since I put in so much hard work, had a bit of a struggle at times. When you know you've gone through that and you come out on top, then it means more to you. Thailand was a great event. I played really well. I had Inbee Park chasing me down the stretch. Kept firing birdies at me. I stuck my head into it and ended up winning by two. So it was very emotional. Coming to Singapore the week after I had nothing because I was mentally fried. I was proud of myself. But definitely I can look back to all those moments where I worked so hard, so it definitely meant a lot. THE MODERATOR: How big was the Solheim Cup for you? You were fantastic that week. Made the ace. ANNA NORDQVIST: Well, Solheim Cup has always meant a lot to me. I just remember watching it when I grew up. All of a sudden 2009 I'm playing alongside my role models growing up. Suzann Pettersen, Laura Davies, Mimi, Helen Alfredsson. I could only dream about that when I was growing up. Back in 2003 I was watching the girls play. I could never even dream about going inside the ropes there. Now I've done three. It's those events where it really brings out the passion in me. In Colorado we had the best team ever, I felt like. We got along very well. A lot of us grew up playing up together. A little bit of a generation shift on the European team. We just had such a good time win or lose. Liselotte really believed in us. We made so many great memories that week. Obviously having that ace is something I will always remember. Q. How is your cold? How are you treating it? ANNA NORDQVIST: Yeah, I got a cold on Friday last week. Not the best timing, but what are you going to do? I practiced early yesterday to try to get home and get some rest. I was in the morning portion today, so I'll go home and get as much rest as possible. THE MODERATOR: We'll let you go get some rest. Anna, thank you very much for being here. Congratulations on your two wins and perhaps another major this week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|