Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown

Saturday, May 6, 2023

San Francisco, California, USA

Harding Park

Madelene Sagstrom

Maja Stark

Anna Nordqvist

Caroline Hedwall

Quick Quotes


Q. Madelene, I know that match came down to the very last wire. How important was it for you to remain undefeated and close that one out?

MADELENE SAGSTROM: Well, I just really don't want to lose. I was like, my mind was made up, I was like, yes, thank you, Maja. We fought all day today. We probably didn't play as good as we have the last couple days, so Maja was my -- I was the lagger. I kind of lagged a bunch of par putts today, like just lagging it up there.

But it was so fun. It was important to have that. We tied but still having that not-losing streak.

Q. Maja, what did it feel like to make that putt?

MAJA STARK: I kind of liked it because it felt like they got mad, and that's kind of funny. I just really wanted to make that putt. Just being able to perform under pressure like that is not something that I've really felt before because it's usually been -- everything has just been about myself, but now I do it for my team and for Sweden. It's really nice to be able to come in clutch like that at the end.

Q. Anna and Caroline, your seventh win as a partnership. What does that feel like to just win that many matches together in this competition?

CAROLINE HEDWALL: Well, it's just a lot of fun, obviously. No, but it was great pulling through today. I mean, Anna was unbelievable at the end, and no, it was just awesome.

Q. Anna, you have a lot of experience playing against the U.S. Team in various Solheim Cups and things like that. What's the energy level like right now? Obviously you're playing Australia early tomorrow, but what's your energy level tomorrow with an opportunity to win a crown for the first time for Sweden?

ANNA NORDQVIST: Well, you definitely leave the golf course with a lot of adrenaline and excitement and knowing that it was a really tough match. I mean, we're playing Nelly and Lilia who's like 1 and 4 in the world, so we knew it was going to be a tough match, and I think between the two of us we had nine birdies today.

Obviously a great finish because I felt like it was pretty tight all day. Lilia holed out that second shot on I believe it was 6. It's just you knew it was going to have to be really strong play, and I think just proud of ourselves. We finished really strong yesterday to gain some momentum, and we came out firing pretty strong this morning.

Yeah, going into tomorrow I think we're all just very excited to have a shot at it.

Q. Alternate shot is also a complex form of match play. What advantage do you have playing in that format versus four-ball which might be a little bit more straightforward?

MADELENE SAGSTROM: Well, I think the biggest thing is just experience from both junior years. We've done alternate shot in amateur golf, on the European Team Championships and stuff, so we've just done a bunch of this stuff growing up.

I think that's what gives us a good advantage. I think just this match play and the team format in general is really good for us. We've grown up doing this, so I think it really just fires us up and we know what to expect from each other.

Q. What does it mean to you to advance to the semifinals and have a shot at the crown tomorrow?

CAROLINE HEDWALL: I'm just really proud of the team. We've had so much fun together, and I think that shows on the game we have, as well. I'm just proud of everyone.

MADELENE SAGSTROM: We knew we could do this. It's just more about getting to this point, getting the opportunity. Everyone has played super solid, so just awesome to be in this position. Ready to go tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
132469-1-1041 2023-05-07 01:50:00 GMT

ASAP sports

tech 129