Q. All right, joining me today after the second round of the FM Championship is Madelene Sagstrom. You had a great round today despite a little bit of weather. Can you talk us through your round and how you stayed in it despite the multiple pauses?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: No, I came off -- I started really strong. I hit some really lovely iron shots in the beginning. Gave myself a lot of the chances. Wasn't really making any putts, but I was just trying to be a little bit patient.
I haven't been putting great kind of since my win in match play, so we been working really hard on that. Found a few cues this week with my coach, Hans, over FaceTime, so I was like, let's go for it because I have nothing to lose.
I putted much better today.
And then we had our first delay, I came back out, so I was like panic warming up on the range. I came out and I was like, okay, now I'm not hitting it great at all. I tried to stay patient, played a couple holes, and got delayed again.
After that I came out. Didn't hit any balls the second time; didn't have time. Hit a few putts and just went out. I was like, let's just be a bit more conservative, play to the center of the greens and just kind of build the momentum up.
Hit some lovely shots and lovely putts and was like, well, maybe I should have done this the first time. It was a nice day. It's always hard when momentum changes when you have to go sit inside. You don't know what's it's going to look like, what's going to happen.
Q. You had the stretch of four birdies on the back and got to the point we weren't sure if we were going to get another rain delay or not. What were you thinking at that moment having to try to steady yourself and finish the round before the rain came in?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: Yeah, no, after I made my birdie on 16 I looked over my shoulder and it was dark I go, oh, no. We were looking at each other like, let's run, let's do this.
No, I mean, lucky to get it in to be honest. I think it's going to be the same kind of thing -- well, now they just blew the horn, so it's going to be a bit on and off the whole afternoon. We got a lucky wave this week playing late, early, so sometimes you do. I always say it equals out, so going to go back to the hotel and relax.
Q. You are in a great spot heading into the weekend. How are you going to approach this weekend? Obviously the weather yesterday was drastically different from today. How are you kind of going about this fairly new course for the LPGA, this difficult weather? What are you thinking into Saturday and Sunday?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: I think the weather first of all is going to be better. It's a bit more stable. We know we are going to play all rounds hopefully with no delays. It played a bit different from yesterday afternoon. I hit nice shoots yesterday afternoon, too.
It played a lot softer today with some rain and all that stuff today. I think it's still going to firm up. The greens are beautiful and are rolling nice. I've been in this position before so it's nothing new. That's what happens when you're a veteran on Tour, you're hoping you've been in enough and trying to win and give yourself chances.
I'm just happy to be back here. I've been fighting with my head and my game a little bit over the last few months, so it's really nice to be back and up in the mix.
Q. So I'm curious, what do you do during the rain delays? Is there anything you do to keep your mind on golf, off golf? What did those two delays look like for you?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: The first one, so my husband caddies on PGA TOUR DP, so he as out playing, so I kept refreshing the scores over there. That was my first mission.
Then everyone sits and watched the radar, like what's going to happen. But I mean, mostly sitting in dining. I didn't have lunch the first, and then they blew the horn the second time and I was like, well now I'll eat something. I don't really like playing on a super full stomach.
You just kind of hang out, make sure you use the bathroom, just walk around. Had a coffee. We get like 30 minute updates about what it's kind of looking like, so it's not really like pleasant. It's a little bit of anticipation. Like should I run to the driving range or can I sit here for a little bit?
Q. 26 putts today. Maybe you didn't hit the fairway as much as you would've liked to, but putting was stellar. You talked about working with your coach via FaceTime. What kind of adjustments were made and did you see those pay off today?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: We been talking about it for a while. I've always said my strongest part of my game has always been my putting. I was talking to Sarah walking around, I putted so bad. She was like, that's not like you. I was like, I know. We looked back at videos because I have putted really well. My best season on putting was 2022 when I was second ranked in strokes gained putting.
So we looked back at some videos and we could see that I had done a little bit of a setup change over time, so I said, well, I've got nothing to lose. Let's try to go back and do the setup a little bit more similar to what it was in '22.
It felt very uncomfortable in the pro-am and then I kind of got it going, so I was really happy with that.
Q. How does your approach to how you attack change with the weather, right? Obviously the greens will be softer and fairways will give you less roll once they're wet. Is that something you change mentally? If so, can you walk me through that?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: No, for sure. I think especially these greens, they have been firm so you can be a bit more aggressive. I hit a little bit of a thin wedge on the last and just like comes up a little bit short and kind of spins back instead of having that kick forward like it would've had yesterday.
You have to change the game plan a little bit. I talked my caddie into hitting driver on, what hole is that, 15, instead of 3-wood. Yesterday was 3-wood. I said three holes I said two holes ago I only hit it 255, so I think we can hit driver.
So it's kind of those adjustment. I mean, because we're playing back and forth so you can have a good idea what's going on. We have a good idea how far I'm carrying the ball. Just carry a little bit closer to the pin today compared to yesterday.
Q. Was your stretch of birdies before or after the second delay?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: Right as I came out from the second delay.
Q. What did you have for lunch? Did that help?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: Well, whatever beef that was was incredible. We had a really nice lunch. Beef, some sweet potato tots, tater tots. I don't know, something worked out really well.
I think just having the acceptance of I'm not really warmed up, I've been waiting. It took us from when we started to when we finished, we been on the golf course for seven and a half hours. It's a long day, so you try to be patient with yourself and be very accepting in my mind. Maybe that's something I need to do more often.
I said fairways and greens, I don't really care where they are, let's just try to get good momentum back again.
Q. You mentioned that you've been kind of in your head of late. Does having a round like today get you into a better headspace? How do you take a round like today into momentum for tomorrow?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: Absolutely. This is a very -- I feel like this is a very much momentum sport. Like the days you play well you think you're the best in the world. The days you play bad, I always say I'm going to go home and work in the supermarket. That's kind of like my -- I fluctuate between those daily.
So I think of course it brings a lot of confidence and just knowing that I've done good work. We kind of decided I would say going into Canada I was like, let's put a little bit more time, a little bit more effort. I putted a lot more than I have done in the past these last couple weeks, so just trying to see if something works, trying to find something.
Of course when you play well your confidence grows a lot.
Q. You played so good today. Are there any charms that you keep in your golf bag to help bring you motivation and like are lucky to you?
MADELENE SAGSTROM: A little bit. I try to -- I try not to be too superstitious because I feel like once you forget that one thing it could hurt you.
But I have a lucky rock from a good friend of mine that's now passed away unfortunately. I always have that in my bag. I have a few memorabilia stuff from my family. It's kind of keeping me in the present. My caddie hates all this stuff because it gets heavier and heavier.
But I love when I receive gifts from kids. I got a bracelet from a little girl in Ireland when I played there a few week eagle. It's just always nice when people take their time and do something for you. I try to keep all those things even though he doesn't like it, but I like it.
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