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REIGNWOOD LPGA CLASSICOctober 2, 2014Caroline HedwallBEIJING, CHINA EMCEE: Dear friends from the media, welcome to the first round press conference of the 2014 Reignwood LPGA Classic. Now we're very happy to have the current leader in the first round of our classic tournament. Ladies and gentlemen, from Sweden, Caroline Hedwall. MODERATOR: Caroline, congratulations. You've given yourself an excellent opportunity with an opening round 6‑under; currently clubhouse leader; two‑stroke lead. You started with two straight birdies and finished with a big birdie on 18. How are you feeling overall? CAROLINE HEDWALL: I'm really happy with my game today. Like you said, I started off with two birdies and felt like I was on a roll there. I had quite a few birdie opportunities on the back nine and kept playing well. It was nice to finish off with a birdie as well. Just really happy. MODERATOR: Last year you played well here as well. What do you attribute that to? CAROLINE HEDWALL: I just really like the golf course here. The greens are very nice. And just my key part of the game is tee to green, and suits me really well. The course has been in really nice shape. It's kind of easy to play well here. MODERATOR: Last year you also played pretty well on the Asian swing in general. Is there something in your mindset, more of a year‑end push for you? CAROLINE HEDWALL: Well, I think for me, I just gain confidence playing a lot. That's what I did coming over here. Got a good start here in China and had a great finish in Taiwan last year. So just when I start playing well, I usually keep playing well. So I think that's the key. MODERATOR: Questions. Q. Can you recollect a little bit with us about the bogey you had on the 5th. Was it a miss‑selection of club or something? CAROLINE HEDWALL: Well, that 5th hole you really need to hit the fairway, and I picked the wrong club off the tee there. Hit a 3‑wood, but should have been a hybrid. I was long into the rough there, and it's just so hard to get to the pin. I ended up on the fringe and three putted from there. Missed a three‑footer. So could have made par, but sometimes you end up with a bogey. Q. Do you have any particular strategy for this course? CAROLINE HEDWALL: Well, I think the fairways are quite generous out here. Off the tee you can basically hit driver everywhere. My caddie and I were talking a lot about where you want to be on the greens on your approach shot. Being on the wrong side of the pin here you're going to have a tricky putt. You try and give yourself uphill putts all the time. Q. Which hole is most difficult and dangerous hole to you? CAROLINE HEDWALL: Well, actually I've got to say No.4 is playing quite long. It's one of the most difficult ones. And also No. 5 I would say, because it's crucial to hit the fairway there. If you're in the rough it's so hard to get it to stop because the green is so short. It's hard from the rough to get it to stop. You really need to be on the fairway. Today it was downwind as well, so makes it harder to stop. Q. Two questions: You're from the Nordic region, and Beijing is having cold weather. Do you feel naturally accustomed to the weather here? CAROLINE HEDWALL: The thing is that the courses that we play on we're all over the world. You play in hot weather and you get used to it. Obviously I grew up playing in cold weather. The weather we had Tuesday and Wednesday, it's not tough for me to play in it because I'm so used to it. I just put on some extra clothing and I'm fine. Q. Same question from the lady. As we gather, there are more than 500 golf clubs in your country, in Sweden, and you have a relatively small population. Can you talk a little bit about the popularity of golf per capita, the environment, and also the conditions for people to play golf there? CAROLINE HEDWALL: Yeah, I think we're 9.5 billion people living in Sweden, so it's not a lot compared to China, that's for sure. There are 500,000 of us playing golf. It is a popular sport in Sweden, and that is why there are so many golf courses. The popularity decreased a couple years ago, but I think it's on the up way again. Just a lot of golf courses and good practice. Even though you just play six to seven months a year, we have a lot of great golfers. I think it's just because we love it so much. Q. This question is not related to golf. This is already your second year in Beijing. For this tour, do you plan to do something local, like trying roast Beijing Duck? Visiting the Great Wall for the first time or again? Or go to some interesting cultural places? CAROLINE HEDWALL: Well, actually did that last year when I was here. I went to the famous square in Beijing. Q. Tiananmen. CAROLINE HEDWALL: Yeah. Went to that one and the Great Wall. I did try the duck, so I kind of feel like I did everything last year. So I would love to go to The Wall again. We'll just see if there is time, though. Q. You had a break before Evian and a break right after leading up to this tournament. Had you played many other tournaments, or how do you stay on top of it? CAROLINE HEDWALL: We had (indiscernible) in Sweden the week before Evian because it's in my hometown in Sweden. So I just spent some time there before and then after Evian. I flew directly from Copenhagen coming over here to Beijing. So it was nice. Q. Do you feel like you were fresh coming in here and that's one of the key reasons for good play in this round? CAROLINE HEDWALL: Yeah, absolutely. Just spending time at home, we don't do that that often. It was nice to have a couple weeks at home and practice with my swing coach and my whole team which I have back in Sweden. I really enjoyed my time and I feel fresh coming in here, yeah. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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