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ANA INSPIRATION

April 2, 2019

Pernilla Lindberg

Rancho Mirage, California

THE MODERATOR: Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. We are here with our defending ANA Inspiration champion, Pernilla Lindberg, who is playing in her eighth ANA Inspiration. She has three top 20 finishes to go with that win. We think back to last year, playing in the dark with Inbee and Jennifer, extending into Monday with Inbee.

I imagine those were a surreal couple days leading into and out of. Take us back. What are some of your best memories of that week last year?

PERNILLA LINDBERG: Obviously so many good memories. Just being here now they all come back kind of at once. Obviously the winning putt and that moment and the leap into Poppy's Pond is probably one of the moments that stand out the most.

But, no, I mean, the whole week building up and leading wire to wire, just so many cool kind of storylines in there that I get reminded of when I come back here.

I remember I said it last year and I still feel the same. I just couldn't have scripted the week any better, any more exciting. Maybe a little too exciting.

THE MODERATOR: Four days would've been nice. As you think back to that final hole and you're watching Inbee line up over that putt, what was going through your mind?

PERNILLA LINDBERG: To be honest, obviously I got really pumped up when I holed my putt, but I haven't won so I can't throw out a big celebration or anything. You see me just give to a fist bump but still kind of game face on. I just walked quickly over to my golf bag, grabbed my water bottle, tried to get my poles kind of down again. Just in my mind I'm preparing myself for Inbee holing that putt and we're going back to the 17th hole again; just trying to keep myself in that game mode.

So at first I was not even going to look when she was putting. I'm like, That's kind of silly. I should probably look. So I don't even think I had time to think much about her putt itself. I was just preparing myself for she's going to hole it, she's going to hole it.

Then when it doesn't go in I could just feel kind of all the tension, all the adrenaline, everything that's built up over five days at this point, kind of just all disappeared at once. It was kind of a surreal feeling.

THE MODERATOR: Now fast forward a year. Last night you got to go to your first champion's dinner. What was that experience like being among some of best in the game and knowing you were right there with them?

PERNILLA LINDBERG: It's really cool to be able to say that I belong in that group. It's really a step into history books. It's really nice to be able to know that I'm welcome to that champion's dinner for as long as I want to and know that the invitations are not just thrown out there. You have to work hard to get there.

So it was very special and cool to see. They have a bunch of the leaps into Poppy's Pond on the screen playing and just all the history. This event is just so special to us because of all the history. Now to be able to be a part of that, including the champion's dinner, it's really cool.

THE MODERATOR: Have you had a chat with Daniel about not going head first in again?

PERNILLA LINDBERG: It's not caddying for me this year.

THE MODERATOR: True. But there has got to be some time you got to jump again.

PERNILLA LINDBERG: Oh, of course. I mean, even if I'm jumping in he can jump in as my husband now. You know what? I know that looked scary, but apparently he knew what he was doing. He said he didn't even touch the bottom. Whatever he has in store, I'll leave it up to him again.

THE MODERATOR: So now you've got to go back out there and defend your title. You played nine holes yesterday, nine this morning. We hear the golf course is looking great. What are your big takeaways?

PERNILLA LINDBERG: Oh, absolutely. This course, I mean, it's hard to say. I feel like every year people say it's in better condition than we've ever seen it. That might be true, but it's hard to compare great to great. Every year we show up the greens just roll so good.

I kind of had -- like I gave myself some chills when I was out there playing yesterday. I was playing the back nine and obviously having Roy caddie for me this year, now instead I could kind of tell him, This was the putt I holed or this is what I did on this hole. So I got to relive it all.

I was rolling the putts and just seeing how well they roll on these greens just brought back some really good memories. That's my favorite thing about this golf course, how well the greens are rolling. The rough is juicy. I know it's been a wet winter out here. So we'll see. If they top it off, but if they just leave it the way it is at the moment, it's going to be a good test, a good challenge.

You want to stay in the fairway, that's for sure. That's what a major championship is about.

THE MODERATOR: Exactly. It is a major. Questions.

Q. Obviously there are perks that come with winning. Can you talk a little bit after the win just maybe what your challenges were in terms of your own expectations and maybe expectations of others?
PERNILLA LINDBERG: Yeah, I mean expectations are such a big factor in golf on all different levels. For me, it doesn't come natural to say no, and obviously I had a lot more requests and opportunities coming my way after my win. I embraced it all, took advantage of all the great opportunities, but it probably made me -- I probably didn't realize until later, but probably did make me just higher stress level inside me.

It's hard to play your best golf when you feel that way. I could tell my focus wasn't 100% there. I just got a little more scattered. Yeah, just had a lot to do with the combination of expectations on myself, from others. I wanted to prove to everyone that it's not just one week that I played good.

So, yeah, really a combination of all these different factors that led to me not playing my best golf the rest of the year, that's for sure.

Q. Have you been around the course and seen every place that your name is now?
PERNILLA LINDBERG: I saw the plaque on 18, that's for sure. Besides that, it was pretty cool driving in. Coming down the valley the other day coming from Kia Classic I saw my face on a billboard farther up the road here. That's probably a first, that I get to see my own face on a billboard.

Q. As for the golf course, seems like it's a little different or pretty much the same golf course from last year? Have been a few changes.
PERNILLA LINDBERG: Yeah, overall very much the same. Three holes that have been lengthened a little bit, so obviously that's a little bit of a difference there.

Rough, it seems like in spots it's probably even thicker than it's been before.

Besides that, I mean, still very much the same golf course though.

Q. So wouldn't necessarily fit your game better or worse this year than last year?
PERNILLA LINDBERG: No. Absolutely not. I mean, none of the changes make my game plan really any different. To me feels like it's still playing very much the same. Those three holes you will have a few longer clubs in than maybe in the past, but that's about the only difference.

Q. Can you describe the most memorable reaction to your win last year, whether it was here or in Sweden, with your parents, husband now?
PERNILLA LINDBERG: I mean, the most memorable to me is probably just that second when I won and me and Daniel, fiance at the time now husband, that we just gave each other a big hug and were kind of -- I kind of just shouted, We did it, we did it to him. That's probably the one that stands out the most to me.

Q. When you hit that putt on the eighth playoff hole, when it came off the putter did you think you might have hit it too hard?
PERNILLA LINDBERG: No. I thought you were going to ask me what did you think, and I don't know. Like I just know it looked like it came off good. It wasn't until later when I say the footage of it. Oh, that did hit the back of the hole at pretty good speed.

No, didn't cross my mind. I guess I was just happy that I was giving it -- I knew it wasn't going to come up short. That was probably my only thing. I wanted to give it a chance. I had left so many putts on Sunday short that that was the last thing I was going to do.

Q. And you mentioned with all the demands on your time after winning that that led to your being a little bit more tense and not as free flowing. Where are you now?
PERNILLA LINDBERG: I've done some really good work with my team the last few weeks, and I'm very much back to feeling very similar to how I felt coming into this week last year -- obviously with probably still a little bit more expectations on myself and still a few more demands.

No, I've learn a lot about myself and what's important for me to play good golf over the last year. I felt like I really liked what I was seeing last week at the Kia Classic. The results were a good step in the right direction, but I think mentally and just how I handled myself on the course and my process goals that I had out there was even a bigger step in the right direction than the scores showed.

Q. You use word expectations a lot. Obviously you have the desire and you expect to win more on the LPGA Tour. If you don't, if last year is the only win that you have, the career is over, how do you define your career given what you went through last year?
PERNILLA LINDBERG: Oh, wow. It's hard to even put myself in that position because I feel like I have so much more to give out here.

I mean, if that's the scenario you're giving me, winning a major on the LPGA Tour and I think in particular for me this one, just makes -- I mean, it makes for a pretty good career.

I know I said it before, but a lot of people maybe had a lot more expectations on me for the first nine years on tour when I didn't win. I still had a very steady career out here. A lot of people don't realize how hard it is to just stay in that Top 70-ish on the Money List every year.

So I've had a steady career so far. Now I've shown what I can do on the biggest stage. I hope I will be able to show that a few more times, too.

Q. I asked that because of how special this event is and how special that moment was to go head-to-head with Inbee Park. When you think about what happened last year and everything, jumping into Poppy's Pond, what were your dreams like coming into this event as you watched this tradition as a little girl, and then now have the opportunity to do what you did?
PERNILLA LINDBERG: I mean, obviously it was a dream, but probably felt more at the time like a dream. I know I said it before that my career has kind of been steady and I have taken small steps in the right direction. For me it felt natural. Last year one of my big goals was to get my first win on tour. I thought it would be a smaller event or maybe a European tour event, but just get the first win in the books.

If someone would've told me it was going to be this one -- I mean, it was almost too big for me to believe, and especially in the fashion I did it. That's what I reminded myself of yesterday when I was out here playing a practice round. This place is so special, and out of all of the events on our tour, this is the one I won? That's pretty cool.

When I told myself that it kind of gave me chills.

Q. You said the last few weeks you've gone back to feeling more normal again. Was there a certain specific realization that helped you or thing you just told yourself to get back to that feeling?
PERNILLA LINDBERG: It's a combination of a lot of different things, but it's a fine line between working hard on your game and overdoing things and really be searching and overanalyzing.

I had probably just gone past kind of that line, so now I'm way more comfortable. I know I've done a lot of hard work, but I'm just going out there and letting it happen. Kind of stop analyzing so much and overdoing things. That's kind of all I've been working on, and that feels like that's what's falling into place again.

THE MODERATOR: Anything further for Pernilla? I'll close up with one question. This win last year was I believe your 250th professional start. It's an inspirational story. Two weeks ago we launched the DriveOn campaign. That's a wonderful DriveOn story. What do you hope that shares to young girls and boys and players, anyone coming up, that's it's never too late?

PERNILLA LINDBERG: Yeah, I mean, so many kind of good messages in my story I feel like, but probably the main things is if you work hard, surround yourself with a good team, a team that believes in you, and you keep staying patient, you just never know what can happen in the end.

THE MODERATOR: We're so glad we got to witness to last year. Enjoy your week.

PERNILLA LINDBERG: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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