AIG WOMEN'S OPEN

August 22, 2021

Anna Nordqvist

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Delighted to be joined by the 2021 AIG Women's Open Champion, Anna Nordqvist. We'll go straight to questions.

Q. So there was so much going on in this final round. I'm wondering if you can tell us what you felt was the most important moment for you out there today that helped it go in your direction?

ANNA NORDQVIST: Well, obviously played really solid in the beginning. Hit a great hybrid in there on 6 to two-putt for birdie. Gave myself a good opportunity on 7 and hit a really good 6-iron there on 8. So made that putt and then made the putt on 9, too, which was a bit of a bonus.

I hit a great pitch shot in on 11 and then horseshoed that putt and got a little quick and the ball actually plugged in the hazard there on 12.

Hit a great par putt, but I think that staying patient throughout those two holes, and I hit a great 6-iron in on the next hole and a really good 3-wood in for like 20 feet for eagle on 14.

So I think just battling through the 11th and 12th hole, and then coming back and just being very solid in.

Q. I know you're supposed to get married at a castle. Where did you guys end up getting married and I guess this is a different kind of reception than what you had planned, but still fun nonetheless.

ANNA NORDQVIST: Yeah, so we have postponed our, what I would say real wedding or big wedding, the one with our friends and family, to next summer. It's going to be about 20 minutes away from here in a castle.

But we did officially get married in the US at our home club, Silver Leaf in Scottsdale in March with just us and six of our friends there. We had about 21 people on Zoom on 21 different accounts. It was a special day, and I can't wait to walk down the I'll again in Scotland next year.

Q. You've such a fighter throughout your career, what's kept you fighting these last four years to get back to this point?

ANNA NORDQVIST: There's just something about golf that keeps driving me. I hate losing probably more than I like winning. I think all the controversy and all the downs, and having my caddie and husband there pushing me every day being a rock; I hate to give up.

I feel like things have been coming together, and I saw a lot of good things coming last year and a lot of good things happening this year. To be able to get things clicking; I felt like last week at The Scottish Open, I played really well. I hit the ball really well in that wind. So I think that was a confidence boost for me.

Q. What do you feel like has been the biggest challenge for you since that last win at Evian, and what was the difference here this week?

ANNA NORDQVIST: Well, the hardest part was basically losing my mental endurance and my physical endurance. It took about three years to get over mono, and I think last year during COVID, I finally had some time to be at home and slow down. My life has always gone at 110 miles an hour.

Great to finally have a little bit more time at home and not having to travel, I think was probably the break I needed a couple years ago and just never gave myself. It was hard because I kept pushing but it was hard because it was like your feet kept slipping and I didn't have that extra gear I was always used to.

When things got tough, I could always push it through mentally, but I just never had anything and I just felt really weak. So to be able to build myself back up again and have the support of people around me. I moved back to Arizona a couple years ago and I absolutely love it there. I have a lot of great support there.

I'm married now and I think just a lot more happy like off the course, so I have a good balance there. I've done this long enough now where I feel like you can't really force anything.

There was times I doubted if I ever would win again, and you know, for it being quite a few years in between victory, I think sitting here now, winning the British Open is a dream I could -- I mean, I couldn't really dream of anything more. It was definitely worth the wait, and definitely worth a lot of those struggles and being able to push through. But it's been a lot of hard work to get here, too.

Q. You hit some remarkable putts from off the greens today. Can you tell us, what's the secret to hitting that shot, and what do you feel like was the most important one that you hit?

ANNA NORDQVIST: Yeah, I mean, I think the links golf, you kind of have to, I worked a lot on speed control this week. My speed was a little bit off I felt like today on some of the birdie putts. But I think when you're out of position, I just feel like I need to get myself back in position and give myself a par putt.

Like the one on 10 was fantastic; it sat down a little bit and so I couldn't really chip that one.

And on 16 was such a hard hole, you're basically just trying to play for that front portion and give yourself a long putt. But the one on 16 was really sweet. I would say the best lag putt of the day was the one on 18 when it mattered the most.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you for joining us and congratulations again.