LPGA Q-SERIES

December 2, 2021

Emily Kristine Pedersen

Magnolia Grove

Quick Quotes

Q. Solid day. 6-under 66. I wish I could say we wouldn't expect anything less, but we can't because it's you. A lot of color on the card. Six birdies, an eagle, and had a good look at eagle on 18. Take us through your day.

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Yeah, I mean, I played pretty good. I was putting it really well. Holed a long one on the first par-5 for an eagle, and just kept plodding away, giving myself lots of a chances.

But definitely off the tee I was really good. I hit some really good irons in on the last, and then took really good advantage of far par-5s.

Q. From what I've heard today I feel like the Falls course is a little bit trickier. How much of a breath of fresh air is it to get off to the hot start on the trickier side of the golf course?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: It's good. I mean, it's a marathon this week, not a sprint, but it's nice to get off to a good start. Obviously there is hopefully a lot to build on, but I'm trying to take every day as a new day and not really look at what's playing easy and what's playing tougher.

Just kind of do the best I can every single day. I don't want put into my head that this is trickier or this is not. I know that if I play really good I can score on any course and vice versa.

So, yeah.

Q. How comfortable do you feel around this kind of design?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Good. I like the tree lined. I like everything is in front of you. I kind of feel like you have to hit it far. It's a little bit of an advantage this week, which is good for me because I'm hitting it quite far.

So I do like it a lot.

Q. Heading over to Crossing tomorrow what's different about that course between there and the Falls course or how does your strategy change?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Doesn't change a lot. I feel like the greens doesn't spin back as much as -- they don't spin back as much as the Falls is what we noticed from the practice days, so a little bit more release on the greens.

But pretty much the same thing.

Q. Looking ahead to the rest of the week, again, a lot positives from today, a lot of good color on that card. What positives are you going to carry with you into the next seven rounds?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: I'm just going to try and make as many birdies as I can. We were having a laugh, David and I, on the course today thinking -- after five holes he said to me, Perfect. You've only got 139 holes left.

So just kind of trying to take it shot by shot, and then obviously knowing that there is a lot of work still to be done, but hopefully we can build on it.

Q. Are you the kind of player that goes out and tries to make as many birdies as you can or are you more of like and aggressive like plotter, you just kind of plot your way around?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Well, I'm trying to make as many birdies as I can, but then there are some holes where David says to me and I say to David, Okay, we have to be mature here so we don't just smack for everything.

But, yeah, I think it's also about not being too scared to try and give yourself to the opportunities to make birdies. Obviously that can also mean you short-side yourself a couple times, but then you take that, I think.

Q. A lot of par-5s playing seemingly where you can reach it in two. Are you used to that kind of golf? I feel like the LET and the LPGA, they typically aren't that straight ahead.

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Yeah, I kind of -- I mean, on the LET I can pretty much reach all of them. It's very rare that I don't. On the LPGA probably -- I mean, obviously depends. Majors are playing a bit longer, but I can almost always reach at least two, which is nice.

Q. Last question: How much of a premium is there on fitness this week? A lot walking, a lot of golf. This isn't an easy walk as far as things go. As somebody that's played on tour before you know how that goes, but how much of a premium are you putting on that part of your game?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Oh, a lot. I go to the gym pretty much every day or a least five times a week. I'm trying to get rid of a lot of fat before Christmas. No, but...

Q. Me too.

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: No. But it's obviously good to stay in shape and just knowing for your mental health as well that it's good to release some endorphins I think.

Just to be able to walk -- we're going to play a lot of rounds. I think we're going to play like 12 rounds in 14 days with the practice rounds.

So it's just about keeping healthy and staying in shape so you can kind of do that I think.

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