PNC CHAMPIONSHIP

December 16, 2023

Annika Sorenstam

Will Sorenstam

The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club

Press Conference

JOHN BUSH: Thank you for joining us, 10-under par, if we can get some comments on your round today.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, thank you. Great to be here. I thought we actually did quite well today. It was one of those ham-and-egg. I don't know if you were the egg or I was the ham, but it was really back-and-forth. If I missed my drive, he covered me and if I got on the green he made the putt. It was really fun out there and I really enjoyed playing with the Harringtons. I thought they were super.

The weather, I mean, it's not the nicest but we were expecting really, really poor weather, so I almost felt like today was a bonus that we got it in and condition are great on the course. But it's really a joy to be out there with the family, and Mike and my dad and Eva and our friends are here. It's cool.

JOHN BUSH: Comments on the day?

WILL SORENSTAM: It was a lot of fun. We hit it -- she hit it well. We made some putts, and the weather wasn't as wad as I thought it was going to be, so that was helpful.

Q. Can you take us through the eagle putt?

WILL SORENSTAM: On 3?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Go through, tell us what happened.

WILL SORENSTAM: It was -- at the start it was downhill and then like towards the middle you could see it was going to break right. Right as I it had it, I thought it was a couple feet short and my mom was like, get some legs, get some legs. And it kept on slowly going and eventually it dropped, and it felt nice.

Q. You have to tell us about the ace, too, during your practice round.

WILL SORENSTAM: Yeah, I was playing with my dad, No. 4, I hit a 7-iron, and it found a way in.

Q. And how many is that for you?

WILL SORENSTAM: One or two. Depends who you ask.

Q. Well, if I'm asking you.

WILL SORENSTAM: I say one, my dad says two.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Does anybody count the Cradle? Then it's two. You've done it on a par 3 course and you've done it on a big course.

Q. What's it been like for you, I imagine you're quite nervous the first time he did this and now you see him grow into this kind of comfort level out there. What's that like to watch?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I still think we are both a little nervous. Last year we just didn't really know what to expect, and I thought we did quite well last year, and then so now this year, then of course, the expectations rise for someone, so therefore, we were a little nervous just for that reason.

Just thinking that now we're a little more comfortable, we're a little more seasoned, and you know, he's been putting so well on these greens. And you know, last night, we were just talking about the round and we were just feeling so good about it, and then you come out here and you just want to do what we were visualizing.

I'm just glad that we finished so strong, and it was a lot of fun. I think the key, we told Will, just be a mudder. He looked at me, I grew up in this type of weather, just play in the mud, it's not how you're going to get it done, and which I think we did quite well today.

Q. What was the biggest thing that you learned last year that you have been able to carry over into this week?

WILL SORENSTAM: So last year, I was kind of scared because my ball-striking has never really been amazing but it was very bad at the time. And I was like, oh, I'm going to hit it bad here but I'm going to hit it bad here. But when I did, I was so scared.

Now, I'm like, if you look at it, no one is going to be like, look how bad of a shot he hit here. But they are going to be like, look how good of a shot he did here.

Q. So basically a complete mental turn to maybe not worry so much?

WILL SORENSTAM: Yeah.

Q. Are you hoping the putt becomes an ESPN Top 10 moment?

WILL SORENSTAM: Sure. I didn't think about that. (Laughter)?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Do you think it deserves it?

WILL SORENSTAM: Maybe. It depends what's out there.

Q. When you play a round of golf at home, not here, and you finish, no matter what you shoot, do you immediately think of all the good shots you hit or all the putts you missed?

WILL SORENSTAM: Putts missed.

Q. How did you think?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I was more -- I left a few out there. It was always, how can you get better. I think sometimes we take for granted that we are going to hit good shots because we practice all day long and we know what it's like, so I think when you're out there, you just expect to hit it well, and when you don't, those are the ones you remember, and that's why I most of the time head to the range to work on those things.

I think out there, just trying to build up Will and his confidence, it's not about how it looks just get it done and try to not be so hard on ourselves. When you play scramble, you feel like there should not be any mistakes because you have two chances at everything.

Even if we made a few mistakes, I think we bounced back and just kind of focused on the good. It's a long day, right. You know us a lot and you've got to try and stay positive. But yeah, I would normally just look at the bad ones and say, how can I improve.