SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 23, 2025

Søren Kjeldsen

Quick Quotes

Congressional Country Club

THE MODERATOR: We're here with Søren Kjeldsen at the 2025 Senior PGA Championship. Søren, 2-under on the day, 4-under overall. How has your week been so far and your round?

SØREN KJELDSEN: Yeah, it's been good. I played well these two days. I think yesterday I played really good. Missed a few putts. Then today probably didn't play quite as well but was pretty solid around the greens. It's been testing conditions, a bit like playing in Europe really, so I've enjoyed that part.

Q. I understand this is your first major and your first event as a senior, so what's the difference?

SØREN KJELDSEN: Well, the difference is that I'm not 60 yards behind everybody that I'm playing with. I played with Cameron Percy here these two days. He still hits it out there pretty good. But I would say it's obviously very different spending time with guys that are 22 when you're like late 40s.

I enjoy seeing a lot of friends here, guys I haven't seen for quite a while, and I know pretty much everybody out here after playing a lot in Europe and playing over here, as well.

It's felt like a school reunion so far.

Q. When did you start thinking or looking forward to playing with the seniors? How many years ago did you say, okay, now I can't wait to play with the seniors?

SØREN KJELDSEN: Yeah, so I kept my card when I was 48 in Europe, and then my ambition the whole time was really to keep playing in Europe until I was 50 because the main thing, I think, is to stay competitive, to stay tournament sharp, and I managed to do that. So that was a big plus.

So when I could see that I was getting close, I really looked forward to going and playing Q-school here, and thankfully I got through.

Q. Cameron was saying yesterday that you were kind of his motivation. He was trying to chase you, and it looked like that worked for you, too, that chasing Cameron worked for you?

SØREN KJELDSEN: Yeah, obviously Cameron has been playing great these two days, so I think -- we played with Eric, as well, great guy, so it's obviously nice to play with somebody that's playing really well. I think generally if you look at groups, you often get two guys in the same group playing really well.

Yeah, so I've enjoyed these two days.

Q. What were your expectations coming into this week?

SØREN KJELDSEN: Well, I think when I've been playing this year, I feel like I've been playing pretty well. I think my expectations this week was to just sort of like find my feet a little bit because obviously I played Tour school and I knew that this is different. All the great players are here. Unsure about what level that I would come at, and therefore -- I really sort of gave myself a little bit of breathing space to just take it all in this week and enjoy that I'm finally here, and looking forward to the rest of the season.

Q. Do you shift it now? You're 36 holes in; 4-under is going to be -- it's two back now. Do you shift it now like, okay, I'm in the hunt?

SØREN KJELDSEN: Well, I think I came here to play great; that hasn't changed. But I think it's a big step for me coming over here. I played full-time PGA TOUR in 2017, so obviously haven't been here a lot recently. So it can be a little overwhelming. This is a new office for me, so yes, number one, I want to play great this weekend, and number two, I really try to take it all in and appreciate that I'm here.

Q. You're an experienced veteran, had a terrific career, but was winning Q-school was an affirmation?

SØREN KJELDSEN: Yeah, it felt really good. I had this idea that if I could play in Europe and compete week in and week out and come to the Q-school here, I would be sharp. So that was a nice confirmation that I'm playing maybe against guys that haven't played on main tours for a few years. There's not many players that play all the way until 50. And I think it makes a difference. I knew Freddie Jacobson, I've known Freddie for a very long time, and he hasn't played a lot the last few years, and he said afterwards to me, like after Q-school, he's like, I felt so nervous because I haven't played that much. I haven't competed that much.

So it was nice for me to keep playing all the way through, and I definitely felt that that gave me an edge.