FM CHAMPIONSHIP

August 27, 2026

Emily Kristine Pedersen

TPC Boston

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, here with Emily Kristine Pedersen after her first round of the FM Championship. Really solid round from you today: 7-under; eight birdies on the card. Just kind of take us through the round. What went well for you?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Yeah, I mean, I think I hit the ball pretty solid. I have been hitting it solid for a while.

I think this course is a little bit more tricky off the tee and I haven't been hitting it good off the tee. I was like, okay, if we can get in play and when we're not in play try and just (indiscernible) a bit and get back in position, which I think we did really well today.

Then I changed my putter and my grip and I holed some putts today, so that was nice.

Q. How good does a round like this feel?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Great. Very good.

Q. I know you've had some injury and things to deal with and obviously have fought your way back. Does a round like this feel more gratifying having gone through what you went through over the end of last season, beginning of this year?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Yeah, definitely makes me feel like it's still in there somewhere. I think it's been a really tough year. It's been a lot harder to come back than I thought it would be.

So, yeah, just playing solid today and doing what I want to do is really good.

Q. You seem to be enjoying life off the golf course as well. Has that shifted in the past couple seasons where you maybe enjoyed things outside of golf more because really you've had to?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Yeah, I mean, obviously I had four months and I had eight weeks in a cast, so I had to try and do something else.

I also think that I'm always a player that's been very, very hard on myself. This is year 12 for me. I think it's draining. So I've said to myself, you can be a professional athlete and you can enjoy your time off as well, so I've been trying to really do that this year.

It makes me more happy.

Q. If you're comfortable sharing, for those that don't know, what did the process look like coming back from such an intense surgery on your wrist?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Well, obviously I was eight weeks in a cast where my arm was completely immobilized.

Then I had to first take the cast off and just do normal day-to-day for a week. Then I could putt for a week. Then I could start chipping for a week. Then I could start hitting balls and stuff.

I still can't hit to the extent that I normally do. I've always been someone that practices a lot and I'm still a little bit on a ball count.

So mentally it's been really tough to not practice. I've always escaped in my practice and I love practicing and I love the grind. So when I've been struggling it's hard to be like, well, I can't just go and bash balls until I fix it.

So I think mentally I've tried and learned to like be a little bit more efficient with my time and be more prepared and not just be hitting balls for four hours because I can and I feel like I have to punish myself or whatever.

Q. How do you build on a strong start both physically and mentally?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Well, physically I'm going to go get some treatment my hand. And then, I don't know. I felt comfortable out there. I felt like Matthias and I were doing a really good job talking to each other. We did the things we wanted to do.

So if we can do that tomorrow, it's nice.

Q. You mentioned being sort of hard on yourself when you're playing. You had that one bogey on I think it was 13 and then you come back with three birdies after that. What's the mental process of getting yourself back into the game after that and staying competitive the way you were before?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: I think it's just not trying to let that one mistake take away from the 12 really great holes I played before, and then just reminding myself that you're playing great. I hit a bad tee shot followed by a bad second shot. It was like, let's just get a bogey and not a double here.

Then, yeah, just trying to set up chances. I actually missed a short one on 16 as well for birdie.

So it was nice to have that a little bit of a bounceback or, yeah, just playing some solid game again.

Q. To have a day like you had today, particularly against some of the -- maybe not against, but with some of the top players in the world in the field with you, what does that do for your confidence level, being able to compete at this level at this point in your career?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: It's nice. I think it's getting tougher and tougher. The girls and the level out here are better every year. Obviously there is still a few of the ones that I grew up with still out here, which is nice to see. They've all been doing quite a bit better than I have.

I still feel like my good golf is good and I still feel that I haven't peaked or reached the point that I have yet, so it's nice to see that I can have a day like today.

Q. A lot of the players have mentioned the sort of greens today being a big factor. What did you make of the conditions on the course?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: I definitely think it played firmer today. It was quite soft in the practice and I was a bit surprised sometimes of how much they were like releasing.

I think it was also a bit more windy today than I had played in the practice rounds, so I think that's firming up the greens as well.

But, I mean, it went well for me.