Tag: helen alfredsson

Past champions Laura Davies, Helen Alfredsson and Annika Sorenstam top star-studded U.S. Senior Women’s Open board

The first three winners of the championship are 1, 2 and 3 on the leaderboard.

KETTERING, Ohio – It’s a party of past champions at the U.S. Senior Women’s Open, where there’s nothing left to prove but much to gain.

Laura Davies, the first to win the U.S. Senior Women’s Open, carded a bogey-free dream round of 5-under 68 to take a share of the lead at 4-under 215, with Helen Alfredsson, whose roller-coaster day didn’t settle down til she signed for a 75. Alfredsson won the second edition of the Senior Women’s Open.

Meanwhile, Annika Sorenstam, last year’s runaway champion, was down by as many as six strokes Saturday afternoon but finished the day within one. Sorenstam’s eventful round of even par had five bogeys – including a three-putt from 5 feet on No. 6 – and five birdies.

“I felt very jittery,” said Sorenstam. “I felt very uncomfortable. I couldn’t really find anything. I felt like I had 10 cups of coffee, and I haven’t had coffee all week.”

Davies hobbled into the media room early week with tape on her right Achilles heel, an injury suffered during a massage at the AIG Women’s British Open at Muirfield. While she withdrew from three events in the lead-up to NCR Country Club, Davies wasn’t about to miss this week, though the pain had moved to her calf muscle after walking funny for several weeks.

Davies began Saturday seven shots back but credited morning acupuncture treatment with helping improve her play. While it was still painful to walk, it no longer hurt to swing.

“The feelings are exactly the same,” said Davies of being back in contention for the first time in four years. “I can assure you it would feel no different if I was in contention on the LPGA. The job would probably be 10 times harder because instead of being one of the longer hitters. I’d be waving to Nelly (Korda) about 50 yards up the fairway and definitely Lexi (Thompson). So that’s slightly different. But the feelings and the being a bit scared on the first tee tomorrow for all the ones in contention, it will be the same for all of us.”

Annika Sorenstam plays her tee shot at the first hole during the third round at the 2022 U.S. Senior Women’s Open at NCR Country Club (South Course) in Kettering, Ohio on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022. (Jeff Haynes/USGA)

Many of the friendships, and the rivalries, this week at NCR are older than today’s stars on the LPGA.

Davies and Alfredsson met roughly four decades ago at a European Team Championship in Holland.

“She was so long, and we were like, ‘Who is this person?’” said Alfredsoon. “We were told to lay up, and by the time we hit our second shot we were at her drive, and it’s like, this is not working; we’ve got to figure out something. We’ve been friends ever since. I remember they won that year, and they had to perform something to ‘Thriller,’ and that was as bad as anything I’ve ever seen.”

Sorenstam will tee it up in the penultimate group alongside Jill McGill, a senior rookie who trials by one. McGill, 50, told her two kids, Blaze and Bella, that if she was in the top 10 after two rounds, they could fly up from Dallas for the weekend. They arrived late Friday night with dad.

Sorenstam and McGill were paired together in the final group of the 2002 U.S. Women’s Open at Prairie Dunes, won by Juli Inkster.

Only six players remain under par. Leta Lindley, another senior rookie who holds a share of third, will play alongside Catriona Matthew (1 under.)

Inkster, who has twice finished runner-up at this event, trails by five. No American player has ever won the U.S. Senior Women’s Open.

The top 11 players on the leaderboard boast 14 USGA titles between them, and while tour golf is no longer part of their lives, the competitive juices still flow freely.

“I’m sure like the girls that play pickleball or tennis, they are no less competitive there,” said Alfredsson.

“Play backgammon against me, it’s the same. Here we are walking the dog and you see somebody in front of you, and it’s like, yeah, I can catch him. It’s so stupid, but it’s always part of you.”

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01evcfxp4q8949fs1e image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Helen Alfredsson takes midway lead at U.S. Senior Women’s Open, with Annika Sorenstam three strokes back

Sorenstam is seeking back-to-back wins at this championship.

KETTERING, Ohio – Helen Alfredsson’s most recent competition came last year at the U.S. Senior Women’s Open, and yet, she finds herself leading the way at NCR Country Club. Alfredsson, 57, chalks it up to yoga, a strong core and the way she learned to play the game. While the 2019 Senior Women’s Open champion said she wouldn’t compare herself to Tiger Woods in any way, she can appreciate his ability to perform after long periods away from competition.

“It’s his physical abilities,” she said. “He knows where to hit it, what shots to hit, and I think we grew up in an era that we learned to play golf. We were not just hitting shot after shot after shot and trying to have a perfect golf swing, because obviously, I’ve never claimed to have one.”

Alfredsson’s back-to-back rounds of 70 put her one stroke ahead of Senior Women’s Open rookie Leta Lindley, who briefly held a two-stroke lead but dropped a couple strokes coming in. Lindley, 50, still plays with six woods in her bag and put the old putter she used to win the 2008 Corning Classic back in the bag this week.

“Our Florida greens get a little furry in the summer,” said Lindley, who works as a teaching pro, “so I’ve been really working hard the last couple weeks to work on my stroke and get it back to where I feel like it was when I was playing in 2012, and really trying to lengthen it out like you need to, to have nice tempo on these fast greens.”

Annika Sorenstam, Lindley’s freshman roommate at Arizona, sits three shots back after a second-round 70. Sorenstam, of course, won this event last year in her debut.

When asked what she remembered about meeting Lindley for the first time in college, Sorenstam said she came from Sweden with two suitcases and a golf bag while Lindley came to campus with a U-Haul.

Lindley said the U-Haul is a bit of an exaggeration, but she did remember taking Sorenstam to Target to get bedsheets and pillows.

“Yes, I think that’s like when the fish gets bigger,” Lindley said with a laugh.

Juli Inkster, twice a runner-up in this championship, birdied five holes in a row before getting derailed with a triple-bogey on the par-5 sixth. She trails by seven.

Hollis Stacy, 68, made the cut for the fourth time in this event. A total of 52 players will play the weekend, including Amy Alcott, who carded a pair of 76s to hold a share of 23rd.

Six amateurs made the cut.

JoAnne Carner, 83, shot her age for a second consecutive day but will not play the weekend. Carner, who holds the record among women with eight USGA titles, said this will be her final USGA championship appearance.

“I’ve enjoyed everything about it,” she said, “even my bad golf. I mean, I was trying just like in the old days, only it really just wasn’t there.”

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01evcfxp4q8949fs1e image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Q&A: Helen Alfredsson on claiming her first USGA title in her 50s, mental toughness and the most common mistake amateurs make

Alfredsson sat down with Golfweek ahead of the U.S. Senior Women’s Open.

Helen Alfredsson hasn’t played competitive golf since last year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open, but she doesn’t sound overly concerned about that fact. The 2019 Senior Women’s Open champion sold her home in the U.S. last March and now lives full time in her native Gothenburg, Sweden. She likes to take long walks with her American Bully Bella, a mixture of Pit Bull Terrier and American Staffordshire Terrier.

“She’s similar to me,” said Alfredsson. “Quite strong, quite moody but very loyal.”

Alfredsson, 57, heads to Kettering, Ohio, this week for the fourth edition of the Senior Women’s Open at NCR Country Club (South Course). One of the all-time great characters in the game, Alfredsson graduated from the U.S. International University in 1988, and after a short stint as a model, joined the Ladies European Tour, where she won 11 times.

In 1992, “Alfie” joined the LPGA and earned Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year honors. She won seven LPGA titles, including the 1993 Chevron Championship, and twice finished runner-up at the U.S. Women’s Open.

Golfweek recently caught up with Alfredsson to talk about her Senior Women’s Open title at Pine Needles, Swedish golf, her amateur golf schools and mental toughness.

What follows are excerpts from that conversation: