Four players are tied for the lead through three rounds of the Scandinavian Mixed, and it’s an equal representation.
Four players are tied for the lead through three rounds of the Scandinavian Mixed, and it’s an equal representation. Alice Hewson and Caroline Hedwall both stand at 12 under at Vallda Golf and Country Club in Gothenburg, Sweden, and so do Rhys Enoch and Jason Scrivener.
Equal representation at the top of the leaderboard is the best endorsement you could make for the opportunity this tournament provides.
Wind made conditions difficult in the third round, but Hewson persevered. She birdied three of her final four holes for a third-round 69 and is enjoying every minute.
“I am having a lot of fun this week,” Hewson said. “That’s been something I’ve really kind of worked on from the beginning of this season. . . . Playing with the men has been so much fun. They’ve all made me feel exceptionally welcome.”
The former Clemson star is looking for her second Ladies European Tour win. Hedwall, meanwhile, is a six-time LET winner and was the 2010 NCAA individual champion. She walked away from Saturday’s third round please with the course setup.
“They’ve obviously set it up really well for us. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow,” she said.
An historic day on the European Tour ended with Christine Wolf tied for the lead at the Scandinavian Mixed Hosted by Henrik and Annika.
An historic day on the European Tour ended with Christine Wolf tied for the lead. The inaugural Scandinavian Mixed Hosted by Henrik and Annika kicked off on Thursday at Vallda Golf and Country Clubwith 78 men and 78 women playing for one trophy and one prize fund of 1,000,000 euros.
Austria’s Christine Wolf became the first woman to lead a European Tour event when she carded a bogey-free 8-under 64 to pace the field with Englishman Sam Horsfield.
Hosts Annika Sorenstam and Henrik Stenson played together alongside Thomas Bjorn. Stenson shot 2 under while both Sorenstam and Bjorn posted 1 over.
Wolf, who has her mother, Andrea, on the bag this week, played her last four holes in 4 under.
“We love competing against the guys, we’ve had a few mixed events at home,” said Wolf, winner of 2019 Hero Women’s Indian Open.
“It’s just fun. At home there’s a lot of guys I play against, and I really like competing against them.”
Horsfield won twice in 2020 on the UK Swing and has a pair of top-5 finishes thus far in 2021. After not taking advantage of the par 5s so far this season, Horsfield zoned in and birdied all four.
“It was definitely different,” said Horsfield of the mixed format, “but I really enjoyed it. (Alice Hewson) was really good, I think she made four birdies in a row on the back nine. I didn’t really know what to expect, to be completely honest with you. But she played really well and I had a great time.”
Four players are tied at 7 under including England’s Steven Brown and Ashley Chesters, Finland’s Kalle Samooja and Spain’s Pep Angles.
England’s Felicity Johnson, a two-time winner on the LET, holds a share of seventh at 6 under. She played alongside Robert Rock and Justin Walters.
“I bogeyed the first,” said Johnson. “I actually hit a really good shot in, but I went over the back. If you bogey the first after you hit a good shot, you cannot really complain. It was easy golf out there. The par 5s I was able to reach. I made birdie and I made the most of those.”
This marked Sorenstam’s first time competing in Sweden in 13 years. Her 10-year-old son Will was the standard bearer for the group.
“Especially for the kids to come out here and watch me play,” Sorenstam told the European Tour. “They watch me on the range and the putting green, they know all the time I put in, so for them to come out here and watch is very special.”
Annika Sorenstam, at 50, will compete three times over the summer, including twice with the men. Golfweek caught up with her.
Annika Sorenstam’s foray back into competitive golf in February at the inaugural Gainbridge LPGA at Lake Nona, the club in Orlando, Florida, where Sorenstam lives, left many in her fan base wanting more.
Get ready for the summer of Annika.
Sorenstam is in Sweden this week competing in and co-hosting the Scandinavian Mixed along with fellow Swede Henrik Stenson. She has also announced that next month, she will compete in the American Century Championship, a 54-hole Modified Stableford event to be played July 9-11 at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Club in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Sorenstam last played the event in 2014 and finished T-2. She also has already committed to the U.S. Senior Women’s Open in August.
Sorenstam, a part-time resident of Lake Tahoe, is the fourth female to enter an American Century field featuring several sports and entertainment stars. She joins NBC News/TODAY Show host and meteorologist Dylan Dreyer, NBC Sports anchor and on-air personality Kathryn Tappen and Golf Channel on-air commentator Kira K. Dixon, 2015’s Miss America, in the female contingent.
Golfweek caught up with Sorenstam from Sweden to hear about her summer of competition, her game and player responsibilities.
You’ve signed up to play in the American Century Championship, which makes quite a trio of competitive starts for you this summer between the Scandinavian Mixed and the U.S. Senior Women’s Open. Why American Century?
Tahoe is kind of our second home. We’ve been there for years and we spend the summer there. I just think it’s really such an amazing place, there’s nothing more beautiful. I love the format, I think it’s fun golf. It’s serious but it’s so much fun – the atmosphere is great. The guys and the girls that are playing are super nice so it’s like serious but not really, and I need competitive rounds. I need just to keep playing and do that. Why not? We’re going to be in Tahoe all summer and I’ve played there before, great memories from just practice rounds but then even playing (in 2014). It’s a good lead-up getting ready for the Women’s Senior Open.
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Speaking of the Scandinavian Mixed, you’re preparing to play in – and also hosting! – that event this week. The fact that these next two starts are in mixed fields, why is that important to you at this point in your life and your career?
I’m a believer that we can grow the game in different ways. This is not the only way to grow it, absolutely not. But I think it’s a way to create some more interest, a little excitement, a little bit of awareness to the game and then also I think the timing is very right for these types of initiatives. It’s different, so yeah it takes a little – not just planning – the logistics of course are going to be really important. I think it’s fun for some future events, moving forward, for partners and to feel like they’re including women.
It’s like we always talk about, to grow the game we’ve got to make sure it’s inclusive and accessible and I think these are the things we can do in our space. So therefore, as far as just why these? I think the timing has a lot to do with it. Being in Sweden and I think it’s a great start, but then we are here together with my tournament next week and so I have a few more events before the U.S. (Senior) Women’s Open and so it just turned out to align nicely, I guess.
Annika Sorenstam during the 2014 American Century Championship.
Looking ahead to the U.S. Senior Women’s Open – it’s your first USGA championship in 13 years and certainly a different field makeup than the Gainbridge at Lake Nona. What excites you most about that event?
I look forward to seeing all my veteran friends. All the seniors, I look forward to catching up with them, I haven’t seen many of them – even more than 13 years for some of them. So I think it’s good. I want to support the event because the USGA, it’s a big commitment from their behalf. So how can I support them? I’m really enjoying playing now, even though it’s a different level, my expectations are different. I’m enjoying playing. My kids are more part of what I do than when I was younger. Now they want me to play, they want to see me. It really is a family effort on a lot of levels. It’s in the summer, they can go there and they can be with me. Mike (McGee, her husband) is going to caddie for me. It’s just a lot of fun things to do, and I’m totally in a different space in my life or whatever you call it, different chapter. Just support the event and see the players is what I look forward.
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Rewind two or three years – even 10 or 11 years. Could you have imagined that at 50, you’d compete three times over the course of the summer?
No, I don’t know – maybe hit a midlife crisis. (Laughs) But you know when I stepped away, they didn’t have these two women’s seniors. I’m only going to play one. But they didn’t have the U.S. Women’s Senior when I stepped away and I was done, I really was. But I think, with COVID, just certain things you realize that’s fun, that’s important and spending time with my family, especially our son Will he loves golf so much. I spend time with him out there and I was just watching him. I was like, I might as well bring my clubs. And then when I start bringing my clubs and I start practicing, I start to hit it a little better which is more fun. And now I’m inspiring him.
We really have a fun connection together there and I want him to see what it takes to be good at something because he’s very, very competitive. I think a lot of things – one thing led to another and again just wanting to support these events because if players don’t support them, they will go away. I think it’s fun that they have them and therefore, to answer your question, the answer is no I never really thought of playing and, again, and I really didn’t for 11 years. I did a few charity outings and corporate events the first 10 years and sometimes I feel like I’m starting from scratch because I haven’t done it and I certainly haven’t competed.
Annika Sorenstam during the 2014 American Century Championship.
As someone who was the face of the LPGA for a long time and did countless interviews: One thing we saw this past week was Naomi Osaka’s decision not to do press at the French Open. As a player, we know you were kind of a shy player and had to get over that, what are your thoughts on Naomi’s decision and how you handle that?
First of all, I think we all wish Naomi the best of health. If you don’t have health, you really don’t have much. And mental health is something that, I feel, is not really talked about. It’s almost like people are quiet about it, they’re ashamed about it. I applaud her for bringing that to the forefront and addressing it. But there’s no doubt that being an athlete, you have some responsibility and it’s a fine line, there’s no doubt. Players handle things very differently, but it’s also part of playing on that big stage. I think it was good that she addressed it, and hopefully now she can get help but hopefully others can get help.
In the end, the message came through and I think – within golf, we haven’t really had this type of situation occur. It needs to occur, but I also think you have to find that balance of what expectations are and being role models. It’s not an easy path to take for sure but I think it’s good that she brought it up. Hopefully she gets help and gets better because she’s good for the sport, she’s a great female athlete so I wish her the best and hope to see her soon again.
Two European Tour events, the Scandinavian Mixed Hosted by Henrik & Annika and Stockholm and Sweden’s Trophée Hassan II, will be postponed.
As scheduling changes continue to rock the golf world, another pair of European Tour events were pushed back on Monday due to the coronavirus pandemic — including the highly-anticipated debut of a mixed event hosted by Annika Sorenstam and Henrik Stenson.
The Scandinavian Mixed Hosted by Henrik & Annika was scheduled to take place at Bro Hof Slott Golf Club in Stockholm, Sweden, June 11-14, featuring 2016 Open Champion Stenson and 10-time major champion Sorenstam. The field was scheduled to consist of 78 European Tour players and 78 Ladies European Tour players. Prize money was set for €1.5 million ($1.65 million) with the event going to different venues in 2021 and 2022.
The Scandinavian Mixed marked the first time Europe’s top players from the two main tours were expected to go head to head for the same prize money on the same course in a 72-hole stroke play event.
Also, Stockholm, Sweden’s Trophée Hassan II was on the schedule for June 4-7, but officials have announced that the event will be postponed. It will be moved to the 2021 schedule.
“We will continue to monitor the global situation in relation to Coronavirus and evaluate its impact on all our tournaments, with public health and well-being our absolute priority. We thank all stakeholders involved in Trophée Hassan II and the Scandinavian Mixed – including His Royal Highness Prince Moulay Rachid and the Hassan II Trophy Association, the Ladies European Tour and Henrik Stenson and Annika Sorenstam,” European Tour Chief Executive Keith Pelley said.
“Discussions regarding the possible rescheduling of all postponed tournaments will remain ongoing until we have clarity on the global situation.”
A total of 11 events on the European Tour have now been moved or canceled, and the next event still standing is the BMW International Open. The event is scheduled to be played at Golfclub München Eichenried from June 25-28.
