After winning the EC for amateurs earlier this year, Louise Rydqvist earned a place in the British Open, the last major of the year which is played on the classic Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland.
In the first round, she went two over par, but during Friday’s second round, the Smålander played great and was a full five strokes under par.
With that, Rydqvist was second best of all on Friday and is now tied for fifth place at three under par.
Louise Rydqvist comes from Värnamo but went to the same high school as Ludvig Åberg, Linn Grant and Maja Stark – Riksidrottsgymnasiet (RIG) in Helsingborg. She is two years younger, but went to school at the same time as them.
During Friday, however, Louise Rydqvist played more brilliantly than her old schoolmates.
And suddenly she is only five strokes behind the leader Nelly Korda from the USA after two rounds played out of four.
– Every shot out there is a huge challenge, but if you hit the ball well and putt well, it seems that you can shoot low out there after all, says Louise Rydqvist.
Weren’t you nervous when it started going so well?
– I was probably nervous the whole round, but I have a good caddy who laughs a lot and keeps me calm, says Louise Rydqvist.
Louise Rydqvist also shares a coach with Ludvig Åberg: their old teacher at RIG, Hans Larsson.