Facts: Linnea Ström
Born: October 14, 1996.
Swedish club: Gothenburg GK.
Lives: Scottsdale, Arizona.
Career: Had a brilliant amateur career and won, among other things, gold in the Youth Olympics together with Marcus Kinhult. Turned pro at age 21, 2018. Played on the LPGA Tour 2019-2021 and is now in her fourth season there after a gap year on the Epson Tour. Has at best two fourth places on the LPGA.
Main major achievement: Tied for 13th at US Open 2020.
The putt on the 18th hole was just a few inches off. If it had gone through, Linnea Ström would have had to gamble for the victory in Hawaii last Saturday. Now it was instead a fourth place, a prize check of around SEK 1 million and a nice announcement before the year’s first major.
— The first feeling was disappointment, but if I look at the big picture, I am very satisfied. Especially since my caddy was away at a wedding and I only had a local caddy. I did exactly everything myself, she says.
When TT meets the Gothenburg native, she has just played her first practice lap at this week’s course, The Club at Carlton Woods a few miles north of Houston. The Chevron Championship will be her first major since 2021 – the year when everything just fell apart.
— I wasn’t feeling well. When I woke up I was like “Oh, I’m going to go to the golf course again?”. It was tiring and hard to play at the highest level with all the world players… and go out and close your eyes. It was really tough, says Ström.
“Everything felt difficult”
Yes, closing her eyes was what she did when she hit all her iron shots – in competition after competition for several months. It was simply the best that way.
— There was nothing that felt right in my swing or in the way the ball would fly. I couldn’t visualize the strokes like I had done before. The ball flew straightest when I closed my eyes.
Linnea Ström hits the 18th green on this week’s major course The Club at Carlton Woods in Texas.”Frozen to”
Some might argue that golf is a “simple” ball sport because the ball sling is stationary when you hit it. But it can also easily make you as a player have time to think a little too much.
— It’s when you start thinking that it gets difficult, that’s when it usually gets worse. When I closed my eyes, I didn’t know when I was going to hit the ball, so then only my body did. But when I checked it was like I almost froze in the ball hit and that’s when it could go wrong.
Today, with hindsight, the 26-year-old says that perhaps the best thing would have been to take a break earlier to deal with the brain ghosts.
At the end of 2021, it still came off, among other things with the help of trainer Ola Lindgren and mental coach Marcus Börjesson.
— I can’t say specifically what it was that made it come loose. But I hit some good shots with my eyes open, dared to do it in competition, got good results. Then a little self-confidence came and then I became comfortable in being able to play as usual again.
“Hands began to shake”
She lost her LPGA card and had to start over on the Epson Tour sub-tour. There, she became “player of the year” last year, after having to deal with a few relapses along the way.
— At a competition outside New York, I just felt my hands start to shake. My dad was there and I told him I don’t know what the ball is going to do. But then I decided to just continue with my processes: deep breath, relax and swing through. So I did it, played great and came second in the competition.
Linnea Ström has made it through the dark tunnel. As we take shelter in the shade from the strong Texas sun, she notes that golf is infinitely more fun now.
— Last week I thought about winning. That’s the mindset I have now, both when I train and when I compete. And I enjoy being here, whereas before the feeling was like “I just want to get around and get out of here”. Everything is so much more fun now.
TT: The goal this week?
— In terms of results, to be in the top 10. It added flavor to being in the lead last week.