Updated 2024-05-13 00.13 | Published 2024-05-12 22.47
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Madelene Sagström went for the second victory of her career on the LPGA tour.
Then Rose Zhang played big and clinched the victory in the Founders Cup.
– It sucks now, it hurt a bit, says a teary-eyed Sagström in Viaplay.
It has been over four years since Madelene Sagström, 31, won for the first time on the LPGA tour.
In the Founders Cup in New Jersey, she was very close to taking the second victory of her career, but the shooting star Rose Zhang, 20, from the USA slipped past at the end of Sunday’s round.
Great play by Zhang
With five holes left, Sagström led by three strokes, but Zhang then delivered four birdies in five holes, while Sagström accounted for a bogey.
– She plays fantastically, stated Sagström in Viaplay afterwards.
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helskärmRose Zhang. Photo: Seth Wenig / AP
Zhang won by two kinds of margins. The two were superior in the contest, finishing at -24 and -22. Third was Gabriela Ruffels, Australia, at -9.
Sagström could not hold back the tears in the interview after the competition.
– You don’t learn if you’re not here. And I played incredible golf this week. I have to look to the positive. It sucks now, it hurt a bit. But my time will come, she says.
Win three million
The Founders Cup’s total prize pool is SEK 33 million, and with the missed victory, Sagström loses approximately SEK two million.
For her second place, she gets three million.
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full screen Madelene Sagström depresses after hole 18. Photo: Viaplay
Zhang’s victory broke Nelly Korda’s super streak. The American had the chance to become historic with six straight victories on the LPGA tour.
Linn Grant climbed on Sunday and finished seventh in the competition. Anna Nordqvist was tied for twelfth and Pernilla Lindberg 64th.
Fighting for an Olympic place
Although she missed the victory, the fine performance in the competition was important for Sagström in the hunt for an Olympic place.
The two highest-ranked Swedes get to play in the Olympics, and right now it’s Maja Stark and Linn Grant. Stark was in 15th place in the world before the Founders Cup, Grant in 30th and Sagström in 62nd.
The deadline for the Olympic selection is June 25. Before that, two majors are played, among other things – the US Open and the PGA Championships.
