Maja, you have become the 56th female, can lift the trophy. What does this mean to you?
Maja Stark: So much. Before this week, I was worried that I wouldn’t really play golf for a while because it felt like it was already far away. So this feels big.
I’m glad I’ve had a coach here this week. I sent him a few things. I said, what if my putter feels like this? He just nailed the advice this week. So it’s great.
ask: Kara mentioned this on the green, but you dreamed of it when you were young. What do these dreams look like when they get something so big?
Maja Stark: Yes, you always know that this is possible, but there are a lot of good golfers on this trip. Just- Yes, I don’t think I can do this week. Honestly, say so.
ask: Maja, how does it feel to play with 54 hole lead, you have Nelly Korda and other major champions like lurking people?
Maja Stark: I just don’t want to surpass myself. I thought there was still a lot of golf to play. I just feel like people might be going through me and I just have to stay calm.
I didn’t look at the rankings until I was 17 years old. I caught a glimpse of it. very good. I wasn’t as nervous as I thought, because it felt like I had some control over the game and I knew what was going on.
Then, obviously, with the pressure and everything, your mistakes get bigger, but it feels like I can control whatever I throw at me today.
ask: Maja, you talked yesterday about playing “pride” and how to help you overcome your nerves. Are you proud today?
Maja Stark: I think there were a few times when I scared me a little, and I kind of forgot what I was doing because it was scary here, you know where the big miss was.
Thankfully, I didn’t encounter any major mistakes. I think overall, I did better than I always did.
ask: You talked about your confidence being low. How did you come back and at what point in this game, it kind of gave you a realistic chance to win it?
Maja Stark: I really don’t think I ever felt that my confidence was great. I think I just stopped trying to control everything and I just let everything happen.
During my practice days, I realized that if I just hovered the club above the ground before hitting it, I would release some tension inside me. I think it’s just about doing my own process and knowing that giving myself some little things like this is the key to this week because I really don’t think it’s – I really don’t want to rely on my confidence in things.
ask: Maja, you’re on the incredible list of Swedish main champions, but you’re on the shorter list that just had Liselotte and Annika in our Women’s Open Championships. How does it feel to add your name to the list of these great women?
Maja Stark: So cool. They texted me yesterday and just said, take it home. It’s already cool to only get these texts. Just look at all the names on the trophy. I love the United States openness. I’m glad it’s mine now.
ask: You said your coach said the right thing. What did he say?
Maja Stark: He said, on my short putt, I tend to – if it’s par, I tend to be too curious, like I just looked at the holes too many and I ended up spreading my shoulders and face.
My eyes dominate, so if I only look at holes like this, I end up seeing the line to the right.
So he just said a little bit of tilting your head, just making sure your shoulders are aligned.
ask: When you exit the green, you get the trophy in Death Grip. It’s like you’re literally carrying it. What are you thinking about in the shopping cart here? Do you think of people in your life? When you look at that cup, all the struggles, all the goals? What immediately comes to mind when you come here?
Maja Stark: I don’t think it’s sunk yet. I think I hold it with my death grip because I keep pounding it on something and I don’t want to ruin it.
No, I didn’t even go that far in my thinking because I’m now being interviewed.
ask: For those who can only watch female professionals, how is a setting like this different from what you see each week? What are the specific challenges facing this week related to what you usually see?
Maja Stark: I think the 18th hole describes it perfectly. Especially in the position of the pin today, in my approach shot, my goal was fixed at 18 meters, while on the putter, my aim was 15 meters. You will never get this on other classes, maybe it’s open to the British, but in our normal weeks, that didn’t happen.
They speeded up the green. I don’t know what Stimp is today, maybe 13 years old. Yes, it’s fast. I don’t think we usually don’t, I know anyway. It feels very fast.
Yes, you need to consider every photo here. Maybe not a 10-shot T-shirt. I think it’s good. But everything else you just need to let your brain work for you, and like a normal few weeks, you can bail. Here, not true.
ask: Maja, you will be staring at that trophy in the coming years. When you reflect on this victory, what was the shot that won the trophy?
Maja Stark: I think it’s a putter on the 18-year-old green because it can feel like it can go wrong. It’s downhill, right to left, and if I’m too hard to hit it, it’s keep rolling. So I was very nervous about that putter. I’m glad I can grasp the distance.
I think being able to hit the putter at the time was the biggest thing I’ve ever done because it shows that I don’t have to be influenced by my emotions. Anyway, I can do what I should do.
ask: You are waiting in the 18th green green. What was your idea when she played with those shots?
Maja Stark: Not that much. We were just looking for where she was going. My caddie used to be a stand-up comedian, so he made some good jokes. We were just trying to talk about something, not my own putt.
ask: (No microphone).
Maja Stark: I don’t remember it now. He would love a few holes, I would say a joke or a story, which was great because it made me focus on what he was saying, not how I felt and what I felt. I don’t know now.
ask: What will you do with a $2.4 million winner check? How will you celebrate?
Maja Stark: I don’t even know.
(laughter).
Maybe moving out of my studio apartment might be one thing. I have no idea. I am very satisfied with my current life. I think it’s just security for the future and I think I’ll be very happy about it.
