A final-round, bogey-free, 5-under 66 propelled Madelene Sagstrom up the leaderboard into a tie for third on Sunday at the DIO Implant LA Open. The Swede, who averaged 28 putts per round on the tricky greens at Wilshire Country Club, got things rolling with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 3 and 4, while also carding three in a row on 8, 9 and 10. The 66 is her second-lowest round of the season and it’s a result that she’s pretty proud of considering she began the day nine back of eventual champion Nasa Hataoka.
“I think I told my caddie after probably the 4th hole, I was like, it's one of those days where I just knew I was going to make a lot of putts so that was the whole mindset,” said Sagstrom who ranks 16th in Putting Average (28.97). “I think the birdie that kind of started it all was on 3. I made a really long putt on 3. I find that hole quite tricky with that big tree in the way. So that kind of started good momentum and then I birdied 4. I think you got to start somewhere. You don't know what you got in the tank when you start, so I figured I had some birdies in there.”
Sagstrom hasn’t missed a cut since last May at the 2021 Pure Silk Championship and has carded five top-15s since, including a T2 at the 2021 AIG Women’s Open and a T13 at The Chevron Championship just a few weeks ago. A round like today’s is always a confidence booster, but Sagstrom knows the importance of staying in the moment and moving forward and now turns her attention to the next challenge down the road in Palos Verdes.
“I'm playing well, so I'm just going to preserve energy now and go out and see the course next week,” she said. “I have a good feeling about LA right now so just going to keep that going. I haven't missed a cut since last May so it's really built a lot of confidence because before I was kind of like, I just want to make cuts. Now I'm making cuts, so now I want to start climbing up the leaderboard. It's just accepting where I am and believing that I'm a good player, that I belong in those spots. It's just a huge confidence boost every time you play well.”
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