NAPLES, Fla. — The all-Swedish team of Madelene Sagstrom and Ludvig Aberg blitzed the Gold Course at Tiburón Golf Club on Sunday at the Grant Thornton Invitational, firing a 12-under 60 in the modified four-ball format to finish third in the inaugural event, two shots behind champions Lydia Ko and Jason Day.
The Swedes got off to a fast start, making three birdies in their first four holes to move to 15-under, parring holes 5 and 6 before grabbing another birdie on the par-4 7th hole to get to 16-under. Sagstrom and Aberg parred Nos. 8 and 9 to turn in 32 and then put the pedal down on the back nine.
They rattled off five consecutive birdies from holes 10 to 14 to rocket up the leaderboard and move to 21-under overall, grabbing another birdie on the par-3 16th hole to get within striking distance of the leaders. But the highlight of the day for the Swedish duo came on the par-5 17th hole when Sagstrom buried a lengthy eagle putt to get her team to 24-under with one hole to play.
“It was a little snakey. It was like a double-breaker, left to right, right to left,” said Sagstrom of her eagle try. “I just tried to have the pace right, trying to set up to have a pretty straightforward birdie putt. It's always a bonus when you make those. It's just a lot of fun doing that in front of all that crowd over there. It was great.”
Ultimately, the pair parred the last hole to post a 12-under 60, the lowest round of the day, and while they would’ve liked to squeeze one more birdie out of their impressive round, Sagstrom and Aberg were proud of the fight they put up on the final day of the Grant Thornton Invitational, an effort that helped them jump from T9 to solo third on day three.
“I thought it was great. Obviously, the format is a lot of fun,” said Aberg. “Playing with Madelene is a lot of fun, as well. She's a tremendous golfer and ball striker, so it's been a pleasure.”
Sagstrom agreed and felt like she and Aberg had a good opportunity to make some hay on Sunday with foursomes – arguably the hardest of the three formats – out of the way. “I think yesterday was probably the hardest format for us,” she said. “Personally, I've struggled a little bit with foursomes, both in Solheim Cups and in general. I think it's hard when you don't want to screw up someone else.
“I felt comfortable today. I've been driving the ball fairly well this week, so I knew I was going to keep him in play from the tee, and then he's such a great golfer so I knew we were going to have a lot of chances. That was our mindset. We said, should we do something different? No, let's go make sure we have two chances and try to make as many birdies as we can. Just playing our own games is what we do for a living, so it was quite comfortable.”
Like most of the other 16 two-person teams in the field, Sagstrom and Aberg talked at length about the significance of this event to their respective organizations and to golf as a whole. When asked about their expectations ahead of the week, Aberg said the pair wanted to play as well as possible – especially considering the Grant Thornton Invitational is the first mixed-team event on both the LPGA and PGA Tours since the 1999 JC Penney Classic. Overall, Aberg felt like they ultimately achieved their aim, particularly considering how well he and Sagstrom ham and egged it en route to their final-round 60.
“I think we're both very confident players. We both expect us to play well and compete, and that was the case for this week, even though we played a little bit of a different format,” Aberg said. “Every time you play a tournament, I think you should have high expectations of yourself, and I think that's what we did. Yesterday was obviously a bit of a struggle, but bounced back nicely today, I thought, and gave us a chance for a high finish. Might not (have gotten) all the way, but at least we did what we could today. It was nice to see some putts go in.”
Sagstrom was also pleased with the pair’s performance, but it was more gratifying for the 31-year-old to see golf fans embrace the format and see the greatness of women’s golf showcased in a unique, innovative way. It’s not just the PGA Tour that boasts the best players in the world; it’s the LPGA Tour too, and Sagstrom felt like this event finally displayed just how top-tier the talent on the LPGA Tour is, especially compared to their male counterparts.
“For (the LPGA players), it's something that we've been waiting for and looking forward to for a long time,” she said. “I have played a couple of mixed events before but not in this format. I think to grow golf in general across the board, it's good to spice it up. It's good not to just do the same old things anymore.
“For everyone that's been here, I think it's been a lot of fun for them. Lexi (Thompson) did get a bigger cheer than Rickie (Fowler) did on the tee box yesterday, and I take pride in that. It's just been a great week to show off our games – even compared to each other. We want to show how good we are. I think when you get the comparison against the men, you realize that we can hit a lot of good shots, a lot of good putts, and it's quite good.”
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