The Loop

Golf Digest Podcast: Rising star Madelene Sagstrom on the pressure of playing golf for a living, her LPGA goals, and jigsaw puzzles

October 20, 2016
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©2016 Scott A. Miller

You're probably aware that Dustin Johnson was recently named PGA Tour Player of the Year. His three wins -- including a major -- and 15 top 10s in 22 starts made him an obvious choice for his peers. You might not realize, however, that Johnson wasn't the most dominant pro golfer in 2016.

That honor goes to Madelene Sagstrom, a 23-year-old Swede who crushed the competition on the Symetra Tour unlike anyone ever has before. Sagstrom also won three times -- earning a late "Battlefield Promotion" to the LPGA -- but in just 15 starts. And she finished in the top 10 in all but three of the events she entered.

Sagstrom wound up earning $167,064, breaking the Symetra Tour record by more than $70,000. In fact, she broke that record after just seven starts, and she wound up earning more money than the previous two Symetra Tour money list leaders combined. Making her accomplishments even more impressive was the fact this was Sagstrom's first year as a pro after a standout college career at LSU.

Sagstrom took time out of her first visit to New York City to stop by and talk about the pressure she felt turning pro with hardly any money to her name, her goals for her first full season on the LPGA Tour, and why she prefers puzzles to TV when she's on the road. Have a listen: