Pernilla Lindberg enjoying recognition as ANA Inspiration winner

Larry Bohannan
Palm Springs Desert Sun
Pernilla Lindberg wins the ANA Inspiration after eight playoff rounds, Rancho Mirage, Calif., Monday, April 2, 2018.

 

If Pernilla Lindberg's victory at the ANA Inspiration didn't produce big crowds or big television numbers, the Swedish star from Oklahoma State hasn't noticed. She's been busy enough dealing with the after effects of her eight-hole playoff victory in the first major championship of the year.

"Everyone wants to come up and say hi and congratulate me. I say, 'how often does this happen.' Of course I want to do it. I want to enjoy it and embrace it," Lindberg said from Hawaii as she prepared for her first tournament since the ANA win at the Lotte Championship in Hawaii this week.

It's always fascinating to see how a player reacts to winning their first major championship, something most players never achieve. There is a school of thought that winning a major is pretty much like winning any other tournament. Others say a major does indeed carry far more weight than the average victory, and that difference is only evident once a player wins the major.

Lindberg had never won any event on the LPGA until taking the ANA title in a playoff over Inbee Park. But she seems to be falling into the group that sees majors as something different.

More:Five days, eight playoff holes and one happy winner: Pernilla Lindberg tops Inbee Park for ANA Inspiration title

 

 

"I was on the putting green for probably two hours yesterday and actually got 30 minutes of work in," she said. "You know, I know I've been playing well, so I just kind of try to keep doing what I've been doing obviously during ANA and leading up to that."

Some of that same carryover was evident with Patrick Reed after his Masters victory. Reed is no stranger to winning, having won five PGA Tour events before the Masters win. But it was after he won the Masters that he was on the top of the Empire State Building wearing a green jacket and taking selfies and later seen driving through a Chick-fil-a ordering lunch wearing that same green jacket.

In Hawaii, Lindberg isn't wearing her ANA Inspiration robe, the one she put on after the leap into Poppie's Pond. But the impact of the major victory is as real as if she was wearing the robe.

More:One day disappointing, one day surprisingly good for ANA Inspiration crowds

 

"Once I got out on the course, it just feels I'm back to what I'm doing most weeks," she said. "It's been different preparation absolutely. Probably been my least productive practice days leading up to a tournament ever."

Lindberg is the fifth golfer to make the ANA Inspiration her first career win, and the careers of the other four players have been mixed.

For Nanci Bowen, her ANA win in 1995 was her only LPGA victory. Helen Alfredsson finished her career with seven wins including the ANA, her last win coming 15 years after her 1993 ANA win. Morgan Pressel, still an active member of the tour, has added just one LPGA win since her 2007 ANA Inspiration victory. Stacy Lewis has 12 wins, including another major victory at the Women's British Open.

For now, the 31-year-old Lindberg isn't all that worried about legacies or how many more wins she will pile up on the LPGA, even though she has worked her way into contention in the Lotte event in Hawaii. She is just enjoying her time as a major championship winner, even when that title isn't mentioned.

"They didn't announce it that way this morning (major championship winner) and I was kind of waiting for it," Lindberg joked. "I mean, I was a little nervous because of it, but nervous in a good way. No, it's still sinking in. Probably will take a while. I'm loving it."

Larry Bohannan is The Desert Sun golf writer. He can be reached at (760) 778-4633 or larry.bohannan@desertsun.com. Follow him on Facebook or on Twitter at @Larry_Bohannan.

 

Larry Bohannan.