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She’s as feisty and fascinating as ever, the kind of woman you want to befriend, knowing instinctively that she’ll be fiercely loyal and a fun hang. But you also know, or at least sense, that some of those attributes have come with age; that a certain mellowing has made 54-year-old Helen Alfredsson a lot less work than she might have been in the heyday of her stellar LPGA career.
If you catch her in a mellow moment, Alfredsson will admit as much. Yes, she let her frustrations get the best of her a couple of decades ago. She wore out caddies and let colorful language fly with such fervor that television producers never let their hands venture far from the mute buttons. She would call it passion, and in fact does so to this day. Alfredsson, who turned pro 30 years ago and won 25 times worldwide, including a major, the 1993 Nabisco Dinah Shore, could never pick up a club for the rest of her life and have had a successful career. But she still enjoys the grind of hitting balls and getting herself mentally ready for a competitive round.
Now, after sweeping the senior women’s major titles in 2019, winning both the U.S. Senior Women’s Open and the Senior LPGA Championship, Alfredsson can reflect with thoughtful perspective.
“I never really played injury free in my career,” the Swede said. “For a while I had a hamstring that was detached. Then I had a herniated disc and I lost feeling in my right arm. And then I had my bicep tendon completely detached (which required surgery). I never felt the same from one bit to another.”
Now, finally, she can practice and play without pain and at a pace that fits a senior golfer’s schedule.
“It has been nice to take it slower,” she said. “I retired so I could take (the work) as slowly as I wanted. Now, I enjoy golf. I like hitting balls. After my last surgery I’ve been able to work on things and I know what to expect from one day to another.”
Expectations change with age but pride never does.
“I enjoy the game,” she said. “I still have friends who play golf and I enjoy going out with them. Of course, my biggest fear is going out to play and having people say, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe she’s a pro.’ So, I practice for pride because I’m not going to let that happen.
“In March, I went up to Pine Needles (in Southern Pines, N.C.) because I knew I was going to play the Senior (Women’s) Open. I came back and said to (my husband) Kent (Nilsson, a retired National Hockey League player), I don’t know if this is such a good idea. It was cold and that course was playing longer than I remembered from the two U.S. (Women’s) Opens I played there. It was so hard. I had nightmares but it turned out to be the greatest thing that could have happened because I practiced so hard and focused so hard on my targets. I knew that just a little bit left or right was going to be dead.
“Part of my strength is that I’ve always been headstrong. If I ever got myself into position, my head was always clear. Now, when I’m able to hit shots, it’s been great. At the Open, I hit shots I haven’t been able to hit in 15 years.”
“It has been nice to take it slower. ... Now, I enjoy golf. ... I know what to expect from one day to another.”
Helen Alfredsson
She repeated the process at the Senior LPGA Championship in the bitter cold of French Lick, Ind., on the difficult Pete Dye Course at French Link Resort.
“It takes a lot out of you, mentally,” Alfredsson said. “I’m exhausted, really. You realize now more than ever how much golf is a mental game. When I played golf (regularly) I always thought about the routines and was very target oriented and focused. Now you’re just exhausted after every round, especially on golf courses like Pete Dye and Pine Needles where you can make small mistakes and be struggling to make bogeys. That’s all because you haven’t played much.
“Now, it takes a little longer to get completely focused. It doesn’t come automatically because you don’t do it all the time.”
After a few holes, the focus returns. You could see it in North Carolina in the spring and late in the year in Indiana. And the fire is there as well. She talked to herself in those senior majors, harshly at times, and celebrated her victories in ways that made everyone who saw it smile. After the Senior LPGA Championship, Alfredsson even danced, showing off some enthusiastic moves at a volunteer party on Sunday night. What’s missing now is the anger, the flashes that used to hit like bolts of lightning.
“Oh, I still get irritated if I don’t hit a good shot,” she said with a slight laugh. “If I don’t practice and I don’t hit it OK, I won’t enjoy it.”
She just doesn’t show it like she used to.
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