Johanna Gustavsson heads into the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – Florida in good form and as defending team captain.
The Swedish star, who finished third in the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol, captained her team to victory in New York last October beating Team Nelly Korda by one shot.
Gustavsson, who is this week’s guest on the LET Golf Podcast, had a good return to the Tour last week recording a T4 finish at the Jabra Ladies Open at Evian Resort.
But she knows that this week’s tournament at Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach will be a tough challenge.
“Last week was good, I played well,” she said. “I have this love for Evian and seem to do quite well when I got there. My biggest mission this week has been getting over the jetlag.
“It’s obviously a great course and very challenging – I like that. It’s really going to test our games. It’s quite tough from the tee, so you have to hit it quite straight.
“Then I think the big challenge coming from Europe is the speed of the greens and trying to get into that as quickly as possible. There might be a few long second putts this week, so we will be trying to minimise that and definitely be switched on.”
Gustavsson picked fellow Swede Linda Wessberg in Wednesday’s Draft and they will also be joined by Spain’s Paz Marfa Sans.
And the captain is hoping that the experience her teammates have in the United States will pay dividends in the 36-hole team competition.
She explained: “Linda is obviously a great teammate, she’s fun and very nice and I think we’re going to have a great time. I also picked her because she played well last week at Evian.
“I always felt like Linda is a great player and she hits great shots and I think around this course you need to be hitting it fairly long and she’s had some experience in the US before as well, so she should do alright on the fast greens.
“We also have Paz, I have only played one tournament round with her before, but we had a great time, and she also went to college in the States. I think it’s good to have that experience in the team.”
Last week, Linn Grant was the winner of the 2023 Jabra Ladies Open as she clinched her fifth LET title.
The 2022 Race to Costa del Sol champion is teeing it up this week in Florida and is also hoping to carry that form with her alongside teammates Rosie Davies and Diksha Dagar, but knows the
“I have been adjusting to the weather,” said Grant. “I’m excited! Before last week, I hadn’t played in a couple of weeks so excited to get out again and get used to competitive golf. Being out here and playing with everyone is always fun, so I’m looking forward to it.
“The golf course is absolutely scoreable, and you can play good golf out there, but I feel like it requires a lot from you. You need to be good off the tees and miss on the right side of the greens if you do so. There’s some really good speed on those greens, the grain isn’t in my favour because I’m not used to it, so that’s probably what I have to work on this week.
“It’s very nice to come off a week where I played solidly and to have the confidence coming into this week. Even though it’s a totally different course and weather, to know there is some good golf in there is good.”
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