Helen Alfredsson - Part 3 (Three Wins at the Evian Masters)

Intro Music 0:07

Straight down the middle. It went straight down the middle. Then it started to book just.

Mike Gonzalez 0:16

We leave the dinosaur in 1993 and and uh and go on to what I would call your second major, and that's your first of three wins at the Avion Masters. This is in 1994. Of course, it played at the Avion Resort Golf Club. And this was by three over Sarah Gautry and Laura Fairclow.

Helen Alfredsson 0:35

Yeah, no, it's it's we came over a good friend of mine that went to UCLA. Um she, Valerie Pamard, she called me and she said they are trying to have a golf tournament at the at the um at the Avion Resort. And it was absolutely um a beautiful place. You see the Geneva Lake all the time, and uh the way they did it for the players was just fantastic, and we stayed in these amazing hotels. It wasn't that great of a golf course at the time. Um it was very much of an amateur golf course, but what I was very impressed with them, and we helped them, we tried to invite Americans to come. They, you know, as many as we could come over, and and all the girls that had come really enjoyed it. And it really grew. It really grew. And every year they have done something different, something to improve. And uh I was very happy for them to see them become one of the majors. They deserved it, they made the golf course much tougher, and um yeah, and I think it's hard for the girls because they do so much traveling, but for us it fitted very nicely to come over for two weeks. I can go over home and then to Avion and then British and obviously sometimes Scottish, but uh uh but I know some girls find it tough, but I was very lucky. I really enjoyed that place. It's one of my favorite places still.

Mike Gonzalez 2:00

Yeah, you certainly must have liked the golf course. Of course, this comes 19 years before it became a major, so again, a little bit ahead of your time, or maybe seven of them.

Intro Music 2:11

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 2:12

Uh you got your second uh win on the LPG tour the year after you won the dime, and this was at the Ping Welches Championship at Blue Hill Country Club in the Boston area by four over a couple of Hall of Famers, Pat Bradley and Julie Inkster.

Helen Alfredsson 2:28

Yeah, you know what uh I had just lost the open. I had a I think I had a 94. So I just lost the open and I was devastated. And um I think it was that year.

Mike Gonzalez 2:45

And uh the one at Indian Wood?

Helen Alfredsson 2:49

No, that was earlier, right?

Mike Gonzalez 2:51

Yeah, so Indian Wood was 94. So you're talking about the US Open, yeah?

Helen Alfredsson 2:56

Yeah, the US Open. And I had lost it, and I finished second at the no, it was Indian Wood. No, it was one in there, and I know I lost a bunch I had a bunch of shots, and um, and I came there.

Mike Gonzalez 3:10

Yeah, I think that was uh uh in 94 at Indian Wood, uh you open with a 63.

Helen Alfredsson 3:19

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 3:20

That's probably the year, right?

Helen Alfredsson 3:21

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And then I yeah, and then so I led by I led by nine and I lost it all, and I I don't even think I finished in the top ten. And then I come to Boston and I find myself in the lead going into the back nine, and you know, the the inevitable thoughts is don't screw this one up, too.

Intro Music 3:41

Yeah.

Helen Alfredsson 3:41

Um, but uh I managed to hold on. Otherwise, I think that loss at the open would have been a big burden. I would have dragged that on for a long time, but I got to redeem myself uh pretty quickly.

Mike Gonzalez 3:53

You know, uh Patty Sheehan won that U.S. Open. Of course, she had a similar experience, didn't she? At a very warm and hot U.S. Open in the South. And you're right. I mean, some people just never recover from that sort of thing.

Helen Alfredsson 4:06

Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank God she did, and she won uh opens. And one of my favorite people, uh, Patty Sheehan, that's a funny one right there.

Mike Gonzalez 4:14

We had fun with her. Yeah. So Bruce, uh Helen describes it as holding on, but look at that back nine she shot on Sunday in that tournament.

Bruce Devlin 4:23

Little five birdie 31 on the backside. That uh that that all those cobwebs from the open went flying out then, didn't they? Yeah. Five birdies. That was great.

Helen Alfredsson 4:34

Yeah. No, they did. It was just I you know how it is, but they always said that you cannot be upset or you know, and afraid. But I just I I think I was more uh upset because of what had happened. So I just lost all the fear and I became tunnel-visioned, and I just saw the flags, and uh, and uh I was just able to fire and make the paths. I mean, it was great feeling to finish. Uh and and having a little bit, it's still obviously the open is the open, and and uh it's something very special, but but it helped not to kill myself.

Mike Gonzalez 5:11

Yeah. So Helen, uh by this time in your career, um you've had some experience and some success on the European Tour. You've now won a couple of times in the US, you're approaching the ripe old age of 30. How much at that point did you have an appreciation for the the ladies that came before you?

Helen Alfredsson 5:33

Well, I I think that we were so lucky to, you know, to Patty Berg, obviously she was a lot older than Whitworth, but they were so funny, those two together when they did their you know clinics or whatever. Clinics, yeah. Uh Louise Suggs and I bonded. Um uh Meryl Smith. I mean, they were they were fascinating, these ladies. I didn't get to meet Babe Saharis. Um, I didn't get to meet Mickey Wright, unfortunately. Um But uh Louise Sugs and Patty Berg, I mean, they were just the characters that they had. And uh, you know, I I I like the way Louise Sugs. We talked about her being maybe a little too honest sometimes and straight on, and she said what she liked. You never have to question how she felt, which I which I appreciate. You can't like everything and everyone. But um, but I also got to experience her very nice side, and and uh and I told you earlier, Mike, that you know, we are at Augusta, and uh she's upset with me, and she's like, I can't take this anymore. And I look at her and I'm like, What why? Well, you're putting stinks. And I'm like, Yeah, I know. So she dragged me to the car. We are at Augusta, and she stayed in the lodges. She dragged me to the car and took it, she took out a putter in the back of her trunk and showed me and told me what to do. And this would really help now. And uh, that's just how she was. I mean, she and and they were characters and we appreciated them so much. We and I think sometimes now you know, the young ones, they know everything, and they have all these coaches and they have all these teams and they have all this paid staff that they have. Um so they don't I mean, there's a lot of things in golf that will always stay, you know. I always joke with the young kids that said, you know what? The one thing that is the main thing before I started to play, when I played, and even now, it's the lowest score. How do you get the lowest score? And it's not always the perfect swing. You have to find a way to get the ball in the hole.

Mike Gonzalez 7:44

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, perhaps the LPGA needs to run a little history clinic for some of the young players as they come through to learn about these 13 ladies that started this tour back in 1950 and get an appreciation for the trailblazers that came before them.

Helen Alfredsson 8:00

Yeah, but just thinking about that, they roped their own golf courses. They did everything on their own. Now these girls cannot even hit the golf shot if they don't get an egg white omelette. I mean, what happened?

Mike Gonzalez 8:12

Yeah, yeah. What happened? I remember one of the I remember one of the ladies we talked to got so frustrated because Sandra Haney was the tour treasurer, so she had to pass out the money at the end of the tournament. The problem was she was always in one of the final groups, so everybody had to stay around later to get their check. Pretty funny. Can you imagine?

Helen Alfredsson 8:32

No, but I I think, well, that was a good that was good for them, you know, to be together. But I I don't know. I I think uh yeah, I think Mike One did a great job by introducing the founders, you know, the founders, the tournament, and bringing everybody in and giving us a chance actually to thank them. You know, because these were very, very strong, determined women that wanted to play golf for a living. And then didn't sit around waiting for somebody else to do it. They made it all happen.

Intro Music 9:03

Yeah.

Helen Alfredsson 9:04

And uh yeah, I mean, we owe them for our lives and for that we got to do what we love to do with half or not even an inch of a hassle of what they had to do.

Mike Gonzalez 9:16

Yeah. Well, I think a lot of people were very, very pleased to see that the remaining founders, uh, the the seven of the 13, uh, will be inducted as a group into the World Golf Hall of Fame at the new induction ceremony, the new museum opening up in June, and Pinehurst.

Helen Alfredsson 9:34

Well, yeah, talking about giving to the game and being a representative in the history. I mean, they should they should absolutely be in there.

Mike Gonzalez 9:43

Yeah.

Bruce Devlin 9:44

Mike needs to tell you what what we're doing too uh relative to that particular thing happening.

Mike Gonzalez 9:52

Yeah, we we talked a little bit about that earlier, Helen, but uh Bruce and I are working on a podcast series where we will tell the stories of those seven ladies. Uh uh and along the way, you can't help but not talk about the ones that are already in the Hall of Fame and uh tell a little bit about the history of the uh LPJ Tour. So with the help of Liz Kahn, author of the 50-year anniversary of the LPG Tour, and Judy Rankin, uh, we intend to get that project done uh before that induction ceremony in June.

Helen Alfredsson 10:24

Yeah, I cannot wait to hear them. I mean, I was lucky to know some of the ones that unfortunately passed away, but their stories and the way they saw things, it's talk about strong women. My goodness.

Mike Gonzalez 10:38

Tough, tough ladies.

Helen Alfredsson 10:40

Tough, tough.

Mike Gonzalez 10:41

Yeah. Well, let's get you back on tour. We're gonna take you back to the LET tour now because you're gonna go back and win the Hennessy Cup for the third time. Bruce, uh, I think she likes this golf course in Cologne.

Bruce Devlin 10:53

I would say so. Play and went wins in a playoff with uh Trish Johnson and uh Lisa Lut Newman. Three times.

Helen Alfredsson 11:02

Yeah, no, it's uh yeah, no, I I think maybe there was a champagne. I'm am I allowed to say that? Sure. Absolutely. No, but I think sometimes they're relaxed. No, we played a very good golf course, and uh Jill Hennessy, who who ran the event. I mean, we we had a great time. I mean, it was a great atmosphere, but I mean it was always a good golf course, and uh you have a good golf course that is demanding, it takes all the shots to play it. I've always enjoyed that. Um, and uh I was very lucky to to win that three times.

Mike Gonzalez 11:36

Well, I think you like nice places to go because your next win comes at Glen Eagles, which is a pretty nice spot as well for those that haven't been there. This is the 1997 McDonald's WPGA Championship of Europe contested on the King's course. And this was by four over Catherine Marshall and Charlotte Sorenston.

Helen Alfredsson 11:59

Yeah, no, that was that's a nice I mean, yeah, we're lucky. I I love those kind of golf courses and um I mean, especially there. I mean, the 18th, either you hit over the hill and you have a wedge to the green, or you don't get over the hill because the wind is so strong, so you still have a three-wood and another shot. And I mean, every day is a different thing. You don't Yordish book is sort of yeah, it's nice to have a book in the back pocket, but not a whole lot of use. Yeah, yeah. And I find out, I really found out the truth about kilts and and whatnot.

Mike Gonzalez 12:34

And what's anything underneath or what's what's the uh nope, nope, nope, nope, commando.

Helen Alfredsson 12:40

Yeah, commando.

Mike Gonzalez 12:43

It's it's official. You heard it here first. Okay, you said you you said you won three times in Japan, so we're gonna take you back to the uh is it the Itoan? Is that how you pronounce that classic? Yeah, Itoan lands. Yeah, so uh yeah, so that was your third win there.

Helen Alfredsson 13:02

Yeah, um, yeah, I don't remember. I I think I I played it was the end of the year. I I don't know if I it wasn't a playoff, but no, it was a was it a playoff? It was one that I had to I think I it was one in Japan that was a playoff, and I'm I knocked it up to about two feet uh in the first playoff Holland and and I won it. And those are the things that I that I loved. Those are the things that nothing in the world can give you that feeling when you actually pull off a shot when you need to, right, Bruce?

Mike Gonzalez 13:35

Absolutely. That's what we live for.

Helen Alfredsson 13:37

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 13:39

So did you try to get there once a year at least to Japan?

Helen Alfredsson 13:43

Yeah, we we were we were lucky because we used to play that one with the LPGA at the end of the year, and then I was invited to go and play uh the following week again.

Mike Gonzalez 13:56

Well, let's go to 1998, Bruce. Uh we got three wins that year, including a couple on the LPGA tour.

Bruce Devlin 14:05

True, Office Depot tournament uh in West Palm Beach, and uh Welsh's uh Circle K Championship at Randolph Gold course, and uh second time winning uh uh what ultimately would become a major again at the Evian Masters. So good year in 98, huh?

Helen Alfredsson 14:26

Yeah, 90 years. I had a surgery in 96, and and that has followed me a little too long. I had a detached hamstring for 11 years, so my whole right side was almost numb. I mean, I lost so much strength in it. And then 96 I had a surgery. Um, I was very eager because all of a sudden some pain. I mean, you know how it is, Bruce, when you play, you want to play, but it's hard to play when you're having an injury. And then 97, I played too early, and then I found my game. It was the the greatest feeling. And one of my funniest lines, I well, the funniest, but I mean, I think Kay Cocker would agree that when I won in Office Depot, I was so excited, and she's like, Well, you haven't played well in a long time, and you've had the surgery, and she's like, But you look so calm out there. What was the key here? I said, You know, Kay, we women are good at faking it. And it was it was live, and she stood there, but it was one, yeah, and I had my whole family there. I wasn't it wasn't many times I had my family there, but my sister, my niece and nephew was there, and my and my mom, so it was a very special time for me.

Mike Gonzalez 15:39

Yeah. So you beat uh in that first tournament you won in 1998, you beat Lotta. I guess um you just have to get over it. Beating the Swedes. Yeah, exactly right. You beat each other, you know, it happens. You competed a lot, though, uh, throughout your career, didn't you?

Helen Alfredsson 15:55

Yeah, no, but you know what? We have a lot to thank Lotta about. When she won the open in 1988, you know, all of a sudden things became a little bit closer to all of us. You know, here comes Lotta, who we have known since we were like 12 years of age, and we grew up together, we played a lot of amateur golf together, and um, she didn't go to the States in college, she went straight to become a professional. But when she won in the open, it uh it really opened the door, and especially in your mind, what was possible when you've been that close. So, yeah, so it it's but it's always nice to beat your buddies.

Bruce Devlin 16:31

Yeah, yeah. And you beat her again the next uh win.

Helen Alfredsson 16:37

Yeah, but she still actually she still talks to me, so that's nice.

Mike Gonzalez 16:43

You you played at an interesting event in 1999. This is the Swedish two generations mixed championship.

Helen Alfredsson 16:53

And you won an Oh my god, my dad. Yeah. Oh yeah, it's unbelievable. We finally got to do that, which was very interesting. And um, but he's so stubborn. So I told him, you know, we were leading and we didn't need to really make a lot of birdies, and so I told my dad it was a tight lie, and I said, Don't go for the pin, just get it up. It's on the part five. We were close to the green. I said, just get it on the green somewhere, because right behind the flag was a was a bush. So so where do you think you put the ball? Of course, of course, I said what what happened to just put it on the green? Oh, I'm trying my best, and I said, no. But we ended up winning, so which is nice.

Mike Gonzalez 17:39

That had to be fun. Uh yeah, I know it was great fun. Uh let's go to your second WPGA championship of Europe. This came in 2001. This is at a venue that we've talked about a lot with other guests. The fact that you won by four over Suzanne Pederson would suggest that perhaps weather was involved at Royal Porthcall.

Helen Alfredsson 18:02

What a great place. What a beautiful place that is. I mean, I remember when I first drove into Royal Port Call, they had this beach that was 400 yards wide. I mean, long. It was amazing. The water was way out. And I'm like, uh, another one, I fell in love with the place. So then the next day, there was no beach. The water, the the wood, the tide would have come back out. But it was one of those golf courses, you know, like the 18 is straight in, you know, facing the water. So you go from hitting a little chip shot to like a five-iron to an arrow green, and the green is is a little bit below. I mean, yeah, uh it's I like when when you have to be a little bit creative, you know, when it's not just hitting when shot making is uh is at stake. And um, yeah, that was a beautiful um it was a beautiful win to beat that little stubborn chick in those days.

Mike Gonzalez 19:01

They've hosted some wonderful championships over the years and some great winners. I mean, you can tell when you look at the at who's won the events there, they're all fine, fine players.

Helen Alfredsson 19:11

Well, I think you have to, you know, when it's that windy, if you don't hit it in the club face, the ball could just end up anywhere. And um, and and I enjoyed, and I think I had a little bit I that was my advantage when it was windy that um that I struck the ball well and I really played well that week.

Mike Gonzalez 19:30

Yeah, yeah. Uh Bruce, we go to we go to 2003 for the next win, and this again on the LPGA tour.

Bruce Devlin 19:39

Beat uh Sari Pak, Pat Hurst, Grace Pack, and Rachel Teske, and Wan Young Lee in the Long Drug Challenge at Lincoln Hills Club in California.

Helen Alfredsson 19:57

Yeah, that was I really I was back in Sweden and I looked at I I did not I had not had a good year. I was way down the list and I had never lost my card. Um but I just felt that you know I'm not gonna sit here with tournaments to play and being on the borderline, so I flew over and um and ended up winning it. You know, I just wanted to make enough to to be, you know, to be able to keep my card, but then winning it, you know, gave me another three years, which was uh great. It was it was a good and bad feeling, you know. Pat had a little bit of a putting issue on 18, and it's not fun when you're winning directly from somebody else, uh putting a few too many times. But I'll take it.

Mike Gonzalez 20:46

Yeah. So bridge the gap for us, if you will, between uh uh this victory in 2003 and then your uh final couple of victories in 2008. What was going on in your life? What was going on with your body? Uh because I know you went through some injuries as you kind of came into 2008, right?

Helen Alfredsson 21:05

Yeah, no, I had uh I had a really bad shoulder. I lost the feeling in my right hand. And and I tried, you know, I they couldn't figure it out, and um, it was getting worse and worse, and I went to rehab and I went to rehab, and I mean I know it's a long, long time. And I before then I just thought started to play bad. Uh and I thought it wasn't me, and um, and I thought it was me, and and I I would hit it. I had no idea if it was gonna go 100 yards right or 100 yards left. And then um I finally found um a doctor, and you know, I had a nerd that was uh impinged, and I started to get the feel back in my right hand, and I I my putting and chipping was absolutely atrocious. So I started to get in the feel back and um and starting to hit it, and I realized wow, you know, I mean I. I don't know. It's so typical like you wait so long and not dealing. And then I find out that I had a detached uh wait a um I had a slap, shoulder labor and anterior and posterior. My whole biceps tendon was uh detached.

Mike Gonzalez 22:18

Hard to play golf with that can boy.

Helen Alfredsson 22:21

Yeah, stupid. I mean, I mean, I I think I get the idiot of the year award for like five years in a row for continuing to play.

Mike Gonzalez 22:28

But you know, as you compare notes with your colleagues, uh it was the rare exception to find a woman or a man that played professionally for as long as you guys did that didn't deal with something injury-wise.

Helen Alfredsson 22:42

Oh, absolutely. I think the one that has been very lucky or she's always been very fit is Ingster. Ynkster had absolutely nothing, pretty much, all those years. Uh kudos to her. I mean, she's stayed very fit and very strong through all these years, obviously an amazing player. But yeah, you're gonna have stuff. And I think if I would say something to young players today, do not play injured. Because uh when I went, especially for my hamstring, when I went to the doctor, he said to me, you know what, the problem you're gonna have now is not that you're not fixed because you're fixed. It's the little spot in the brain that tells you in your golf swing, when you get to a certain point, it hurts. Yeah. And that happens involuntarily. So trying to get over that, you have to play so much, and you have to just keep grinding and you have to get yourself out in tournaments, you know, to realize that it does not hurt. So the body doesn't just do that little crazy move because it is sort of it's a it's afraid of pain.

Mike Gonzalez 23:47

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And there are, you know, there's examples of people we've talked to that tried to play through injury, and as you said, they they wish they would have gotten your advice. Don't try to play through the pain.

Helen Alfredsson 23:58

No, no.

Mike Gonzalez 23:59

Let it let it heal, rest it, get it fixed, whatever you need to do, and then play, right?

Helen Alfredsson 24:04

Absolutely, 110%. I mean, I if if I don't, I don't, I usually don't regret things in my life, but if I regret, like my hamstring, why walk around 11 years with a detached hamstring. I mean, it's yeah, you know, so it's so you know what? When you have a pain, go and uh and don't give up trying to fix it and don't play when it hurts. It's it's it's never gonna be good.

Mike Gonzalez 24:30

Yeah, yeah. Well, you were fit enough in 2008 to uh log two more victories. Uh both of these, I think, credited as LPGA wins at this point.

Bruce Devlin 24:41

Uh Bruce Everyone Masters for the third time. And uh the Grand China Air LPGA championship as well. So uh you know, after after uh six and a half years, that was pretty nice to come back and be able to win again.

Helen Alfredsson 25:03

Absolutely, Bruce. It was it's probably one of those saving moments. And I mean, I know the I didn't win the open, but I finished second in the open, and um and then I went to Evian. So I had and then I want to add that I missed six cuts, the first six cuts that year. And obviously it had a horrific start of the year. And then some f for some reason I but I wasn't stressing about it, which was weird. But then I go and play. I finished second in the open when Paul uh when uh I don't remember who won there. Uh anyways, and um and then just fin going to Evion and then be able to go to China, and then I lost another playoff in Portland. It was such a redemption for like you said, Bruce. You fight so hard and you you wonder, am I gonna quit? Is this is this the time to quit? I mean, you get so many questions, don't you? Where you just feel like, Am I crazy? And should I do something else? People people ask you, uh uh, are you gonna quit? Are you ready to quit? And there was just something within me that said, I'm not ready to quit as of yet.

Mike Gonzalez 26:13

Right. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Well, uh, two big wins in in 2008, is as Bruce mentioned, the third time winning the Avion Masters, the only three-time winner uh of that event. Which is kind of cool. So uh you decided to hang it up uh pretty much around when? 2013 or so?

Helen Alfredsson 26:34

Yeah, yeah. And then I had another surgery on my other shoulder, then I just said, you know, I'm getting so old now. You know, like the two girls that I beat in the f in the playoffs in Evion didn't reach up to my age. So I thought, you know what, I'm getting a little too old for this thing now.

Mike Gonzalez 26:51

Well, you still had some play left in you, because we're gonna talk about uh we're gonna talk about the senior tour, we're gonna talk about the Solheim Cup. Um we want to touch a little bit on uh some other majors experience that you had, because you had some other really good finishes. You referenced a couple of them. Uh, but we want to talk about your LPGA playoff record.

Helen Alfredsson 27:14

Yeah, it's not that great, is it?

Mike Gonzalez 27:19

Uh okay, before we before we give you the stats, just remember Kathy Whitworth was eight and twenty. Okay.

Bruce Devlin 27:29

And all the other players that we've talked to, believe it or not. Their winning percentage is only forty-three percent. So don't feel bad.

Helen Alfredsson 27:47

Thank you, Bruce. Thanks for trying to su to pack it in now. Give me the bad news.

Mike Gonzalez 27:58

You know what I I think if you adjust for multi-person playoffs, right? Three, four, it's about a 50-50 deal. For the greatest players that have ever played. It's a crapshoot. Seems that way, doesn't it?

Helen Alfredsson 28:13

Well, it's all I mean, I don't know if it is the yeah, I don't know. I know I lost to Betsy in Japan. Um, well, I mean, I got beat by good players, so that's fine.

Mike Gonzalez 28:25

Betsy King, uh Julie Inkster, Christy Kerr, you know. Yeah.

Helen Alfredsson 28:30

Yeah. Hall of Famer is all of them, so you know, at least one to be soon.

Mike Gonzalez 28:35

Yeah, oh yeah. Yeah.

Helen Alfredsson 28:36

So I take that then.

Mike Gonzalez 28:37

Yeah, well, anyway, interesting stat that we share with people because it was kind of surprising when we started compiling these, and uh, you know, yours will bring the average down just a little bit, but now we're talking about third decimal points that we're moving. So it's not that big start. Thank you for listening to another episode of For the Good of the Game. And please, wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple and Spotify, if you like what you hear, please subscribe, spread the word, and tell your friends until we tee it up again for the good of the game. So long, everybody.

Intro Music 29:17

It went smack down the fairway. When it started to slice, just smitch offline. It headed for two, but it bounced off nine. My caddies, as long as you're still in the stage, you're okay.