PEDERSEN Emily Kristine

General
COVID BREAK
She says the break from competition in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic allowed her to work on technical aspects of her swing, following a loss of form in 2018 and 2019 which saw her slip to 549th in the world rankings in 2019. She returned to form in 2020, topping the Order of Merit rankings for the 2020 Ladies European Tour [LET] and receiving the 2020 Golden Golf Ball award in Denmark. "There were loads of times where I wondered what was going on. It's hard to accept after you have been at a certain level. It's like you suddenly don't know how to ride a bike. You get shocked, you get frustrated. You need to accept where you are then start working hard again. It took me a long time to reach that acceptance point. Coronavirus was pretty good for me because it gave me a few months to work really hard on things. I was able to make changes. Sometimes that is difficult, you are travelling 25 weeks in a year where it's hard to get work done. It becomes all about quick fixes to play each week. I had to mature a little bit. A rough patch does that, I'm mentally stronger and more prepared for things not going my way." (theguardian.com, 09 Dec 2020)

FATHER CADDY
Her father served as her caddy at the 2020 Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open De Espana, which was her third consecutive Ladies European Tour [LET] title in 2020. "It was very special with my dad here. He got me into golf and he has been a big support the whole way, he kept me going when I was down. It is really big for me to have him here and win this amazing trophy. I was really happy to go through something really positive and good with him because he is right beside me off the course and now, he has been there on it." (golfdigest.com, 29 Nov 2020; scotsman.com, 29 Nov 2020)