AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – Saturday morning, four female golf legends teed off the ceremonial first shots marking the first women’s golf competition played at Augusta National Golf Club.
“Annika (Sörenstam) and I were walking down, I was trying not to cry because I was so proud. And I looked over at Annika and she’s crying! Tears in her eyes.”
Nancy Lopez spoke to reporters after Saturday morning’s tee shot, saying that golf is a great game for not just men or women, but for everyone.
“I love it. I’ve loved it forever. I will never get tired of it. When my knees hurt, I didn’t want to play as much. But now that I’ve got new knees, I’ve got new life on the golf course,” said Lopez.
When asked to describe the whole experience today in a word, she called it ‘breathtaking’.
“I felt like I stopped breathing when I got to the first tee.”
Lopez spoke highly of being asked to tee off with the three other golf legends, Se Ri Pak, Lorena Ochoa and Annika Sörenstam.
“It was my honor to be up there with those three wonderful women that have such great character and have done so much for the game, and still do so much for the game. I was proud to stand next to them,” said Lopez.
Asked what her big picture take away is from this week, she said she wanted to thank the Augusta National for the opportunity presented by the tournament.
“For them to open the doors girls and amateurs, now they have something to shoot for. These little girls that we want to play golf, how do we keep them interested? Augusta National’s going to keep them interested.”