It may be cold right now in his homeland of Sweden, but ASU junior golfer Jesper Kennegard’s game this season has been burning up the course.
Kennegard won medalist honors two weeks ago at the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters in Las Vegas, his third career collegiate win, and has improved his placing in each tournament the No. 9 Sun Devils have played in this season, garnering three top-10 finishes.
Kennegard recently sat down with The State Press to chat about his season so far, the weather and what he misses most about home. State Press: It’s about 30 degrees in your hometown right now, so you must be loving the weather out here?
Jesper Kennegard: Yeah, it was really cold in Sweden this winter, too. I had like minus-10, minus-15 [degree temperatures] when I was practicing.
SP: Two weeks ago in Las Vegas, you won the individual title at the Highlands tournament. Talk about the tournament and what the win meant to you. JK: It was really big. It was my third collegiate win, and I felt confident about my game. I got off to a good start to the tournament, I was 4-under after three [holes] in the first round, and it was a pretty tough course. I hung in there — it was really windy the last two days, but I played pretty good and I hit the ball solid. I was putting well too, but the key was to hit a lot of greens, because the greens are very severe, and if you miss them you are going to have a very hard flop or chip shot.
SP: How does that win compare to the others you’ve had at ASU?
JK: It was my biggest win, definitely. It is one of the best tournaments you can play in collegiate golf.
SP: Your scores have improved with every tournament. What has been the key to your progression?
JK: It’s mostly about confidence. I’m starting to feel more and more confident every day. If you go out there and play good first rounds in tournaments … you’ll feel like you are in contention right away. I’ve just been playing without much thinking.
SP: Your team recently finished a match-play tournament that serves as a tune-up for the format at the NCAA Championships. How does your mindset differ when you play match play as opposed to stroke play? JK: In match play, it’s heads up; you are going against one guy, so you better win. When you’re playing for a team, you don’t just want to win for yourself, but you want the team to feel like, ‘OK, Jesper is going to win this match … we’re going to get one point out of this.’ You can’t show emotions. That’s a very important thing when it comes to match play. You don’t want to show your opponent that you are losing it. SP: Heading into the latter part of the season, how do you feel about how the team stands? JK: I feel confident about our team but, right now, we aren’t playing very well, so obviously it’s kind of weird. I feel now, though, with our own tournament here, [the Thunderbird Invitational, which kicks off April 2], hopefully we can win that and then go to Stanford and have success there. Then we have the Pac-10 [Tournament] back here that can give us more confidence going into [NCAA] Regionals. I think we are going to step it up now.
SP: Is it fun for you guys getting to host a tournament on a course you play every day?
JK: It’s fun, definitely. Some other [ASU] athletes will probably be out there cheering for us, so it’s nice to have people rooting for you.
SP: When did you start playing golf in Sweden?
JK: I was 5 years old. My dad dragged me out to the course, and I hit some shots and just started to play.
SP: If you could bring one thing from Sweden to have over here with you, what would it be?
JK: It would be my mom’s cooking. I love Swedish food and especially my mom’s food, so that’s the thing I miss the most. And my family of course. SP: What’s the biggest culture difference between Sweden and the United States?
JK: I would say the food. It’s a lot healthier back home, and I like it that way. There we don’t have as many fast food restaurants.
SP: Have you given thought to how you will want to start your golf career after your time at ASU ends?
JK: I’ve thought about that a little bit, but I’m not sure. It kind of depends. Maybe I’ll go back home for two years and try to make it on tour there. I might stay at home and travel from there for a couple years, but in the future I’ll probably end up playing [professionally in the United States]. SP: What are your goals for the rest of the season?
JK: I’ve been winning one tournament every year now, so my goal this year was to win two. Obviously I try to be in contention — that’s what golf is all about. If you feel like you can win going into the last round, it’s so much more fun to play. You get nervous coming down the stretch and then it’s really fun to pull it off.
SP: If you could play with anybody on any course in the world, what would that combination be?
JK: It would probably be fun to take Tiger [Woods] on at Augusta.
Reach the reporter at nkosmide@asu.edu
