Golfers of all ages and skill levels deal with the inevitable ups and downs of a round of golf in their own ways, but LPGA Tour pro Nanna Koerstz Madsen has been employing an anger and anxiety-management technique that we haven’t seen before.
First reported by Golfweek.com’s Beth Ann Nicholas last month at the HUGEL-AIR Premia LA Open, Koerstz Madsen prefers to send a shock to her system after a poor shot or in a nervous situation by chewing on a lemon slice.
After three-putting a green at Wilshire Country Club last month, Koerstz Madsen bit into the sour fruit and went on to play the final seven holes of her third round in 3-under par.
“It’s like taking your senses away from whatever you’re on and thinking about this lemon, which is really disgusting and not very nice,” Koerstz Madsen said.
Nanna Koerstz Madsen, who just shot a 66 in the third round of the US women’s Open, sucks on lemon wedges to calm her nerves / temper during rounds. Yes, seriously. here’s her caddie with them after the round (she didn’t have to use them today) pic.twitter.com/nfOtxoMgYc
— Christopher Powers (@CPowers14) June 1, 2019
Beginning to pack lemons in her bag at the suggestion of the Denmark national team mental coach, Koerstz Madsen explained to GolfDigest.com’s Christopher Powers the thought process behind the practice.
“Well, it’s just if I get nervous or too angry or something, it’s just to take my mind off that stuff,” she explained. “So, yeah, bite a lemon.”
“It is (gross), yeah. That’s why I’m doing this.”
There was no lemon-biting for Koerstz Madsen during the third round of the U.S. Women’s Open this past weekend when a 5-under par 66 vaulted her into the top-10 of the leaderboard. A disappointing final round 3-over par 74 dropped her to T16, the second-best finish of her season.
