Expectant mum Johanna Westerberg from Sweden opens up about winning her first Ladies European Tour title, meeting “Mr Right” Joachim Johansson and the arrival of her first baby, due in early January 2010.

Johanna and fiancé/caddie Pimpim in Portugal

It’s been quite a year for you, hasn’t it?

It definitely has been a fantastic year for me. I’ve played my best golf so far and this is my eighth season on the tour. I’ve just played pretty good all year. Off the course as well; I got pregnant in the beginning of the year so I’ve been playing pregnant all year but it’s been working out so well. I’ve been feeling good so it’s been a fantastic year for me.

What do you put the golf down to? At one point you considered packing in, didn’t you?

Yeah, I kind of did. I had a couple of really bad years. I was struggling. I only made a few cuts one of those years. Then I had a couple of good tournaments both of those years so I knew I still had it in me. I knew I could do better so I didn’t want to give up. A lot of people around me said you can’t give up because you’re so much better than what you’ve shown. I thought I’d better give it a few more years. In 2007 it started turning around. I got off to a good start that year and posted a lot of top ten finishes. After that it’s been so much easier to play.

This year in Portugal, how pleasing was that?

That was fantastic. I’ve always wanted to win. I’ve always said I’m not going to quit if I win a tournament. It was a fantastic feeling and the way I did it, holing a bunker shot, it’s more than you can ask for.

What went through your mind?

Tania hit a good tee shot and I hit mine in the fairway bunker. I thought, “Okay, she’s probably got a good eight iron or something and I’ve got a four-iron from the bunker. Then I put the second shot into the greenside bunker and hers was on the green. I thought she’s still got a putt to hole. I walked into the bunker and I thought, “Be cool, be relaxed, don’t stiffen up, have relaxed hands and everything.” One of my last thoughts was, “You can always hole this shot.” I just hit it perfectly. It bounced a couple of times, rolled a little bit and went straight in the hole. It was a fantastic feeling.

What went through your mind when she missed the putt?

I was extremely happy but I thought she could make the putt. Pimpim, my fiancé and caddie, he was so happy he wanted to celebrate but then he said, “You’ve got to be calm and hole it. There might be another playoff hole. We were both trying to be really cool and be prepared to play another hole. We both just wanted to jump up and down and scream.

How important has Pimpim been to your mental attitude?

He’s given me so much this year. I feel very secure in my private life and very relaxed when he’s with me. I think I’ve learned a lot from the way he plays tennis because he’s always going for it. Whenever he gets a chance he takes the chance and he just kills the ball. I just figured I can do the same on the golf course. You just need to have that mental attitude that you can hole every shot, you can win everything. The combination of the security and the peace of mind he gives me and that competitive edge that he has. It has come together to be the perfect caddie for me.

How has it been playing pregnant?

I’ve been playing pregnant all season except for Australia. It’s been working out really well. I’ve been really, really lucky, haven’t been sick or anything. A little tired from time to time but nothing major. I’ve been very lucky to have a good pregnancy and I think that’s helped me to put things in perspective. There’s something in life that’s so much more important than life and I think that helps me out on the course. I look at golf the way it’s supposed to be looked at. It’s fun and it’s a game that we play. That’s all it is.

Do you know what you’re having?

We’ll see when it pops out!

Have you decided on names?

No. We’ve been talking about names but it’s been so difficult. We still have a few months to choose from and we’ll see when it comes out.

What is your plan for the future? Will you take a bit of time off?

I do plan on coming back. Hopefully I’ll be back by the European start of the season next year. The win in Portugal was so important because then I got my winner’s category for a few years. I can come back and play without the pressure of having to keep the card and stuff like that. I will try and play the full schedule if everything goes the way it’s supposed to go.

When did you first get into golf and what was the attraction?

I started playing in the fall on 1988: a long time ago! One of my best friends had just started playing so I went with her to the golf course. My brother wanted to start playing as well. Me and my brother started playing at the same time and that was just after Lotta Neumann won the US Open. That was the first time I ever watched golf on TV. I thought that was pretty cool because she is from a small town about 35 minutes from where I’m from. It was pretty cool to see her on TV. I picked up golf and its pretty much thanks to my best friend that I liked it so much. We had so much fun together. After a few years my parents picked it up as well but they haven’t really played that much.

Johanna holes her bunker shot to win in Portugal

I played golf and I played all kinds of sports up until I was almost 20. I went on to medical school and I did medical school for two-and-a-half years before I decided to turn professional full time. I got my European Tour card and realised I couldn’t combine it with medical school any more. I took the longest break from studying you can possibly imagine. I’m not sure I’m going to pick it up but you never know.
I really did like it, we’ll see what happens. I think I would like to continue in something that has to do with sports after I retire because I love sports so much. If I can combine that with the medical education I have it might work out to something good.

When are you due?

The beginning of January. I’ll just focus on Madrid and then that’s it.

When you’re not playing golf, how do you relax?

I’ve always loved fitness and always loved playing sports. This winter I’ve played a bit of tennis, mostly with Pimpim’s uncle. We played about twice a week for a while and I improved a bit. I love watching sports, being at home in one place, cooking, and just taking it easy.

What do you cook?

I’ll cook anything. We are trying to find good Indian recipes because we both love Indian food. We haven’t succeeded yet. I spoke to one of the Indian girls, Simi, and she said that she would try to help me.

How difficult is it to find new things to do, being away from home every week?

That kind of makes it easier because there’s always something new to see. You’re in a different town every week. You can always take a stroll in the town, window shop or whatever. To be honest I haven’t really practised that much after the rounds this year, only for five or ten minutes after the round. I’ve wanted to save my energy for the rounds since I’ve been a bit more tired than usual. You do have a lot of extra time to kill sometimes. You can kill a lot of time on the internet! I usually try and bring a good book. I enjoy reading for a while. We are such good friends out here so you always have someone to talk to. It’s so nice because you always have your friends with you. It’s not a problem killing time really!

There are a lot of Swedes on tour. Is the women’s game in Sweden still growing?

I’m not sure golf is growing in Sweden but it’s still a really big sport in Sweden so we have lots of good amateurs, lots of good professionals coming up. I think you’ll still see a lot of Swedes out on tour for the next few years. We’ve always been a lot. This year we’re just 15. For a while we were about 30. It’s nice because you have the girls that you know from the junior golf and from playing in Sweden around you all the time. I think it’s quite a comfort when you’re on tour to have your friends and your countrymen with you.

What’s the biggest change that you’ve seen? The standard and the quality have gone up beyond all recognition hasn’t it?

Yes. The last two or three years everything has improved so much. The standard of play has improved. It’s incredible but it’s so much fun to see because all the new girls that come out hit the ball so far and they’re so hungry to win and hungry to shoot good scores. Everybody has to improve. I think it’s helped the game and women’s golf so much. It’s fantastic the improvement you’ve seen, but also the improvement of the tour, I think. How everything is run, how everything is organised, you’re taken care of at the tournaments. Everything has been so, so much better, the last couple of years than in my first year on tour. I think it’s fantastic to see how the tour is growing every year.

You played in Evian this year. Tell me about that.

That was a very, very special tournament to play. That’s one of the tournaments everyone wants to play and to be a European Tour player and get to play it you have to win a tournament so it’s such a bonus to get to play there. The course is fantastic. It’s so beautiful: you are so well taken care of, the venue is great. Everything is fabulous at that event. It is one of the best weeks all year.

When you won your first tournament, how difficult was it to keep the momentum going?

I think I was lucky because we had a week off after the tournament after I won in Portugal. I really needed that week off to let things sink in and take care of all the phone calls and text messages that you receive TV interviews and whatever. I actually went up to the very north of Sweden where my parents have a little house. We went up there and relaxed for a few days: just went fishing, did nothing. It was just so nice and peaceful to be up there. I think that really helped me to let everything sink in and get back to normal again. After that I thought, if I can win once, I should be able to win more times. I knew I was playing really well and I felt my form was still good. It’s just a proof that I’m good enough to win. I just tried to look at it as, “I know I can win now.” I would love to win again so that’s my next goal.

In five years time, what would you have liked to have achieved?

In five years time I would definitely like to have won a few more tournaments and maybe be a mother of two. Hopefully I would still enjoy playing golf. I enjoy playing golf right now that I don’t see myself quitting. You see a lot of people playing well past their 40s so I still have lots of years to play if I want to.

There are a lot of mums of tour, aren’t there?

There are a lot of mums on tour with Paula and Iben and Ursula and Stephanie. It seems like more and more girls are daring to have a baby because they realise they can keep on playing if they want to. I think the tour is trying to start helping the girls find baby sitters and stuff like that to make it easier to keep on playing. Otherwise most people would have to quit when they pass 30 and want to start a family. It’s great to see all the kids around here. Hopefully we can help each other out as well because they’ll find other kids to play with and stuff like that. I think it’s good that girls want to have families and don’t necessarily quit after they start their family.

Quick questions...

Favourite food... Indian or Italian

Favourite holiday destination... skiing in Austria or anywhere in the Alps

Favourite golf course.... Golden Eagle in Portugal where I won. I would also say Metropolitan in Melbourne, Old Course St Andrews, Barseback in Sweden and Tali in Finland.

Any two people to sit with at a dinner party... my fiancé and...

What type of books... anything: thrillers and books that you learn from. I like historical books but will read some chick flicks once in a while.

Favourite Music... Anything from Swedish to R&B.

If you could change one rule in golf... in a divot on a fairway you should get relief. You’ve hit a good shot so you shouldn’t be punished.

Favourite films... thrillers to historical and those based on true stories.