Q&A: Sandra Carlborg, Six-Time Women's World Long Drive Champion

The Swede is competing this weekend in the world championships and talks about getting back in the mix as a mother, her native country and a memorable meeting with Arnold Palmer.

Sandra Carlborg of Sweden is a six-time World Long Drive champion, a mother of two young girls and she’s in the middle of a Comeback-Player-of-the-Year kind of season. She won the European Long Drive Championship in May, then came to Tennessee in August and won a long-drive title there, too.

If you think it’s easy to win in long drive after giving birth twice in just over two years and taking four years off from competition, well, you have no idea. Carlborg is in Atlanta to compete in the World Long Drive Championship at the Bobby jones Golf Course this weekend. It will be televised on Golf Channel. Here are some excerpts of her interview with Sports Illustrated:

Sports Illustrated: Did you think you would still be competing in long drive after all these years?

Sandra Carlborg: After my second child was born two years ago, I told myself I’m not done competing. I set a goal for the 2023 World Championship, I want to be in the shape of my life. I turn 40 in two months, I also set a goal to be in the shape of my life for my 40th birthday. I have been working very, very hard. I didn’t know when I started this season if I would ever win again.

Now I know. It was hard to come back. I was competing in week 24 of my first pregnancy at the World Championship in 2019. I wanted to come back after she was born but it was 2020, the pandemic came and I couldn’t travel. So we decided to see if we could have another baby. I didn’t know if it was possible to come back now and I didn’t want to come back just to come back, I wanted to come back at the highest level.

Sandra Carlborg is back on the long drive circuit at age 40 / Sandra Carlborg

SI: You live in Sweden. How many kajillion flying miles have you racked up?

SC: It took 11 hours to fly over here. My husband came with me but the hardest part is to leave the kids at home this week. They are with our parents. It works well, they’re having a good time back home.

SI: Gee, an 11-hour flight with two small children would be a lot of fun.

SC: Or not. (Grimacing.) We haven’t tried that yet.

SI: You’re known for wearing a lot of pink because it’s your favorite color. Even your car is pink, is that right?

SC: I always have pink nails and yes, I’m driving a pink car. I like to have something pink all the time.

SI: The picture of your car on your website was more magenta than pink, still pretty good. Where can I get one?

SC: I have had pink cars since 2010, different brands. Right now, I’m driving a fully electric car. I’ve had different shades of pink over the years, this last one is really, really pink. You can’t miss this one.

SI: Do you know the singer Pink and have you seen her in concert?

SC: I haven’t seen her live but I know about her. She’s a cool girl.

SI: Do you ever walk to first tee wearing pink and say, Let’s get this party started, like her song?

SC: No, but I really should.

SI: According to my research, is it true that you once met Arnold Palmer and made quite an impression?

SC: I was thinking, I can never tell this story to anyone. But it is so much fun. O.K., the first time I visited my friend, Helen Alfredsson, she had a house at Bay Hill. I went straight there after competing in the World Championship in Mesquite, Nev. The day after we played golf, Helen introduced me to a number of different people all day. We go into the Bay Hill clubhouse after the round and this little man with white hair came over and Helen said, “Sandra, this is Arnie; Arnie, this is Sandra, she’s the longest hitter in the world.” The little man said, “Ohh, maybe I’m too afraid to play with you. Maybe you can give me a lesson.” I said, “Of course, I’m going to be here all week.” Then the man walked away. Helen looked at me and said, “Sandra, you didn’t recognize him?” I was like, “Uhh, well…” I looked around the room and there were pictures of him all over the place. I must be the first golfer to come to Bay Hill, meet Arnold Palmer and not realize it was him.

Helen called him back over later and said, “Sandra wants a picture with you.” Yes, please, thank you! A few days later, he told me he had been watching me at the driving range, he also saw me on Golf Channel and said he was impressed.

SI: Do you think he knew you didn’t recognize him?

SC: Yes, I think so.

SI: Are you a big celebrity in Sweden?

SC: No but if you play golf, you probably know who I am. Svensk Golf, the Swedish golf magazine, has been very good to put me on the front page a couple of times. They always write about my long drive and they have been following me all year this year. On the street, people in Sweden don’t know.

SI: What is the most memorable golf shot you’ve ever hit?

SC: It’s the first time I hit the world record, 2009 in Sweden. You know how it feels to hit that perfect one? I did and it went 391 yards. They checked after the tournament and said that was the longest drive ever hit by a woman in competition. That record held up for eight years. Then we went to Denver and four ladies hit it over 400 yards. I lost my record there but I hit one over 400. So those are two shots I really remember. The time I hit it 391 was when I first said, I’m good at this. Let’s go to the World Championship.

SI: When I hit a 391-yard drive, I usually say, I kinda missed that one.

SC: Sure.

SI: You must get asked about your home country a lot. Are you amazed by how little Americans know about Sweden?

SC: Most of the people I meet here know very little about other countries because they don’t get out of the country, they have everything here. People who have been to Europe realize how different it is, the culture, how the cities are built differently. Americans don’t know much about Sweden, and many of them think it is Switzerland. Switzerland is a small country in the center of Europe with a lot of mountains. Sweden is very up-north in Europe, it’s a big, long country. There’s a very big difference between Switzerland and Sweden.

SI: If you drive for five hours across Europe, you can hit four countries. If you drive for five hours across Texas, you’re still in Texas. Americans get a lot of their Sweden knowledge from The Swedish Chef on “The Muppet Show.” Do you know the Swedish Chef?

SC: Yeah, I’m old but I’m not that old. That’s from when I was a kid. I know about The Muppets, of course.

SI: You must know the U.S. geography pretty well after all your travels here?

SC: I’ve been to 15 states in the U.S. and 33 countries around the world. And I’ve been to all these places with my golf clubs. I’m not on vacation.

SI: Do you ski in the offseason?

SC: I love to ski. Hopefully we can do some in the winter with the kids. We will have to bring some babysitters.

SI: You played 10 years on the European women’s tour, what was your most memorable moment?

SC: We went to Dubai, I think it was 2006. The men were playing there the week after we did so the stands were set up for the men. It was the biggest women’s event ever at that time. Everything was so big and so perfect. I played with Charlotta Sorenstam, Annika’s sister. I waited with her at 18 after we finished because Annika was winning. Her sister told me to come inside the ropes with her. So I followed her. Annika made a putt, everyone clapped, people were rushing to the green. Before Annika left the green, her sister said, “Wait, Annika. Sandra wants to congratulate you.” I walked onto the green, stepped on her toe and said, “Oh! I’m sorry!” And I gave her a hug. The next day in the Dubai newspaper, there was a big picture of me hugging Annika and it said, "A hug from her playing partner." I wasn’t her playing partner. I didn’t even know her that well then.

SI: So you photo-bombed Annika when she won?

SC: Yes. Annika and Helen Alfredsson and Suzann Pettersen, though she is Norwegian, they all inspired me to play golf when I was growing up. Eventually, I got to play golf with all three of my role models.

SI: Who was in charge of naming your daughters?

SC: Ebba turns 4 in January, Tindra turned 2 in August. They are pretty small. We were sure about Ebba’s name. Tindra and I didn’t have the same blood type so she spent 10 days under a lamp in the hospital after she was born. One of the nurses knew we were struggling to find a name and said, How about Tindra? Tindra means “spark” or “sparkling” in Swedish. It fit. The nurse wasn’t from Sweden so that made it even more fun, we liked it.

SI: You reached your goals of getting in shape. Now what?

SC: Well, of course it is still about winning. But I want to inspire other women. Just because I’m 40 this year doesn’t mean I can’t work out, be strong and compete. Hopefully, I can inspire other women, and maybe inspire other women athletes who have had kids to come back and compete.

SI: Good luck in Atlanta. No doubt Pink will be watching you.

SC: You think?