Ex-Husky Friberg has great start to LPGA career

The memory remains vivid for Louise Friberg. She was early in her four-year golfing stint at the University of Washington. She was having a bad day on the course, and it was plain to see.

"I used to get down, have a bad temper, and then that one day, coach Mary Lou [Mulflur] told me during the round to 'Go home and leave the course,' " said Friberg, a rookie on the LPGA Tour who won in only her fourth career start in March. "It was one of the most important things that has happened to me. It helped me understand what's important — and that's to have fun on the golf course."

Friberg, from Sweden, certainly had fun on March 16 in the final round at Huxquilucan, Mexico, after trailing by 10 strokes entering the day. Everything went right in a round of 65 that was three strokes better than the next best player that day.

When she putted out on the 18th hole, she was in second place, with the early leaders still having several holes left to play. It never occurred to her that she might win.

"I was hoping maybe a top-five [finish] or a top three," she said. "I really thought some of the other girls would make some birdies coming in. I always expect the other players to do well."

By the time she finished signing autographs and her scorecard, she was tied for the lead. The others contenders started faltering, and when Yani Tseng missed a putt on the 18th hole, Friberg was the winner.

"I was like, 'Oh, gee, I just won,' " she said. "I just hadn't expected it."

Then came all the media attention that goes with being the winner, something she had never experienced. She was surprised when security came to escort her to the victory presentation. And she wasn't sure how to kiss the trophy for the cameras.

"I was thinking, 'I hope it's not dirty,' " she said.

In addition to the win, the 27-year-old Friberg has another top 10 and is seventh on the money list with earnings of $242,409. She is exempt on the Tour for three seasons, and became the first Husky to win an LPGA Tour event.

As excited as anyone by Friberg's success is Mulflur, who recruited Friberg after seeing her in a junior tournament.

"I just couldn't be more excited or proud at what she's accomplished," said Mulflur, in her 25th season as Huskies women's coach. "I always knew she had the talent. She had some very low rounds when she played here."

Mulflur said when she kicked Friberg off the course, it was only the second time in her coaching career she had done that.

"I remember it very, very well, and she deserved it," she said. "I knew it was the right thing to do, but I had no idea that it would impact her six or seven years after the fact."

Friberg, who graduated in 2004 with a degree in environmental studies, was an all-Pac-10 player as a senior and was the Huskies' top scorer her final two years. Despite those credentials, Friberg struggled mightily on the Futures Tour, a minor-league circuit, after leaving college. So she headed back to Sweden.

"That was really a tough time for me on the Futures Tour, but I think the experience was good for me and it definitely makes me appreciate my success more," Friberg said.

Then, at 2005 qualifying school for the European Tour, Friberg met Rikard Fors, who coaches some of Sweden's top men's players. Friberg credits Fors with much of her improvement.

"I just didn't know what I had to do to get better," she said. "I wanted to know what to practice, for how long, how often, just everything. He was the first person who was able to give me all the answers."

With his help, Friberg finished five times in the top 10 on the European Tour in 2007. She was enjoying herself so much she wasn't sure she wanted to go to LPGA qualifying school last winter.

"It had been my goal in 2005 to reach the LPGA Tour by 2008, but I was having so much fun in Europe, I had to really think hard about what I wanted to do, and if that was what I still wanted to do," she said.

The answer was yes, and she earned a spot on the LPGA Tour by finishing ninth in qualifying school. Three starts later, she was kissing a trophy.

Just don't expect her to get angry when things don't go that well. She still remembers the lesson learned when she was thrown off the course at UW, and that came in handy when she missed the cut at the Kraft Nabisco last month, the first major of the year.

"When I walked off the course, I still kept my head high," she said. "I just thought about the things that I had done well."