Dani Holmqvist had extra incentive to hit it straight at The Grange today – and it paid off handsomely.
The affable Swede shot a four-under-par 68 to kickstart her belated ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open career after her first came undone spectacularly three years ago.
Going well in qualification for the 2013 edition in Canberra, Holmqvist felt a sharp bite while on the edge of the rough only to look down and see a big red and and black spider scurrying away.
Holmqvist, whose Twitter profile contains the words “Spider Woman”, is widely remembered by golf fans around the world as having sat down and dug out the venom with a tee before playing on in vain for a couple of holes in intense pain.
“Swedes think I’m stupid for doing what I did; Australians think I stepped into the spider’s territory and it can happen; and Americans are like, `Oooh, you’re black widow. You’re Spider Woman’. So it’s a bit different interpretation (around the world),” said Holmqvist, who said she bore no grudges or fears towards the local fauna.
“No not at all, I love Australia and I love the wildlife,” she said.
“I went to a sanctuary yesterday and hugged some koalas and kangaroos so it’s great.”