The “Stuck at Home With” series profiles players, caddies and staff in the women’s game who are making the most of an unprecedented break in tour life due to the coronavirus pandemic. New stories will be posted every Tuesday and Thursday.
Juli Inkster likes to jump rope at the end of her workouts. She was running with the rope when she heard the pop. The 59-year-old immediately knew that something had gone terribly wrong.
The diagnosis: meniscus root tear.
The LPGA Hall of Famer had surgery nearly seven weeks ago and can testify that crutches are “not for the weak of heart.”
“You don’t put the crutches under your armpits,” she said of the proper technique. “Six inches below your armpits and you use your shoulders to push you. I’ll be teaching a class on that this summer if anybody wants to get in.”
There’s never a good time to be sidelined with an injury, but at least this unprecedented stretch of being grounded in California puts Inkster in line with everyone else during this national lockdown. On a tough day of stir crazy, neighbors might spot her walking around the block on her crutches just to get out.
“I have to say, the first weeks were tough really between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.,” she said. “I figure at 5 p.m., you can at least have a glass of wine or a cocktail.”
The seven-time major winner bought a putting mat with lines on it (no holes) and hopes to start chipping soon. The original goal was to get back for the U.S. Senior Women’s Open, but that event, scheduled for July 9-12 at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield, Connecticut, has been canceled.
Inkster wasn’t really a reader before she had kids but found that after she put them to bed, she was always pretty wired. She started reading as a young mom to help her wind down at night. In recovery, she has read four books on her Kindle to date and relies on the recommendations of friends to avoid clunkers. She’s mostly into fiction.
Her spring lineup: “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,” “The Giver of Stars,” “The Fountains of Silence” and “Red Sparrow.”
On the subject of seven husbands, Inkster has had only one, Brian, and he’s been fantastic as “Mr. Nurse” during this time. Even more than most couples, the coronavirus quarantine has given the Inksters a record amount of time together.
“Let me just say you find out quickly why you married them,” she said.
At her home in Los Altos, Inkster likes to read outside by the fire pit in her comfy chair looking back toward the woods. At her second home in Palm Springs, she gazes toward the mountains in between pages.
Inkster knows that compared to many, including youngest daughter Cori, she has it good. Cori and her boyfriend have spent the past year in Ireland. Both of Inkster’s daughters work for SurveyMonkey. Cori is in a one-bedroom apartment on the seventh floor in Dublin working from home. She mostly keeps to a two-kilometer circle.
When golf returns without spectators, at least for now on the PGA Tour, Inkster thinks about all the other people it takes beyond players and caddies to run a tournament. She thinks about how important pro-ams are to the bottom line of an LPGA event.
How many executives will want to fly in for a round of golf?
“They’ve got a lot of question marks,” she said.
Inkster tries not to watch the news too much. Her husband does it for her. She talks on the phone with Solheim players like Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel, Gerina Piller and Angel Yin. Might swap a few texts with the Kordas. Rookie Andrea Lee has reached out a few times.
Inkster trusts LPGA commissioner Mike Whan’s leadership in this uncertain time and feels for players who are struggling with no money coming in.
“I think getting the U.S. Women’s Open in December is awesome,” she said. Thanks to open qualifying, it’s an event that can change anyone’s year.
Sometimes, the Inksters get in the car and drive over to Half Moon Bay, pick up some soup and eat in the parking lot.
In these times, Captain America couldn’t be more relatable.
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