Tag: Lizette Salas

After a sneeze nearly ended her career, Jodi Ewart Shadoff the latest in trio of thirtysomethings to win for first time on LPGA in 2022

“I was thinking too much in my 20s. Once I reached my 30s, I was like, ‘stop thinking and just play golf.'”

A sneeze nearly ended Jodi Ewart Shadoff’s career. It sounds rather silly now, but in January 2021, an under-the-weather Ewart Shadoff sneezed, and an hour later, she couldn’t walk. The American Lung Association reports that sneezes can travel up to 100 mph, and the force behind Ewart Shadoff’s sneeze resulted in a herniated disc.

The Englishwoman missed two months of tournaments that season, and as a veteran of back ailments, didn’t know if she could battle through another one.

“The game that I loved for 25 plus years, I was starting to resent because I was in so much pain,” said Ewart Shadoff. “I just didn’t know if I could keep going.”

It was her team, Ewart Shadoff said, that pushed her through one of the most trying seasons of her career and last Sunday, it all paid off. Ewart Shadoff, 34, won in her 246th start on the LPGA, one of three players over the age of 30 to break through for their first LPGA title this season, joining South Africans Paula Reto (32) and Ashleigh Buhai (33).

“I keep telling people I wake up in the morning and think ‘Oh, that was a weird dream,’” said Ewart Shadoff of her wire-to-wire victory at the LPGA Mediheal Championship.

“Then ‘Oh wow, it’s real. That actually happened.’ ”

In all, six players over the age of 30 have won this season, putting the average age of winners on at 26.52. Eun-Hee Ji (36), Lizette Salas (32) and Marina Alex (31) round out the veteran group. On a tour full of prodigies, these women give inspiration to those taking the long route.

“I’ll play this game until I’m 50, I love it so much,” said Paula Reto, who won for the first time in her 157th start last August at the CP Women’s Open. The Purdue grad contended last week at the Mediheal as well, until two late bogeys dropped her into a share of third.

Reto said she overwhelmed herself in those early years on tour, trying to do too much at once. If she could go back, she’d tell herself to focus on the small things and get those right.

“I was thinking too much in my 20s,” she said. “Once I reached my 30s, I was like stop thinking and just play golf.”

Disappointed with her putting so far this season, which is normally a strength, Reto hired Abimbola Olakanye in Canada to help give her more confirmation on the greens. Becoming a better green reader, she said, is one of her offseason goals.

“I feel like I’m going to peak more,” Reto said.

Buhai didn’t finish with her press obligations at Muirfield until 10:30 p.m. in Scotland after her playoff victory at the AIG Women’s British Open. The R&A kept the players lounge open late for Buhai and her pals to celebrate.

“We ended up not catching our flight on the Monday back to the States,” she said with a laugh.

Buhai was a star in her home country before she could drive, winning the 2004 South African Open at age 14, a title she has claimed three times, and leading her country to the World Amateur Team Championship title on home soil in 2006, before turning professional the following year.

But despite that early success, it took 221 starts over the span of a dozen years for Buhai to win on the LPGA. That she triumphed at historic Muirfield, following in the footsteps of South Africa’s Gary Player and Ernie Els, made it all the more special.

“Obviously there was so much, I wouldn’t say pressure, but expectation from a young Ashleigh to come out the blocks and carry on winning,” she said, “ but it’s hard out here and it’s gotten harder every year.”

Player, who won at Muirfield in 1959, sent along four key notes to Buhai during the championship: You’re going to hit bad shots, just let them be; stay patient; think win; and keep your head still on your putts.

“It’s easy to just back down when you’re in that moment,” said Buhai, who clinched victory with a sensational bunker shot on the fourth playoff hole.

The major title brings with it a five-year exemption, and Buhai said it couldn’t have come at a better time in her life. She and husband David, who caddies on tour for Jeong-eun Lee6, want to start a family at some point, and the assurance that a major title brings opens up their options.

“Financially, it has taken so much pressure off of me,” said Buhai.

Playing the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach next year has been high on her list as well as another British Open at St. Andrews (2024) and another Olympics (2024).

The five-year exemption and $1,095,000 paycheck from the Open means that Buhai could stop for and unpaid maternity leave and not worry so much about finances and her status on tour upon return. And if she decided after she did come back that she didn’t want to carry on competing, she’d leave the game a major champion.

“Now, I have the flexibility,” she said, which is priceless.

2022 AIG Women's British Open
Ashleigh Buhai of South Africa celebrates after her putt shot on the 18th hole in the third Play Off for winning the AIG Women’s Open with his husband during Day Four of the AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield on August 07, 2022 in Gullane, Scotland. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)

For the past several years, Ewart Shadoff has watched friends compete in the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions near her home in Orlando and wished she could be there. Not long after she signed her scorecard last Sunday, Ewart Shadoff realized that she’d have a spot in the field next January at Lake Nona.

Her next goal: win a major.

“Now that I know that I can win under that kind of pressure, and that kind of nerves,” she said, “I feel much more comfortable moving forward.”

Ewart got her American driver’s license shortly before graduating from New Mexico in 2010 and struck out for Iowa for her first Epson Tour tournament the same day she got a car.

With a dead GPS and printed-out directions that took her the most direct route rather than the highways, Ewart Shadoff got her first speeding ticket in Kansas.

If she could turn back the clock, would she tell that 22-year-old with big dreams?

“I would say, stay very patient,” she said. “Don’t give up hope and just fight through all the adversity. You’ll get there eventually, and you’ll become stronger because of it.”

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Xiyu Lin leads Ascendant LPGA Benefiting Volunteers of America; Atthaya Thitikul, Lizette Salas a shot back

Xiyu Lin eagled the 17th hole late in the day to overtake Atthaya Thitikul and Lizette Salas.

Xiyu Lin eagled the 17th hole to vault into the lead Thursday at the Ascendant LPGA Benefiting Volunteers of America.

Lin had five birdies and a bogey and shot a first-round 65, finishing late in the day to overtake rookie Atthaya Thitikul and veteran Lizette Salas by a shot at Old American Golf Club in The Colony, Texas.

Thitikul already has two LPGA wins this season and has climbed to No. 3 in the Rolex Rankings.

Lexi Thompson is among those tied for fourth, two shots back. Nelly Korda, who could be in position to reclaim the top spot in the rankings, opened with a 4-over 75. She had six bogeys and just two birdies and sits tied for 91st.

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Americans Jennifer Kupcho and Lizette Salas dominate Dow team event; Kupcho notches third victory of 2022

“I don’t want to get emotional, but it’s just been a magical week.”

The chemistry was so good so quickly between Jennifer Kupcho and Lizette Salas at last year’s Solheim Cup that then-assistant captain Stacy Lewis recalled the pair coming off the golf course and saying “Do not break us up.”

After going 2-0-1 at Inverness, the Kupcho and Salas remain undefeated after a commanding five-stroke victory at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational. Their closing 61 put them 26-under 254, within one stroke of the tournament record.

“I think we just have a lot of faith in each other,” said Kupcho. “We make each other comfortable.”

Lizette Salas of the United States (L) and Jennifer Kupcho of the United States drink champagne after winning the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational at Midland Country Club on July 16, 2022, in Midland, Michigan. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

Kupcho, now a three-time winner on the LPGA, including a major, is a leading contender for LPGA Player of the Year. She came into this event No. 9 in the world and heads into next week’s Amundi Evian Championship as a player to watch. The 25-year-old tied for second at Evian as a rookie in 2019.

For Salas, the win at Midland Country Club marked her first LPGA victory in eight years. In that span, she has posted six runner-up finishes, including three at major championships. Salas turns 33 on Sunday.

“Man, it’s been a long time,” she said, “but if I were to win again it would be with Jennifer. We got to spend the whole week together and to continue the momentum that we had back in September. I don’t want to get emotional, but it’s just been a magical week.”

Matilda Castren nearly aced the par-3 18th to lock up solo second alongside partner Kelly Tan. This marks the first top-10 finish of Tan’s career. The pair became close friends while competing on the Epson Tour.

Tan asked Castren, who became the first player from Finland to win on the LPGA last year, to be her maid of honor at her wedding in December.

“I feel like if you would wind back the clock and stop us there and literally tell us in a few years you guys are going to be playing this tournament and you’re going to finish second, I think it was going to be really hard for both of us to believe because we both were really just – I just feel like at the lowest point of our career,” said Tan.

“It just feels really good that we got out of the hole, and being able to compete at such (a) high level and finish second this week proving to us that we could do it.”

Stacy Lewis and Maria Fassi closed with a 59 to jump up to third. Last year, this event served as a springboard for Fassi, who learned a lot playing alongside the fellow Razorback star.

“I mean, I think it’s confidence for both of us,” said Lewis. “I felt like I played some better golf this year and maybe the results haven’t showed, and talking to her, I think she could probably say the same thing.

“Just for both of us to see some putts go in and see some shots go in and doing what you are trying to do, it doesn’t matter what format it is.”

Fassi credited the time spent with Lewis last year for improving her course management. This year, Fassi focused more on the mental side.

“I think the last two days were very good on that regard,” she said. “We’ve been talking a lot and it’s just been cool to see why she’s the player she is. A lot of it comes from her head.”

Sisters Nelly Korda and Jessica Korda closed with a 10-under 60 to move into a share of eighth.

“I was kind of just making pars and coming in for reads,” said Jessica with a laugh.

Former No. 1 Nelly made eight birdies and an eagle on her own ball.

“It’s nice to know that I can still shoot that low and to make some clutch putts, which was really nice,” said Nelly. “It was a lot of fun. We had fun this week, and hopefully, I can carry it into the next couple of weeks as well.”

After co-leading the tournament on Wednesday, Annika Sorenstam and Madelene Sagstrom finished in a share of 28th. A third-round 72 derailed their efforts.

Turns out Sorenstam strained her neck prior to Friday’s round while stretching about an hour before their tee time. She felt better on Saturday, which bodes well for the 10-major winner as she heads to the Senior LPGA next week in Kansas.

“I feel it’s been a great week in a lot of ways,” said Sorenstam. “Haven’t really thought about next week yet. I mean, I’m just one day at a time. As a matter of fact, I’m heading to Minnesota in between, so I’m sure my mind will be a little bit there first.”

Karrie Webb and Marina Alex took a share of 15th. This marked the first time Sorenstam and Webb were in the same field at an LPGA event since 2008. Webb heads next to Kansas, too, for her debut in a senior major.

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Jennifer Kupcho, Lizette Salas take 54-hole lead at LPGA team event Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational

It’s a little bit of a different week for the LPGA, which is holding a team event featuring a Saturday finish.

It’s a little bit of a different week for the LPGA, where the tour is holding its only team event on the schedule, the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational.

There’s also a Saturday finish at Midland Country Club in Midland, Michigan, this week, which gives those heading to France to the next major, the Amundi Evian Championship, an extra day for travel and preparation.

What was not different Friday was another low round for the team of Jennifer Kupcho and Lizette Salas, who had the best round of the day with a 6-under 64, which vaulted them into the outright lead by four shots after 54 holes at 17 under.

In Kupcho’s other win this season, at the Chevon Championship, she led by six heading into the final round.

Kupcho and Salas were one of six teams to post a stellar 61 on Thursday, a score only bested by the 59 shot by Sarah Jane Smith and Mariajo Uribe.

In solo second at 13 under, four shots back, is the team of Matilda Castren and Kelly Tan, who also shot a 61 on Thursday but settled for a 67 on Friday.

In third are the teams of Paulin Roussin and Dewi Weber, who led by three shots after two rounds but posted a 73 in the third round, as well as Tiffany Chan and Haeji Kang.

Karrie Webb and teammate Marina Alex are tied for fifth at 10 under along with A Lim Kim and Yealimi Noh and the team of Cheyenne Knight and Elizabeth Szokol, who shot a 4 under 66, the second-best Friday score.

Annika Sorenstam and Madelene Sagstrom, who co-led after 18 holes after a 65, stumbled to a 2-over 72 on Friday and sit in a tie for 18th.

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A 59, six 61s: Low scores galore in second round at LPGA team event Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational

Low scores were scattered all over the leaderboard at the Midland Country Club on Thursday.

Sarah Jane Smith and Mariajo Uribe shot a 74 in the LPGA’s lone team event in Wednesday’s opening round but produced a score 15 shots better Thursday at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational.

That’s right, the dynamic duo teamed up for a 59 on the par-70 course in the second round. But, that was only good enough to get into a tie for 16th after 36 holes.

Low scores were scattered all over the leaderboard at the Midland Country Club in Midland, Michigan, on Thursday, with six teams posting a 61 in the second round.

The 61 carded by the team of Pauline Roussin and Dewi Weber was highlighted by an ace on the par-3 7th hole by Roussin. They lead the tournament by three shots at 14 under.

Jennifer Kupcho and Lizette Salas, who combined for 10 birdies and a bogey, also shot 61 on Thursday. They are in solo second at 11 under, three shots back.

There are five teams tied for third at 10 under, and that group includes two more teams who shot 61: Matilda Castren and Kelly Tan as well as Sarah Kemp and Elena Sharp.

Sophia Popov and Anne van Dam are tied for eighth after they carded a 61. Amanda Doherty and Sophia Schubert also shot a 61.

There were 11 62s posted, including Tiffany Chan and Haeji Kang, who are among those teams tied for third.

Marina Alex, playing alongside LPGA legend Karrie Webb, shot a 62. They are tied for sixth. A Lim Kim and Yealimi Noh also posted a 62.

Annika Sorenstam and Madelene Sagstrom shot a 66, one day after a 65 put them atop the leaderboard. They are now tied for eighth with two days to go.

Sorenstam, a 51-year-old mother of two, retired from the LPGA in 2008 but began competing in several events last year in the run-up to her debut in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open, which she won. The 72-time winner last won on the LPGA on May 11, 2008, at the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill. Should Sorenstam win on Saturday, it would be 5,179 days since her last LPGA title.

Nelly and Jessica Korda shot 69-63 in the first two days and are tied for 12th. The defending champions of the tournament are another sister squad, Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn. Their Thursday 64 wasn’t enough, however, to salvage their first-round 73, leading to a missed cut.

The Dow features a Saturday finish. The LPGA’s fourth major of 2022 is July 21-24 at the Amundi Evian Championship in France.

Beth Ann Nichols contributed to this article.

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Team USA announces nine automatic qualifiers for 2021 Solheim Cup at Inverness

After a drama-filled week at Carnoustie, nothing changed when it came to Team USA’s list of automatic qualifiers.

After a drama-filled week at Carnoustie, nothing changed when it came to Team USA’s list of automatic qualifiers for the 2021 Solheim Cup.

Megan Khang held onto the seventh and final spot off the U.S. Solheim Cup points list. And Lizette Salas, who finished in a share of second at the AIG Women’s British Open, maintained her position to qualify off the Rolex Rankings at No. 14 along with rookie Jennifer Kupcho (No. 28).

Brittany Altomare finished tied for eighth on the points list with Salas, 33.5 points behind Khang. Mina Harigae finished 34 points behind Khang.

Yealimi Noh just missed out qualifying off the rankings list, dropping to No. 31 in the world.

Captain Pat Hurst’s three captain’s picks will be announced at 10 a.m. ET Monday.

“The last two years have been so long and I’m so happy to finally know who be on Team USA in Toledo,” said Hurst. “This is an incredibly talented group of players, with so much crucial experience to lean on as we work to win back the Cup. I’m excited for the opportunity to lead this team and can’t wait to finally get to Inverness.”

Here’s a closer look at the first nine qualifiers for Team USA.

As the Amundi Evian Championship ramps up, here are the 10 best LPGA players without a major title

Now that Nelly Korda is forever off the best-without-a-major list, who’s next to break through? Well, in the eyes of many, it stays in the family. Jessica Korda, a six-time winner on the LPGA, heads to this week’s Amundi Evian Championship still in …

Now that Nelly Korda is forever off the best-without-a-major list, who’s next to break through? Well, in the eyes of many, it stays in the family. Jessica Korda, a six-time winner on the LPGA, heads to this week’s Amundi Evian Championship still in search of her first major title.

The last eight majors were won by players winning their first major title: Nelly Korda, Yuka Saso, Patty Tavatanakit, A Lim Kim, Sei Young Kim, Mirim Lee, Sophia Popov and Hinako Shibuno.

Here’s a list of 10 players who might continue that trend based on recent form and close calls at big events.

Nelly Korda wins first major at KPMG Women’s PGA Championship

Nelly Korda ended an 0-for-11 U.S. drought by winning the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club on Sunday.

For the first time in nearly three years, an American has won an LPGA major championship.

Nelly Korda has ended an 0-for-11 U.S. drought by winning the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club on Sunday.

Korda, 22, and Lizette Salas, 31, started the final round at 15 under, five shots clear of the field after 54 holes, setting the stage for one of them to break through. Angela Stanford was the last American to win a major at the Evian Championship in September 2018.

Korda made a move early, making birdie at the third. Then on the 5th, she gave herself a kick-in eagle after ripping a 7-wood from 243 yards out.

Salas birdied the hole but Korda moved ahead by a shot. Korda later eagled the par-5 12th while Salas bogeyed the hole, opening up a four-shot lead with six holes left.

On the 14th, Korda poured in a 20-footer for birdie to get to 21 under and a five-shot lead. She doubled the next hole but went to the last with a three-shot lead.

Women’s PGA Championship: Leaderboard | Photos

She closed the win out from there with a par on the last for a final-round 68 to finish at 19 under for her sixth LPGA victory, tying her sister Jessica. Americans have now won five LPGA titles this season. Salas finished solo second at 16 under. Kyo Joo Kim and Guilia Molinaro finished tied for third at 10 under. Danielle Kang and Patty Tavatanakit finished tied for fifth at 8 under.

Korda is now projected to ascend to the No. 1 spot in the Rolex rankings. Stacy Lewis was the last American to be ranked No. 1 in 2014. Nelly Korda has also moved to No. 1 in the Race to CME Globe standings.

On Friday, Korda became the fifth player in Women’s PGA history to shoot a 63, joining Patty Sheehan (1984), Meg Mallon (1999), Kelly Shon (2017) and Sei Young Kim (2020).

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Set for Sunday battle: KPMG Women’s PGA co-leaders Nelly Korda, Lizette Salas look to end American major drought

The final round of the KPMG Women’s PGA is set to be a stunner with much on the line for co-leaders Nelly Korda and Lizette Salas.

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – Lizette Salas didn’t even realize she’d shot 30 on the front nine until she signed her scorecard. It wasn’t that long ago that she was bothered by the sound of people shouting her name on a golf course. As she rolled in more than 100 feet of birdie putts – six in the first eight holes – on Saturday at the KPMG Women’s PGA, Salas heard her name ring through the Georgia pines, and she found it beautiful.

“I was embracing it,” said Salas. “I was greeting some fans and just enjoying the moment. It’s been a while since I’ve done that.”

The final round of the KPMG Women’s PGA is set to be a stunner. Nelly Korda, who sits tied with Salas at 15 under through 54 holes at Atlanta Athletic Club’s Highlands Course, has the chance to climb to No. 1 in the world and claim her first major title, fulfilling a destiny that sits heavy on her tall and slender frame. Stacy Lewis was the last American to be ranked No. 1 way back in 2014. Angela Stanford was the last American to hoist a trophy in 2018.

LPGA: KPMG Women's PGA Championship - Third Round
Nelly Korda walks over to the 18th hole during the third round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship golf tournament at the Atlanta Athletic Club. (Photo: Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports)

Korda and Salas are five clear of the rest of the field, with Patty Tavatanakit, Giulia Molinaro and Celine Boutier in a share of third at 10 under. Korda has five LPGA titles; Salas’ lone victory came in 2014.

Rookie Tavatanakit, the wire-to-wire winner at the ANA Inspiration, carded the day’s low round, 65, to insert her name as the biggest threat to upstage the final pairing.

“Not going to lie,” she said, “I feel like chasing more than I love just having the lead because I like the feeling of just chasing. I have something to look forward to or just look up to all the time.”

Keep in mind that earlier this month at the U.S. Women’s Open, Lexi Thompson held a five-shot lead on the back nine of the final round and didn’t even make it into the playoff. At the 2011 PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club, Jason Dufner held a five-shot lead at on the 15th tee and wound up losing in a playoff to Keegan Bradley.

“That back nine, it will make you pucker up,” said veteran caddie John Killeen, who reunited with Salas earlier this year.

It’s been a banner year for American golf, with five LPGA titles so far this season, and it’s looking like four Americans will head to the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The Kordas claim three of those five titles and will likely claim two of the Olympic spots.

But it’s the majors that define greatness. These are the moments that become seared into the minds of fans, inspire the next generation and elevate the tour.

These are the moments when stars are born.

Nelly Korda, winner of last week’s Meijer LPGA Classic, birdied the first two holes on Saturday to continue her streak of consecutive birdies to eight – the most in LPGA major history – and put her at 37 under par for her last 109 holes.

“I guess on No. 1, Lizette drained a really long putt and I had a decent look at birdie,” said Korda, “and I think when you get into that mindset of kind of egging each other on, it’s fun, but it’s also nerve-racking. Your adrenaline definitely gets up there.”

Korda said that she told her caddie, Jason McDede, when they started working together that he’d have a heart attack a round working with her.

“I mean, I risked it on No. 15, that par 3,” said Korda of a shot that flirted with the water’s edge, “and I swear to God I gave myself a heart attack.”

Korda’s driving average for the week is more than 30 yards past Salas, but it does nothing to rattle the 31-year-old veteran.

Two years ago at the Solheim Cup, Salas took down one of the longest players on tour – Anne van Dam – in Sunday singles, saying “I’ll just meet you on the green.”

“I’m not at all intimidated by length,” said Salas, who sometimes hit hybrid inside Korda’s short irons. “I just know I can compete out here.”

LPGA: KPMG Women's PGA Championship - Third Round
Lizette Salas reacts to her shot from the 13th tee during the third round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship golf tournament at the Atlanta Athletic Club. (Photo: Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports)

For Salas – who went 45 holes without a bogey –­ the shot of the day actually didn’t come on the greens. It was a bunker shot she hit on the sixth hole that nestled 3 feet from the hole. She used to avoid the bunkers, dread them really, but recent work with swing coach Jim Gormley has her ready to accept the challenge. She’s 3-for-3 in sand saves this week and leading the field.

“You just get this like tingle in your stomach when you pull off a shot that you’ve been working on for so long,” she said, “and you just have it perfectly pictured in your mind and somehow your body just knows what to do.”

Both Korda and Salas have talked recently about finding more joy in their craft. She might look stoic, but inside it feels like a roller coaster.

“I think it feels good to kind of let it out,” she said. “You never realize it until someone says it in a sense, and I realized it when Bubba (Watson) and Matt Wolff said it at the U.S. Open, and it makes you think that you’re like – you know, like why isn’t everyone taking this approach, like why are you bringing your work home after? If you’ve had a bad day, you just feel like you just don’t laugh throughout the entire day. You leave your work here, you go home, have a good day and come back with a better attitude.”

Salas first opened up to her team in February about the mental health struggles she’d faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. When she moved to Dallas, she said, she was running away from her problems rather than being accountable for what was going on.

Killeen was on the bag for Salas when she won in Kingsmill and said the player he sees now is more well-rounded, more humble and quicker to laugh. She’s a better communicator, too.

Salas opened up to the media about her struggles after Round 1, but said that when she touched on it in a previous Instagram post she got feedback from her peers. The most surprising, she said, was from Lexi Thompson, a powerful, successful player who said that she could relate. Salas took comfort in that, and said she believes that she was meant to go through the dark days.

“It brought me closer to who I really am,” she said.

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‘I’m not afraid to be out here anymore’: KPMG leader Lizette Salas opens up about recent mental health struggles

Lizette Salas talked with the media after her first round about the mental hurdles she faced in 2020.

JOHNS CREEK, Georgia – Lizette Salas said something striking when she came in to talk about her flawless 5-under 67 to lead the KPMG Women’s PGA: “I’m not afraid to be out here anymore.”

An unexpected and vulnerable admission from a 31-year-old veteran of four Solheim Cup teams and winner of the 2014 Kingsmill.

“I didn’t really like myself in 2020,” she explained.

Salas, who leads by two early on at Atlanta Athletic Club’s Highlands Course, talked at length with the press after her round about the mental hurdles she faced in 2020 that spilled over into this year.

A turning point came at this year’s Pure Silk Championship at Kingsmill, site of her breakthrough victory. She had her old caddie, John Killeen, back on the bag and a new toy, a center-shafted Ping putter, to be excited about. Good memories came flooding back and she tied for fifth, with the prospect of another Solheim Cup lighting a fire that’d been extinguished, in part, by a global pandemic.

LPGA: The Solheim Cup
USA captain Juli Inkster celebrates with Lizette Salas after winning the The Solheim Cup at Des Moines Golf and Country Club. (Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports)

“As much as I love my family and loved being around them,” said Salas, “it was tough. I homeschooled my nephew for about two months and I said, ‘No more, please.’ But I understand that everyone had to go through something, and it was hard for me to even speak about it just because I felt like other people are going through the same thing. Why do I need to feel sorry for myself?

“Over time, it accumulated and got worse, and when I finally got out here, it was just – it was kind of – it was so bad that the golf couldn’t help.”

Salas admits that she was too stubborn to ask for help. Instead, she shut people out. At one point, she moved to Dallas to try out a new team but said that backfired. She returned to longtime coach Jim Gormley and trainer Josh Loyo and got back to work. Agent J.S. Kang remains by her side.

“That was not the right way to do it, and I acknowledge that,” said Salas. “I’m a different person now, and I think my team is proud of me, and I hope I can just continue this positive process.”

Last week, Nelly Korda won the Meijer LPGA Classic and said that the comments from Bubba Watson and Matthew Wolff at the U.S. Open about their mental health struggles rang true. Wolff said he took time away from the PGA Tour to deal with the extreme pressure and stress that he felt.

“It takes someone to say it out loud for you to realize it deep down inside,” said Nelly, “but when you play well throughout the season, like I’ve had a pretty good season, you just put so much pressure on yourself.”

Alena Sharp currently sits in a share of second at the KPMG at 3 under. She recently brought her coach down from Canada for a hardcore putting session that lasted 12 days. She’d been suffering from the yips since 2020 and had hoped it would just go away.

She’s currently working with two new sports psychologists, learning ways to keep her anxiety down when the pressure mounts, as it did on Thursday. She listened to the birds and the wind, felt the ground beneath her feet and talked to her wife and caddie Sarah Bowman, letting her know that she was feeling nervous.

“That was tough today dealing with that,” said Sharp, “but I battled through. I have a lot of tools to get through it. But accepting it’s going to be that way in the back of my mind, but I have the tools to beat it.”

In an effort to slow down her mind and decompress, Salas started reading books at night to help her fall asleep.

When she dove into “I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter,” Salas felt like she was reading a biography of herself. She also reading a book about Mexican painter Frida Kahlo that focuses on loving yourself and self-confidence.

“I wanted to talk about this in the beginning of the year,” she said, “but I wasn’t ready. I guess now is the time to talk about it, and that’s OK.”

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