Of the eight events that have been staged in the series, women have won three of them.
Sarah Jane Smith snapped a 15-year victory drought in her native Australia, beating a field full of men in the process.
Smith, 38, shot 63-65 over the weekend at the Webex Players Series TPS Murray River mixed-gender event to win by five shots over Victorian Andrew Martin and Queenslander Shae Wools-Cobb. Of the eight events that have been staged in the series, women have won three of them, joining Australia’s Hannah Green last year and South Korea’s Min A Yoon at Rosebud the week prior to Smith.
Smith, whose last victory came on the Epson Tour, was joined by husband Duane and their 3-year-old son Theo at Cobram Barooga Golf Club. After losing her full LPGA card last season, Smith wasn’t sure if she would keep on playing. She finished 170th on the CME points list.
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Then the Orlando-based Smith spent some time during the offseason with Cameron Smith’s instructor, Grant Field, back home in Australia.
“He’s been drumming into me that ‘it’s not over unless I want it to be,’ ” Smith told Australian Golf Media. “To see everything come together this quickly is incredible. Because I was basically done at the end of last year, unless something changed drastically. I’m pretty happy, a little bit surprised with this.”
Next up for Smith is this week’s Vic Open at 13th Beach.
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.
LPGA player Sarah Jane Smith is busy soaking up this bonus time with newborn son Theo and her husband Duane.
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.
Theo Kai Smith crawled for the first time last week.
Daddy Duane captured on video the moment eight-month-old Theo made his way across a colorful street map toward his mother, who was on the floor clutching a toy.
“Our baby’s a genius!” said Duane, who doubles as his wife’s caddie.
While the world is awash in uncertainty, these are the precious moments that keep us sane.
Proud father Duane sits with son Theo. (Photo submitted)
The LPGA’s Sarah Jane Smith came back from maternity leave in January with Theo and six pieces of luggage in tow. But before she even left for the new Gainbridge event in Boca Raton, Florida, she had worked herself into a tizzy while putting labels on Theo’s clothes for daycare. The mere thought of dropping him off was heart-stopping.
When Tuesday morning came, she told Theo that she wasn’t going to cry. But the moment she opened that door to the daycare room, tears dripped down. Theo turned six months old while he was in daycare in Boca Raton and made a footprint canvas to mark the occasion.
Smith, 35, so badly wanted to make the cut that week. She hit the ball poorly, chipped and putted lights out and missed the weekend by one stroke. The moment she opened that daycare door to pick up Theo, however, everything changed.
“I didn’t want it any less,” she said, “but it was just a whole new perspective.”
Smith missed her first three cuts of the year on the LPGA and hasn’t competed since the tour went on break for the coronavirus back in mid-February. The LPGA has since canceled events through early May, including the ANA Inspiration.
Normally those three missed cuts would’ve weighed on her mind. Instead, she’s busy soaking up this bonus time with Theo and Duane. Making use of the garage practice and gym setup Duane had put together at their Orlando, Florida, home for maternity leave.
Smith typically wakes up Theo at 6 a.m. for his first bottle. Morning playtime sails by, she said. She forces herself to do a 30-minute workout program. Recently gave the house a good dusting.
“I’ve been very much enjoying the puttering around,” she said, “the housewife-y jobs.”
Sarah Jane Smith out and about with son Theo. (Photo submitted)
The Smiths were deliberate about when they wanted to start a family. Sarah Jane wanted to make sure that there was enough in the bank account so that she didn’t feel the need to rush back to work. A share of fifth at the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open earned her a $182,487 paycheck. En route to the airport that Sunday night, Duane looked at his wife and asked: “Want to have a baby?”
Theo was born on July 24, 2019.
The Smiths, who have known each other since they met as 11-year-old junior golfers back in Australia, are making the most of a second offseason. Finances aren’t an issue now. She raves about 3M, a sponsorship that started as a handshake agreement several years ago after a fortuitous pro-am pairing in Arkansas.
“I’m sure some companies will honor contracts, but some won’t be able to,” said Sarah Jane. “I think everybody has to be kind and understanding.”
Just last week the Smiths were thinking back to times on the Symetra Tour when they literally had nothing in the bank. Sarah Jane recalled one specific instance when Duane fell ill during an off-week, and she went around to several different stores to round up supplies. She’d never heard of overdraft charges until she got dinged a $20 fee for each transaction of cold tablets and Gatorade.
At least back then she had the chance to make money the next week.
“We’ve been in those situations,” Sarah Jane said. “But I can’t imagine it for girls that are just getting started.”
Golfweek’s “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.
Golfweek’s “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.
