The last mom to win on the LPGA was Stacy Lewis at the 2020 Scottish Open.
GILBERT, Ariz. — The last mom to win on the LPGA was Stacy Lewis at the 2020 Scottish Open. This week, there are 10 mothers teeing it up in the Ford Championship, the seventh tournament on the LPGA’s 2024 schedule.
That includes Lindsey Weaver-Wright, who played high school golf in Cave Creek, Arizona, and completed her college career at the University of Arizona.
Weaver-Wright is playing in her first LPGA event since she became a mom to son Crew on Dec. 17. She opened her week with a bogey-free, 4-under 68 at Seville Golf and Country Club, which is hosting the inaugural Ford Championship
“I didn’t really know what to expect, so I just went into the whole week with very little expectation,” she said. “Got a lot going on in my mind right now. Yeah, Crew was just, it’s so funny just getting his texts from daycare, updates after the round. I just love it. My husband is updating me and he gets all the notifications, too.”
Weaver-Wright trails co-leader Azahara Munoz of Spain, one of three to shoot an 8-under 64 on Thursday, along with Gabi Ruffels and Isi Gabsa.
Other moms playing this week include Sophia Popov and Caroline Masson, who played as a parent for the first time a week ago as well as Lewis, Brittany Lincicome, Paula Creamer, Cristie Kerr, Mel Reid and Hee Young Park.
Two new moms return to the LPGA this week at the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship.
Two new moms return to the LPGA this week at the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship.
Major champion Sophia Popov, who first took a medical leave in 2022 to heal her right shoulder and then extended the time off after learning she was pregnant, gave birth to daugther Maya Mehles last June.
Fellow German Caroline Masson, 34, and husband Jason McDede, who caddies for Nelly Korda, welcomed son Benton last April. Masson’s last LPGA event was the 2022 CME Group Tour Championship.
“For us to be able to do this,” said Masson, “the three of us go on the road and make new memories, start this new adventure together, was really cool.”
Masson, who won her first LPGA title in 2016 at the Manulife, said she always had respect for the moms on tour but that it doubled or tripled in the last few months as she started to get back into golf shape.
Popov said that respect extends to female athletes across all sports.
“As an example, I was home over the summer,” said Popov. “I had just given birth in June. I was watching Wimbledon. I was watching Elina Svitolina come back and she was eight months postpartum and made it to the semifinals. I was sitting on the couch going, there is no way at eight months I’m going to be able to do this. Like I am just so out of shape.”
Popov, who stunned the golf world by winning the 2020 AIG Women’s British Open while competing on the Epson Tour, said even a basic core exercise was exhausting in those early months.
“I had a lot of ab separation, so you’re trying to get your abs back working, functioning,” she said. “You hit a golf ball and you’re like, man, I need my core a lot. I didn’t even realize that before. Like it comes naturally, and you take it for granted.”
Playing the tour as a mom takes a group effort. Masson’s son Benton joined the all-mom press conference in his stroller on Wednesday afternoon at Palos Verdes Golf Club.
While the physical challenges of coming back after giving birth are steep, the changed perspective offers a chance to hit refresh.
“It gets repetitive,” said Masson. “Year after year, you go to the same places. After a while you don’t appreciate it as much. So just to build up that excitement and putting in the work and seeing the process and really getting a little bit better every day and every week has been really fun preparing for this.”
It’s easier now to remember what’s important, too, added Popov, who played two weeks ago on the LET in Florida.
“I love to hear the cooing, the sounds,” said Popov. “I really don’t care how you play golf, mom, as long as you feed me after the round, we’re all cool.”
Yana Wilson’s resume is one of the best in amateur golf. She added another spectacular achievement to it Thursday.
The Oregon signee won a Cactus Tour event at Sun City Country Club in Sun City, Arizona. Wilson shot 3-under 69 in the final round to take the top prize in the professional arena, beating former San Jose State golfer Antonia Malate by two shots.
More impressive was Wilson’s finish, where she birdied her final three holes and went 5-under 31 coming home to claim the trophy. She had 14 birdies in the 54-hole event.
Wilson also beat 2020 AIG Women’s Open champion Sophia Popov, who finished fourth six shots behind the amateur.
Two summers ago, Wilson won the 2022 U.S. Girls’ Junior. Last year, she claimed medalist honors at the same tournament. Now, she has won a professional tournament before starting her college career.
Popov was on medical leave for her right shoulder when she learned an even longer break would be required.
It wasn’t long after Sophia Popov made the decision to take a medical leave for the rest of 2022 to heal her right shoulder that she learned an even longer break was now required as she and husband Maximilian Mehles are expecting their first child in June.
“Both of us are over the moon,” said Popov, who is staying with family in Germany and Austria through the end of the month. Mehles, a former Kentucky golfer who was on the bag when Popov won at Royal Troon, recently took a job in accounting.
Popov, 30, had an MRI done while at the AIG Women’s British Open last August and was diagnosed with supraspinatus tendinopathy, which is associated with impingement syndrome. She played one more time at the CP Women’s Open in late August before ultimately deciding that she needed time to heal. She immediately felt that a tremendous weight had been lifted.
“All the stress was flowing out of my body,” said Popov, who found out in October that she was pregnant.
Diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and endometriosis as a young woman, Popov said doctors have frequently told her over the years not to wait too long to have children. Both conditions can impact fertility.
“We kind of said, we don’t want to wait too long,” said Popov. “I don’t want to get into a situation where I’m under pressure.”
Seeing the recent success of moms like Stacy Lewis, who won after giving birth to daughter Chesnee, has bolstered Popov’s resolve to return to the tour, in 2024 at the latest. She can see herself playing some test events toward the end of 2023, possibly on the Ladies European Tour or Epson Tour.
The 2020 AIG Women’s British Open champion said she doesn’t want to return to the game until she’s fit and ready to go, noting that what traveling moms do on the road is “super underrated.”
Popov already knows that coming back to the LPGA as a mom will give her a whole new perspective on the game.
“We’re lucky enough in our sport to be able to do that,” said Popov. “Golfers often peak in their 30s or early 40s sometimes. It’s great also for your kid to see that that’s a possibility. You can be a high-performance athlete and do something at a high level, while traveling with your kid and showing them the world a little.”
With eight events left in the 2023 LPGA season, it’s crunch time for players needing to make a move.
With eight events left in the 2023 LPGA season, it’s crunch time for players needing to make a move. The top 60 players on the Race to CME Globe points list gain entry into the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, where anyone in the field can win the top prize in women’s golf of $2 million. The last player in this year’s field is guaranteed to make at least $40,000.
Last week’s winner, Ally Ewing, jumped from 71st to 30th with her victory in Cincinnati. Maria Fassi, who finished a career-best solo third, jumped from 96th to 67th, just outside the mark. The story around Fassi suddenly shifted from possible Q-Series to possible Tour Championship.
The top 100 on the CME points list keep their LPGA cards for 2023.
Popov caddied for good friend Anne van Dam shortly before winning the 2020 AIG Women’s British Open.
Major champ Sophia Popov played a practice round from around 7,400 yards at Andalusia Country Club in La Quinta, California, to prepare for her latest caddying gig for boyfriend Maximilian Mehles. She hit 5-iron and 3-iron into most holes, but getting a better idea of the lines off the tee proved valuable, she thought.
In the end, of course, Mehles had to hit the shots. And he hit two fewer than anyone else in the field to medal at U.S. Open qualifying. The Kentucky grad posted a flawless 6-under 66 with four birdies on his last five holes.
“I’m killing it,” joked Popov in regard to her legendary caddying resume. “I’m almost thinking about switching careers right now.”
Congratulations to Maximilian Mehles, who took home medalist honors at today’s @usopengolf local qualifier — with his girlfriend, LPGA player Sophia Popov, on the bag!
Popov famously caddied for good friend Anne van Dam shortly before winning the 2020 AIG Women’s British Open while not a member of the LPGA. Mehles was on her bag that week at Royal Troon.
The couple spent most of Tuesday morning trying to figure out what they might do for sectional qualifying, which takes place on Monday, May 23, the week of the LPGA Bank of Hope Match Play event. Popov will need a good finish in next week’s Cognizant Founders Cup to play her way into the field. She advanced to the final match in 2021. With the match-play event starting on Wednesday, it would be tough to caddie in a 36-hole qualifier during such a grueling week ahead of a major. But then again, she’d love nothing more than to see Mehles achieve a dream of competing in the U.S. Open.
“For me, it’s going to be a really hard decision,” she said.
Mehles put his own competitive golf career on hold this year, choosing instead to caddie for Popov full time.
“I think he was playing super relaxed,” said Popov. “Sometimes at a Monday qualifier, you push yourself a little bit too hard. He kind of let all the birdies come to him rather than forcing the issue.”
Popov picked up the bag after a tough stretch on tour and noticed the casual way her beau went about his business. She also marveled at his wedge game, which sparkled despite little practice.
There’s always something to be learned from good golf, and Popov will feed off of Mehles’ good vibes heading into an important stretch. The 29-year-old USC grad said she knows that what’s off in her game is physical rather than mental, and she’s poised for everything to soon click. In the meantime, it’s been helpful to have her partner by her side.
“It’s always easy to vibe well with your caddie when you’re playing well,” she said. “But it’s when you’re in a little bit of a hole and trying to figure out your golf game, it’s important to have someone on the bag you really trust.”
If Tiger returns, improbably, it will mark one of the greatest comebacks the game has ever seen.
Sure, the PGA Tour is in San Antonio this week, and we’re in the middle of the year’s first major on the LPGA schedule, but the eyes of the golf world have been squarely focused on one thing — will Tiger Woods play the 2022 Masters at Augusta National?
Although speculation has been rampant, no official word had been given by Friday morning.
While others in the golf world have had plenty to keep them busy this week, almost everyone has had an opinion on Tiger and his potential return. Here’s a look at a few:
“There is definitely pros and cons to both,” Henderson said.
For the second time in four months, Sophia Popov and Brooke Henderson get to sleep in their own beds and play golf.
Popov, who lives in Naples, and Henderson, who has had a residence in Miromar Lakes since 2017, enjoy not having to think about hotels and transportation for this week’s LPGA Drive On Championship at Crown Colony Golf & Country Club in Fort Myers, which goes through Saturday.
In November, both played in the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples.
“There is definitely pros and cons to both,” Henderson said. “Sometimes when you’re staying at home you think, ‘Oh, it’s just an off week, it’s an off-season’, so you’re not maybe as focused, especially early in the week.”
Every other week on tour, they’re living out of a suitcase and either have a courtesy car or are taking shuttles to the course. All of that is different this week.
After 22 seasons as a quarterback in the NFL, 20 with the New England Patriots and the last two with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the future Hall of Famer and arguably the greatest to ever play the game officially retired on Tuesday.
Winless in The Match alongside Phil Mickelson on two occasions, Brady had a bit more success on the football field to the tune of seven Super Bowl titles in 10 appearances, five of which he was the game’s MVP.
Social media was flooded with praise and admiration for Brady, with a few members of the golf world chiming in.
Bryson DeChambeau
Tom is the GOAT. It was such an honor to compete against him in Match IV. He has been an inspiration for so many across all sports and I wish Tom and his family nothing but the best. Congratulations @TomBrady on such an amazing career. Enjoy this next chapter! pic.twitter.com/KzU3Zsh5sx
When my parents bought me a @Patriots Jersey reading “Brady” on the back in 2001, I didn’t realize what that name would one day mean to the sporting world. Congratulations @TomBrady on an amazing career. Now let’s go play some golf 😎
“I don’t think that you can play with joy or freedom if you don’t have a why.”
It was the spring of 1989, and Sally Quinlan headed to Sedona, Arizona, after a missed cut at the Nabisco Dinah Shore to spend time with her coach and friend, Lynn Marriott.
“I thought she was coming out to practice,” recalled Marriott. “I couldn’t get her out of the hammock.”
After three days of lounging, Marriott dumped two buckets of balls on the range, turned the baskets upside down and said to Quinlan, let’s talk.
“If you win the U.S. Women’s Open, are you happy?” asked Marriott. “What about two majors?”
Quinlan, a winner on tour who was inside the top 15 on the money list and miserable, said no. No matter what accolade Marriott threw out, Quinlan knew it wasn’t going to be enough. Her dream at the time was to own a home with someone she loved and to know where was going to be every Sunday. Maybe join a club.
“I’m going to cry just thinking about it,” said Quinlan more than 30 years later. “Just because you can juggle, doesn’t mean you have to join the circus.”
Quinlan had been afraid to say any of that out loud for fear of letting down her family, her team, and all of New England. Marriott was the first person she told who understood the tour, understood the grind and, in a way, made Quinlan feel like she had permission to leave.
The next year, at age 29, a fully exempt Quinlan walked away.
“She would later tell the story that it was the best thing that ever happened to her,” said Marriott, who along with Pia Nilsson co-founded Vision 54.
Marriott and Nilsson are, of course, in the business of helping players reach their potential, having worked with numerous World No. 1s. But first and foremost, they’re interested in what’s best for players as human beings.
Many professional golfers aren’t taught how to grapple with the big questions. This game of inches can be fine-tuned to death, and there’s no shortage of areas to improve.
But why do you play? What’s the intrinsic motivation for choosing this life?
LPGA players and sisters Moriya Jutanugarn and Ariya Jutanugarn pose on the red carpet with Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott of Vison54 at the LPGA Rolex Players Awards at the Ritz-Carlton, Naples on November 17, 2016 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
Nilsson and Marriott ask participants of their golf schools to fill out a sheet of paper titled “Spirt of Your Game.” They believe the spiritual component wraps around the physical, technical and emotional parts of the game. It’s the glue that holds everything together.
The Vision54 coaches want players to ask themselves “Why do I play?” And after each answer, ask “why?” again.
“There’s no bad answers to any of the questions,” said Nilsson. “But if you stop asking the question, things get hidden.”
And, as life changes, the answer to those fundamental questions change, too. Players will ultimately find, said Marriott, that it’s only the intrinsic motivation that’s sustainable.
For Stacy Lewis, the foundational love of the game and curiosity of how good she can be has never changed. But now, there are so many more answers to her why.
The ability to answer that question with something beyond trophies and paychecks, Lewis said, “determines how you play and how long you play.”
“You have to have a reason for why you’re doing what you’re doing,” Lewis said, “because it’s going to make you get out of bed each day and practice and take care of yourself and watch what you eat, stay in shape. Especially in women’s professional golf. There’s not a whole lot of people around to pull you out of the gutter.”
Brittany Altomare, the soft-spoken newlywed who acquired the nickname “Jesus” in her Solheim Cup debut because her putting was so divine, is an adrenaline junkie. While she may look meek, the rush of competition is what put her on track to the LPGA.
When Altomare first started dating her now husband Steven Stanislawzyk, she apologetically told him: “Golf comes first.”
As her destination wedding in Italy last fall drew near, however, 31-year-old Altomare could feel the priorities in her life begin to shift. She’d never felt more stressed as a result and started going to therapy with Stanislawzyk because she had trouble expressing it all.
“I don’t think I’ve ever actually shared that with anybody,” said a teary-eyed Altomare on the eve of the Pelican Women’s Championship last November.
With the desire to start a family looming, Altomare suddenly felt like her career was being rushed to the finish line. She wanted to be a wife and a mom, but she also wanted to win, something she has yet to do on the LPGA.
“You don’t know if you’ll ever get to come back,” she said of having kids, “or if you’ll ever be the same player.”
Altomare’s therapist helped her to slow down her racing mind. At last summer’s AIG Women’s British Open, Altomare had an epiphany, telling herself that she’d go back to making golf No. 1 for two years, give it her all and then reassess.
“I feel like I had my first experience of not being totally healthy in my mind this year,” said Altomare, who now, admittedly, looks at the phrase “mental health” differently these days.
Sandra Gal visits the Children’s Center that bears her name in Miami. (Courtesy: Sandra Gal)
When Sandra Gal turned pro, she said there was no “why” that she could articulate. She had the talent, and the tour seemed like the next logical step.
It wasn’t until Gal experienced her first tough season in 2010, three years in, that she first began asking herself the big questions.
It was then Gal realized that she’d been 100 percent focused on results. She called it a spiritual awakening.
“I realized if I myself moved around with a certain energy,” said Gal, “it would influence everyone around me. If I could play with more joy, and if I could make that the most important thing, then I knew I could actually inspire other people, or in some way lift up other people.”
Over the years, she’d fall back into chasing results. Gal realized that she needed to take it a step further and really let go of what happens inside the ropes.
“I love the game,” said Gal, “but I also think that it doesn’t really matter what you do – it’s how you do what you do, with what energy you do what you do.”
As Gal began to dive deeper into the discussion of mental health, she came across this definition of “spiritual health” from the Australian National University: “Not referring to any particular religious or spiritual practice or ideology but to the human need for meaning, purpose and connection to something greater than ourselves. It is a very diverse and often individualized aspect to health, giving context and meaning to all other parts of ourselves and our life experiences.”
The term mental health, Gal said, only skims the surface.
Golf Fore Africa was founded by LPGA Hall of Fame golfer Betsy King who witnessed first hand the terrible plight of AIDS orphans in Africa in 2006. She has enlisted the help of golfers worldwide to raise funds and awareness.
Betsy King dedicated her life to Christ on a retreat in January 1980. In a sense, she said, it felt like starting over. She had her worst year on tour that year, and an aunt said King had lost her edge because of her newfound faith.
When in fact, King had simply found her self-worth in something other than golf. At the start of the 1989 season in Jamaica, King asked God if she should go to Africa rather than play the tour. There wasn’t really a specific reason that Africa popped into her mind, but after 14 wins on tour, King was willing to walk away if she felt led to.
King began to realize that the more money she made and the bigger platform she built, the more she could do for the causes that mattered most to her. King shot 64 to win that first tournament in Jamaica and went on to win six times that season, including a U.S. Women’s Open.
The LPGA Hall of Famer ultimately won 34 titles on the LPGA and has now been to Africa more than two dozen times. Her Golf Fore Africa foundation, raises money to provide clean water to remote African villages. To date, King’s charity has raised close to $14 million.
Several players have traveled to Africa with King, including Lewis in 2010.
“Betsy kind of came along at a good time in my career,” said Lewis, “and helped me realize that with good golf, you can help a lot of people.”
Amy Olson, who has the Golf Fore Africa logo on her hat and bag, quotes runner Eric Liddell from the movie “Chariots of Fire” when talking about her why.
“I believe God made me for a purpose,” Liddell’s character says, “but He also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.”
That’s how Olson feels about golf. Pursuing a career on the LPGA, she said, is about being a good steward of the gift she’s been given.
At some point, Olson said, she’ll move to on to something else, but her why will never change. Everything she does points back to God.
“I think it’s fundamental,” said Olson. “I don’t think that you can play with joy or freedom if you don’t have a why. I would even say if you have the wrong why, you’ll play out of fear or the desire to make other people happy.”
Eventually, in the valley, most players will face a time of critical self-evaluation and ask themselves, “Why am I doing this?”
Amy Olson tees off the 14th hole during the Final Round of the KIA Classic at the Aviara Golf Club on March 28, 2021 in Carlsbad, California. (Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images)
For Sophia Popov, there came a point when she lost a lot of the love of the game and found herself competing because she had to make money.
“I think I lost some of that connection to the game,” said Popov.
Players of all ages struggle with tying their worth as an individual to golf scores. King did in the 70s and Cheyenne Woods only recently broke herself out of that mindset – and the putting yips – after seeking personal therapy for the first time. She’d been to sports psychologists in the past, but this time knew that she needed something more.
“It busted open the bubble I was living in,” she said.
Players don’t often speak about the loneliness that accompanies tour life, but it can impact even extroverted players like Maria Fassi, who had plenty of experience on a big stage prior to turning professional.
It took time for Fassi to find a group of friends on tour. Expectations, both internal and external began to mount for the powerful and engaging NCAA champ.
There were times early on that she asked herself: Is this really what I want to do?
“I didn’t have anybody on tour I trusted to go and talk to or go and cry with,” she said.
In time, a handful of players reached out to help, including veterans Angela Stanford and Lewis, a fellow Razorback, and the questions they asked Fassi and the time spent helped turn things around.
Last September, the 23-year-old Mexican launched the Maria Fassi Foundation and Fassi’s Friends, a series of inclusive and adaptable clinics that bring disabled and full-bodied kids together to learn the game of golf.
Fassi, inspired by a disabled cousin who took up golf around six years ago, knew that she needed a deeper “why” than the quest to win titles.
“I know personally,” said Fassi, “I needed just something bigger than myself to play for.”
Maria Fassi hits a tee shot on the first hole during the first round of the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship at Lake Merced Golf Club. (Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)
Ariya Jutanugarn had that same conversation with herself after rising to No. 1 in the world. Did she want to stay there? She knew it would take more than the lure of trophies to make it worthwhile.
It was on a Monday at the 2017 CME Group Tour Championship that Jutanugarn told Nilsson and Marriott that it cost $350 to educate a child for an entire year at the schools she helps to fund. They gave her $350 on the spot.
Jutanugarn went on to win the CME and the U.S. Women’s Open the following year.
Nilsson and Marriott like to do an exercise with college golfers in which they ask, after you win, and you buy a house and a watch and a car and another watch, do you still want to play golf?
“We’re not wanting to burst a bubble,” said Marriott.
