I often like to recap on the weekend’s events in the world of women’s golf in case you missed them! It was a double whammy with players in action on the LPGA Tour in China and on the LET in Tampa, Florida.
It was Germany’s Alexandra Forsterling that came out on top in the sunshine state at the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF, three shots clear of England’s Charley Hull. This was 24-year-old Alexandra’s third LET title, and while it’s early days, this victory has moved her into the second automatic spot for the European Team at this year’s Solheim Cup.
Image courtesy of Ladies European Tour
When September comes around for Solheim, I’m sure Alexandra won’t be the only German player in contention for a spot. Olivia Cowan was in the running for a captain’s pick last year and Esther Henseleit, who has made a good start this season, will also be eying up a place. Esther has her boyfriend on the bag and he’s also her coach. I hope she keeps playing well otherwise there’ll be trouble in paradise!
I was chuffed that American Bailey Tardy captured her first LPGA title in China and a cheque for $330,000, especially as she brought to light again in her post-tournament conference how difficult it is for female pros to survive while they’re struggling with their performance and winning zippo. Tardy said:
“Last year is a great example. I missed a bunch of cuts early in the season. It’s expensive being out here. I wasn’t making any money. I’m 27, so it’s kind of like either you make it or you go get a job.
“And so there are just so many nights where you think - especially when things are going bad, it’s like you can’t take a week off because that’s an opportunity to make money, but then you need to work on your game.
“So it’s a very fine line of whether or not you stay on the road and you push through or take a week off and try to fix things. I struggled with that a lot last year.”
We can only imagine the pressure these golf pros play under week in week out, and it’s no surprise that many don’t make the cut. I’m not talking about one week or two, but why some make the difficult decision to step away from the game completely when life on tour becomes too much and is no longer sustainable. We all know how this game can send you crazy!
As club players we can relate to a level of mental pressure, standing over that tricky 3-footer, knowing we’ve got to hole it to win a match or play to our handicap, but if we miss, it usually only hurts our ego and not our career.
All my respect to Bailey and the many other pros in a similar situation for sticking at it. Now the financial pressure is off Bailey, no doubt she’ll be able to play more freely and we’ll see her name at the top of more leaderboards this year.
