It’s been a whirlwind few weeks – the SA Women’s Open was my fourth tournament week in a row.
The year started with an event in the US, then we played the Aramco Saudi Ladies International and the Honda LPGA Thailand in February, and then the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore in early March. They were pretty big trips too, with lots of travelling.
We made history at the Aramco LET event in Saudi where we played for $5-million, the same purse the men played for on the Asian Tour at the same venue, Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, two weeks before us. So that was pretty cool. It was my first time playing there.
We were in the middle of nowhere but the event was run really well and the hotel was fantastic – those are the things that are important to me. If the hotel and food are good, and the event is run well, I’m a happy person! The course was also fantastic.
I played relatively well, I just had a bad finish which I was disappointed with. But it gave me an idea of where my game was and what I needed to do the next week going into Thailand. My goal was to improve my chipping and putting, and I improved tremendously and finished 10th the next week in Thailand. So I was really happy that I was able to implement the right changes straight away.
The top 60 from the previous year’s CME Globe rankings always play the LPGA Tour events in Asia, so it’s a strong field. There’s no cut, they pay our expenses and put us up in a hotel, which is always helpful. But the weeks there feel long and it’s hard; you have early-morning tee times because of the heat in the afternoon. You’re playing in 30-plus degree weather and 95% humidity, so it takes a lot out of you. It’s important to recover well and get the right amount of rest.
What I’ve felt to be different this year is that mentally I’ve been able to stay more switched-on even though I was physically tired. I’m definitely managing it better than I did before. Being on Tour for so long, I know what works and what doesn’t. It’s a case of ‘you’ve played your round, you’ve done what you need to do and now you need to rest’. There’s no point going to bash balls and practise for another hour and a half in the crazy heat.
Physically I felt very tired in Singapore but mentally I was strong – you need to switch on for every shot and after that you switch off again.
My goal for the past two weeks was to play from a sense of calm within me. I have found that since I started working with my sports psychologist Duncan McCarthy, even when I’m physically not feeling that great, I just try to do one or two things right and I still feel like I can compete, even when things aren’t 100%. It’s been a huge help being able to bring myself back to the now.
In Singapore, we had constant weather interruptions. You have to be patient and just accept that that’s how it’s going to be. I think those of us who can do that can still play well. I went out after a four-hour delay and went birdie, birdie, par, birdie – I got straight back into it after a bad start.
I’m 33 and feel that I’m at the peak of my career. I’m playing the most consistently I’ve played in the past three years. I’m playing well because of the experience I have and how I’m able to just go about my business now.
I’ve had the best start this year to any of my seasons – I’ve played three LPGA Tour events and had three top-10s – so obviously I’m really happy with the start. I’ve tried to take what I learned and how I played last year and follow those same steps. This year I know it’s obviously not going to happen every week but I’m going to try!
– This column first appeared in the April 2023 issue of Compleat Golfer magazine.
