Sarah Jane Smith got some advice from veteran Karrie Webb straight after she secured a career-best fifth place in the US Women’s Open in Alabama last weekend.
And it was blunt.
Smith is one of just three players on the LPGA Tour to have played all 14 tournaments this season without a break. Webb, the all-time great of Australian golf, was less than impressed with her scheduling.
“I’m not really used it so I don’t love doing it. Karrie texted me last night and said: ‘Now you don’t have an excuse. You have to take a week off’!’’ Smith told Golf Australia’s Inside The Ropes podcast today.
Smith, 33, is teeing it up in New Jersey again this week but intends following Webb’s advice after that.
The emotions have been running high for the Queenslander after she led the US Women’s Open, the biggest tournament in women’s golf, by four shots after two rounds, before fading on the weekend and finishing in the wake of Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn.
“It’s was really strange. I was sort of disappointed but at the same time happy. Not an experience I’ve had before.’’
For perspective, Smith only had to refer back to the lead-up to the Open, during which she missed five cuts in a row concluding at the Kingsmill Championship.
“I wasn’t dealing with it very well,’’ she said. “I felt like I was playing decent golf, but making some silly mistakes at the wrong times, missing cuts and it snowballed. If someone had said to me at Kingsmill which was the fifth (missed cut) in a row ‘you’re going to finish fifth at the US Open I would’ve snavelled that up before they finished their sentence.’’