ERIN, WISCONSIN | As a youngster in her native Phoenix, Arizona, in 2001, Sarah Schmelzel witnessed golf history, a moment that sparked her interest in the game and launched her journey to an LPGA career.
Schmelzel was a junior gymnastics champion when she watched Annika Sörenstam shoot 59 in the second round of the LPGA’s Standard Register Ping tournament at Moon Valley Country Club. Last week, the 31-year-old American was at Erin Hills seeking to emulate Sörenstam by winning the U.S. Women’s Open.
“I never got a chance to play with Annika, but have told her many times how she inspired and motivated me, and she has been very genuine and helpful with her time to help me in any way possible,” Schmelzel said.
Schmelzel, who in April finished T6 in the Chevron Championship, the LPGA’s first major of the year, was in the hunt at Erin Hills before fading to a T14 finish. Although she is still searching for her first LPGA victory, Schmelzel has become a consistent leaderboard presence.
“I mean, you want to give up 1,000 times because it feels like it’s never going to happen for you, and I feel like I’ve gotten to a place where I’m just really confident in my process,” she said. “I put myself in this position at Chevron. I did the same last year at KPMG [Women’s PGA Championship, where she finished T9] as well.
“I think overall between last year and this year I’ve just been playing really solid golf. I’ve been really process-oriented in the last year and a half, and I’m trying to come into golf tournaments not expecting to play well or expecting to play poorly. I’m just really trying to hold myself to a standard of sticking to a process, and it’s led to some really solid golf.”
Her play last year earned her a berth on the 2024 U.S. Solheim Cup team at Virginia’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, where she contributed two points to a 15½-12½ American victory.
“Playing in those big events makes you hungry for more, and that’s what I want here in the majors,” she said. “I’ve really tried to make my practice consequential, so instead of just standing there hitting balls, standing there hitting chips, I really try and put myself under the gun when I’m at home practicing and I’m by myself.”
After leaving gymnastics behind, Schmelzel became a top junior golfer and earned a scholarship to play at the University of South Carolina. She turned pro in 2016 and earned her LPGA card for the 2019 season.
Now in her seventh LPGA campaign, she has earned more than $3 million and posted 17 top-10 finishes, with her best result a runner-up at the Blue Bay LPGA in 2024.
“I think anytime I’ve been in contention, sometimes you hit a point where you kind of feel like you’re falling back too far, and I think in the past I’ve maybe let myself feel that way in a round rather than just really thought, hey, this is closer than I think it is, anything can happen,” she said. “So I think I’m just getting better and better at staying more and more present.”
Being present-focused and sticking to her process helped Schmelzel stay in the title mix while navigating the inevitable bumps in the road at Erin Hills. On Friday, her group was put on the clock and she played out of two fairway divots but posted a 68. And despite a Saturday 74 that included just one birdie, she came off the course waxing positive, high-fiving her caddie, Taylor Takada, and saying “that was fun.”
“Sarah has done a really good job staying in her process, and I try to help her stay loose and stay in a good mood,” Takada said. “She wears her emotions on her sleeve and so do I at times, so it’s a good pairing.”
Observing the pair's exchange after Saturday's round, it was evident that Schmelzel relished performing before thousands with the knowledge that Sörenstam was probably watching on TV as well. Schmelzel still carries the Moon Valley logo on her golf bag, a shout out to her home club and a reminder of where she was first inspired to shoot for the moon in golf.
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Top: Sarah Schmelzel during the third round.
Kathryn Riley, USGA