Mehaffey on steep learning curve as she counts down to KPMG Women’s Irish Open
Olivia Mehaffey is delighted KPMG has announced it will become the title sponsor of the KPMG Women’s Irish Open for the next three years. Picture: ©INPHO/Kelvin Boyes
The USA, South Africa, Thailand, Australia, Spain, France, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, England.
It might read like the dream world trip, but after travelling around the world one and a half times and racking up 67,000 km in the space of 88 days, Olivia Mehaffey is looking forward to a home game when the KPMG Women's Irish Open takes place at Dromoland Castle in Co Clare from 22-25 September.
The event returns to the Ladies European Tour schedule after a 10-year absence, and while it remains to be seen if LPGA stars Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow can afford to take time out of their schedules as they chase spots in the season-ending Tour Championship, Mehaffey can't wait for the chance to shine on home soil.
She's thrilled KPMG has agreed to sponsor the €400,000 event for the next three years, and after learning the hard way that she can't play 13 events in 14 weeks and not pay a price, she's determined to be 100 per cent ready for her first tilt at Irish Women's Open glory.
"I think it's coming back at such a key time," the former Curtis Cup star said of the return of the championship this year. "Having Leona and Steph out there, I've just turned pro and obviously there's a lot of really good girls coming up behind. Irish women's golf is on such a high right now, so I think it's really, really good timing for this event to happen and I can only see it going from strength to strength.
“I’m not going to lie; professional golf is a lot harder than I thought”
"KPMG's support is huge. Growing up, I never got to play an Irish Open. I always went to watch the guys play. I think Leona and Lisa played one before it stopped, but for KPMG to step up and make their commitment to the event and become the title sponsor is huge and it's very exciting for Irish golf."
Mehaffey is hoping her game will grow at an even faster pace, but she admits she made massive scheduling mistakes this year by playing 13 events in 10 different countries over just 14 weeks.
She started with eight weeks on the spin and picked up five top-20 finishes, including a tie for ninth in the Madrid Ladies Open.
But after missing her last five cuts in a row, she's recharging at home now and looking forward to a big summer with the ISPS HANDA World Invitational at Galgorm Castle and Massereene and the KPMG Women's Irish Open at the top of her hit list.
"It's obviously been rough. I started the season OK, but the last five weeks were pretty bad, you know, five missed cuts," she said. "It's been tough. I feel like I've struggled a little bit off the golf course. I feel like I've made a lot of mistakes and I think that all caught up with me.
"I did eight weeks in a row of travel from Arizona to South Africa to Australia to Thailand. So I think I did too much then and it caught up on me and things mentally crept in.
"I'm very happy that I've had this learning experience. It's been nice to reset and be back at home and to spend some time with my family and feel like a normal human being for a while."
On the transition from the amateur ranks to the pro game, she said: "It's tough. I'm not going to lie; professional golf is a lot harder than I thought. And it's not the golf side of things. It's the travel, playing week-in, week-out. I think there are a lot of things you have to learn and you can't learn from people telling you 'you should do this, you should do that because I think you have to make the mistakes yourself and really live through it.
"I've made a lot of mistakes, but I have this time now to reset, take care of my body, take care of myself as a human away from golf and then get back at it."
Tickets for the KPMG Women’s Irish Open are now on sale at www.womensirishopen.ie. Four-day tickets are priced at €35 while single-day tickets will cost €15. Under 16s attending the event will also be admitted free of charge.
