Mehaffey rings the changes as she waits patiently for pro plunge
Olivia Mehaffey hits a shot in practice at the Champions Club in Houston as ASU assistant coach Michelle Estill. her caddie this week, looks on.
COVID-19 might have wrecked Olivia Mehaffey's plans to turn professional this year, but the Banbridge native has used her additional year of eligibility at Arizona State University to make major swing changes that could help her win majors in the future.
The Royal County Down Ladies star (23) tees it up in this US Women's Open at Champions Golf Club in Houston— her seventh women's Major appearance and her third this year alone — looking to enjoy the fruits of her labours with her new swing coach Jorge Parada.
The Spaniard, currently Director of Instruction at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey, has worked with a host of players such as PGA Tour stars Jonas Blixt and Matt Every, and LPGA Tour Suzann Pettersen, Lydia Ko, Anna Nordqvist and Carlota Ciganda.
Mehaffey saw en route to 74th-place finish in the ANA Inspiration earlier this year that she needs to make strides with her long game if she's to be successful in the professional ranks and with Parada a regular visitor to the ASU campus to see Ciganda, it made sense to hook up.
"It's been going really good, and I'm really happy with where my game is at," said Olivia, who has been drawn with Americans Lindsey Weaver and Annie Park for the first two rounds in Houston, starting on the 10th on the Jack Rabbit Course on Thursday (15:31 Irish time) before taking on the Cypress Creek Course, which will host the last two rounds, from the first on Friday (15:31 Irish time).
"I've put a lot of focus into my long game. It's kind of always been my weakness. I've always putted very well and had a great short game, but never really been that satisfied. I haven't hit enough greens or fairways, so I sat down for a week or so right after the ANA Inspiration and I just kind of thought where I'm at where I want to go.
"I think when you play majors, you get to see what it takes and I learned the most from any major at ANA, and I'm glad that I've been able to put it into work the past few months."
Mehaffey had hoped to turn professional after her graduation this summer but with the NCAA Championship and the Q—School cancelled, she opted to take advantage of the NCAA granting an additional year of eligibility for spring-sport athletes due to COVID-19 cutting short the 2019-20 season and has been fine-tuning her game at the Arizona State facilities while undertaking a Master's degree.
She's not frustrated but grateful she will end the year with three major appearances before she travels to Bay Hill for the rescheduled Arnold Palmer Cup from December 21–23.
"I'm just I'm grateful to have the opportunity to come back and although it's not where I want to because I would love to have gone to Q school and turn pro," the world amateur No 18 reported. "I'm really grateful for another year at ASU and I am so grateful for opportunities like this.
Olivia Mehaffey en route to victory in the Woodbrook Scratch Cup this summer. Photo: Cashman Photography
"I've been lucky to play three majors this year, so that's been a little strange. Half the events I've played have been majors and I just trying to play competitive games it's nice at ASU that we have a lot of pros and alumni there and we can get out and play and it feels competitive even though we're not in a competition. So kind of still keeps you mentally sharp, and you feel like you're still competing."
Former ASU star Ciganda (30) has won seven times around the world, and she's been an inspiration to Mehaffey, who admires how Tour players simplify the game.
"They do the simple things very well," she said. "They have a 7-iron to the green, they play their stock shot. They are not making things fancy and making things complicated. It's just simple, and I feel like I was overcomplicating things a little bit, trying to play draws into pins and fades into others rather than just having a stock shot and I'm going with that.
"I never really thought that my stock shot was good enough. So it's just about keeping things simple. My focus right now is hitting fairways and greens and not being disappointed if it's not right next to the pin, but it's on the green. So that's where my head's at.
"Carlota has always been someone I look up to, and you know, she's always at ASU and I'm quite good friends with her and I play with her a lot. It's nice to have someone that you can really see her practice in her off weeks. So you get that balance. She's definitely someone I've always looked up to."
Mehaffey's stock through her bag is a draw, and she has no plans to go back to hitting the fade of the past few seasons.
“I’ve been saying this for a while, but the ILGU high-performance programme is ahead of so many other federations, and I think they do an amazing job. ”
"That's what I played when I was young, and then I tried to hit fades the past couple years and I don't really love it to be honest," she said. "So I kind of went back to what I've grown up with."
Playing with a draw is nothing to do with length, however, and as Inbee Park has shown, you can win Majors without hitting the ball 270 yards off the tee.
"I've always played in the majors and been longer than most players have played with, so it's not something to worry about," Olivia explained. "But I know Jorge has some plans to add some distance in the offseason once we get through these next two events. I think it's just a bonus when you have shorter irons come into the greens, but I'm definitely not short and it's never really been something I've had to worry about.
"My clubhead speed is high and it's never been a concern of mine. But it's definitely where the game is going, and I'm sure that'll be something that we're going to work on in the next few months.
"You see loads of different ways to play. You don't have to be long by any means but that's kind of where I want to go, and that's the way I like it— shorter irons into the greens mean I am going to hit closer, but everyone has their own formula and I think you just have to kind of find what works for you in the way you want to play, not coming out here and trying to do what other people do. You have to find what really works for you."
She is expecting a tough test in Texas this week and after missing the cut in her previous US Open appearance at Shoal Creek two years ago.
"It's beautiful and everything you expect from a US Open — tough, fast greens with lots of slopes. The courses are beautiful and the weather it's much better than I thought, so it's actually really nice. I watched last week's LPGA Tour event in Dallas, and the cold weather on TV and I was thinking, please can it not be like that.
"But we grow up at home, and the scoring is never low, and it's always a challenge in a different way. But I do like when the courses are harder and it's tougher. It's not just a lot of birdies, and you kind of have to grind out a lot of pars. So I like that kind of style."
As for being forced to spend an extra year in college, she's hoping to take advantage of her fifth year to win another NCAA title and enjoy a third Curtis Cup appearance and a second bite of the cherry in the Augusta National Women's Amateur.
"Before I went to college, I never thought I was going to finish," she said. "I thought I was going to do two years and turn pro, and I'm now 23, and I'm still an amateur, so it's definitely not what I had planned.
"But you know what, I think the past few months have been really good for me. I'm really glad I had that time where I probably wouldn't have had if I was competing to make those changes and to make those tough decisions and I think that's going to stand by me.
"You have just got to make the best of a situation. Of course it is disappointing. The more you come out here, the more you want to be pro, competing week in and week out. But at the end of the day, there's nothing I can do about it. It's completely out of my control, and I'm just going to make the best of the situation I have In front of me."
The college season ends in May, but Mehaffey has no idea what might happen.
"I'll either turn pro in May or at the end of the year after Q School," she said. "I'll just have to wait and see. I think the one thing I've learned through all of this pandemic is you can't really plan that well. So have a couple of options in your head and then go with one of them, right.
"A lot of it depends on how I play. If I have a great spring, that will open more doors and create some more opportunities. So I will just take it as it comes, take one step in front of another and see what happens. But it's two good options, turn pro at the end of the year or turn pro in the summer. I wouldn't turn pro unless I'm guaranteed a full schedule. I'm not going to turn pro to play one play event and then have to wait for months to play another."
As for the presence of five Irish women in the GB&I squad for the Curtis Cup and the Vagliano Trophy, she's not surprised to see Paula Grant, Lauren Walsh, Julie McCarthy and Annabel Wilson make the 17-strong squad.
"It's amazing," she said. "I thought it was great when we had three in Ireland (Mehaffey played on the winning Curtis Cup team at Dun Laoghaire with Leona Maguire and Maria Dunne) and now to think there's five of us, it's just incredible.
"It's a real testament to the programme that's been put in place. I've been saying this for a while, but the ILGU high-performance programme is ahead of so many other federations, and I think they do an amazing job. And it just shows what a good job they've been doing in the past few years."
Ireland had five men on the 2015 Walker Cup team, and Mehaffey does not rule out a five-strong Irish presence at Conwy from 26-28 August.
"I don't think there's any reason why not," she said. "It will all depend on how we play in the spring. A lot of the girls haven't competed at all this year bar maybe one or two events. So I mean there's a lot that goes into it. But there's definitely no reason why not. I know the girls want it. It's what every amateur girl growing up in GB&I wants. They want to play Curtis Cup, and I'm sure that that fire will be in a lot of their bellies."
