A sneeze nearly ended Jodi Ewart Shadoff’s career. It sounds rather silly now, but in January 2021, an under-the-weather Ewart Shadoff sneezed, and an hour later, she couldn’t walk. The American Lung Association reports that sneezes can travel up to 100 mph, and the force behind Ewart Shadoff’s sneeze resulted in a herniated disc.
The Englishwoman missed two months of tournaments that season, and as a veteran of back ailments, didn’t know if she could battle through another one.
“The game that I loved for 25 plus years, I was starting to resent because I was in so much pain,” said Ewart Shadoff. “I just didn’t know if I could keep going.”
It was her team, Ewart Shadoff said, that pushed her through one of the most trying seasons of her career and last Sunday, it all paid off. Ewart Shadoff, 34, won in her 246th start on the LPGA, one of three players over the age of 30 to break through for their first LPGA title this season, joining South Africans Paula Reto (32) and Ashleigh Buhai (33).
“I keep telling people I wake up in the morning and think ‘Oh, that was a weird dream,’” said Ewart Shadoff of her wire-to-wire victory at the LPGA Mediheal Championship.
“Then ‘Oh wow, it’s real. That actually happened.’ ”
Im beyond proud of @Jodi_Ewart winning on the @LPGA for the first time.
From the countless hours of practicing, to the close calls. She’s missed weddings and funerals. Injuries so bad I’ve had to help her step into her clothes.
11 years later, you’re a champion, Jodi.
I love you.— Adam Shadoff FOX 35 (@FOX35Adam) October 10, 2022
In all, six players over the age of 30 have won this season, putting the average age of winners on at 26.52. Eun-Hee Ji (36), Lizette Salas (32) and Marina Alex (31) round out the veteran group. On a tour full of prodigies, these women give inspiration to those taking the long route.
“I’ll play this game until I’m 50, I love it so much,” said Paula Reto, who won for the first time in her 157th start last August at the CP Women’s Open. The Purdue grad contended last week at the Mediheal as well, until two late bogeys dropped her into a share of third.
Reto said she overwhelmed herself in those early years on tour, trying to do too much at once. If she could go back, she’d tell herself to focus on the small things and get those right.
“I was thinking too much in my 20s,” she said. “Once I reached my 30s, I was like stop thinking and just play golf.”
Disappointed…
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