Major champion Sophia Popov wins for the first time as a mom on Epson Tour
It proved an especially sweet Mother's Day for Sophia Popov, who won the Carlisle Arizona Women's Golf Classic close to her Arizona home. The last time Popov competed in an Epson Tour event was 2020, the same year she went on to win a major championship.
The 32-year-old German began the final round with a four-stroke lead at TPC Scottsdale's Champions Course and won by two over China's Michelle Zhang, finishing at 14-under 270 for the 72-hole event. Popov wasn't the only major champion in the field. Another local mom, Cristie Kerr, competed in the event and took a share of 10th.
It's been a strange year for Popov, who was stripped of her results from her first three starts of the LPGA season after an administrative error placed her in the wrong spot on the original 2025 Priority List. To correct the error, her CME points, earnings and Aon Risk Reward Challenge points were removed from official standings.
Popov went from getting into limited-field events early season to not even qualifying for the Ford Championship, the full-field event near home. She did, however, have a spot in the Chevron Championship by virtue of her 2020 victory at the AIG Women's British Open. She took full advantage of that with a T-30 showing in Texas.
After a recent reshuffle, she's now 371st on the priority list.
In June 2023, Popov gave birth to her daughter, Maya Mae Mehles. Her original medical leave turned into a maternity leave, and she returned to the tour in 2024, competing in 17 events. She finished 136th on the CME points list and went to the final stage of LPGA Q-School last December finishing T-58th, which means she failed to improve her status.
A player is entitled to the equivalent of one full season of events upon returning from maternity leave.
Popov, who was incorrectly placed in the highest category on the LPGA Priority List at No. 57, told Golfweek that she reached out to the LPGA in January to clarify her status. She received confirmation from the tour that her priority number of 57th was correct and she was good to go. The tour notified her of the error in March.
Earlier this year at the JM Eagle in Los Angeles, where the former USC player competed on a sponsor exemption, Popov said that while she's disappointed in what transpired, she's trying to leave it in the past.
"Because I think in the end," she added, "good golf takes care of everything. I think that's just my mindset now."
Three weeks later, she's a winner once again and, for the first time, as a mom.
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