Lindy Duncan didn't win the LPGA Chevron, but the 34-year-old hasn't stopped smiling
Lindy Duncan didn't win the Chevron Championship, but she had hard a time sleeping on Sunday night she was so amped. Couldn't stop smiling.
The former NCAA college player of the year experienced a break-through moment at the year's first major and, at age 34, appears to have her best golf in front of her.
As Duncan navigated her way around the front nine of the Nicklaus course at The Club at Carlton Woods, her mother Debbie commented on how much lighter she looked in recent weeks. For years, she and others have been trying to get Lindy take the intensity down a few notches, but it wasn't until she started working with instructor Sean Foley that something clicked.
'We worked a lot on why I'm doing this,' said Duncan soon after Mao Saigo beat her and three others in a sudden-death playoff.
'It kind of just boiled down to the player that I feel like I could be – I'm just trying to be that person, even though I don't necessarily feel that way. How would that person act? How would that person handle adversity?
'I'm moving into the direction of a better version of myself.'
Growing up, Duncan was a promising soccer player before three sprained ankles in one season led the doctor to prescribe a one-year layoff from contact sports.
It was devastating to Duncan, who was soon invited out to the public golf course where her soccer coach worked. Come hit some balls, he told her, see what you think.
'We couldn't get her home,' said Debbie. She was obsessed.
Duncan played collegiate golf at Duke and excelled academically because the competitor in her wanted the best grade. An analytical player who tends to overthink, Duncan has been known for her homemade gadgets, which she named and carried around in a rifle case.
'We'd show up at Trump International, and she's got this rifle case,' said Debbie, with a laugh. 'With the Secret Service, I'm like, do you not see that you need to get rid of the rifle case?'
After the Chevron, Duncan and her sister, McKenzie, put together an insightful Instagram post detailing how she's evolved as a player.
'For a long time, my core beliefs sounded like this:Struggling means you're weak.Work until you drop.Punish every mistake so it never happens again.Hide behind practice and gadgets.You should be having better results. Don't feel, just push.'
As Saigo prepared for the traditional champion's leap, Duncan stood off to the side of the interview podium talking about what she's learned in recent weeks. For most of her career, the analytical side of her brain would take on a problem and ruminate. Thinking she was helping herself by tackling a weakness, she'd get stuck on a loop and make it worse.
Duncan, who is playing in this week's Black Desert Championship in Utah, first started working with Foley toward the end of last year but began feeling different on the inside in March at the Blue Bay LPGA in China, where she tied for 12th, and then a few weeks later at the Ford Championship in Arizona, where she finished fifth.
'That's actually my nature,' said Duncan. 'My nature is not to be so harsh, my nature is much more fun-loving and playful. It's weird because I felt like I couldn't be that way for a long time. It felt like I wasn't focused – something was blocking that.
'You know, that just comes from an insecure place,' she continued. 'It's just oh my gosh everybody is so good; I have to be so good.'
At the Chevron, however, Duncan could immediately look back over the course of the week and see any number of mistakes that still put her on the brink of winning a major championship.
'You can steer yourself in different ways,' she said, 'and I definitely feel so much lighter.'
Several players commented on Duncan's moving Instagram post, including her old practice buddy at Lake Nona, Lydia Ko, who said she was proud and called her an inspiration.
Foley commented too, saying 'Vulnerability in front of the world is a superpower, my girl. Just getting started, LD.'
Duncan's journey from losing her card several years ago to wondering time and again if this might be her last year in professional golf, sends a message of hope to those on a similar path. Especially to those who experienced great success at a young age.
When she met with the press Sunday evening, Duncan was asked what message she'd give juniors about resiliency. The journeywoman said the question cuts to the heart of the mission.
'I really think that's the point of what we're doing,' she said. 'I feel like that's the purpose that we bring to the game, is to just keep moving forward. Don't look back.
'You can reflect and try to learn, but don't dwell on it. Even if it may feel like the wheels are coming off – golf makes you feel that way a lot – I think the point of it is to kind of center off that and just get right back to the process and all that goes into that. … We all have stuff we have to face and deal with. Don't avoid it. Don't run away from it. Just run right through it.'
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