First tournament as a professional. A School, no less. The LPGA Tour, in case that wasn’t enough. The day before yesterday, at Mississippi State University. Today, surrounded by 98 professionals with knives between their teeth to fulfil a dream. Result: tenth position and card in the pocket. Just like that, naturally. As if it were easy.
But it isn’t. She knows it. Everyone who is dedicated to professional golf knows it. What Julia López, 21 years old, has done is extraordinarily commendable. The Malagueña speaks to Ten Golf from Frankfurt airport where she is on a layover on her way home to Benahavís. She is happy. No one can wipe the smile off her face for the next three months.
And yet, not everything went smoothly… Julia confesses. “The first day of the School was something like a welcome to the professional world. I remember that as soon as I finished, I talked to Lauren (Whyte, her caddie), we had scored +2, a complicated day, with wind… We were happy. We thought we would be well placed. Suddenly, the lead is at -9… It was like a slap in the face from life. You know, you have to wake up, I told myself,” the young Andalusian says, laughing.
And wake up she did, the girl really did. “It’s clear that professionals don’t mess around, there are no jokes. No one gives anything away. You had to go all out. I was calm because I was playing well, but I had to bring out the good golf,” she explains. Said and done. From then on, all rounds under par and a galactic finish of 64 strokes, eight under par. One of those rounds that remain there, etched forever in the memory.
“Finishing -8 was impressive. It was like a dream come true,” she assures. And the important thing is to get the card, but if you do it with style like she did, even better. “It’s a round that I will remember for the rest of my life,” she notes. Rightly so. For now, she would do well to keep that round very much in mind when she lands on the LPGA Tour, reminding herself, especially if bad times come, of what she is capable of under pressure.
It’s worth remembering that Julia was on fire, three under par in seven holes, when the round had to be suspended until the next day due to rain. “That really bothered me. I started very calmly and felt very comfortable, with a very good rhythm. I was sad. Later, more calmly, I realised that it was what it was, it wasn’t worth lamenting, and it had been the same for everyone. In the end, it almost gave me more strength to come back the next day. The key is that I managed to go hole by hole, very focused, very concentrated, and a few putts went in. I’m super happy with the round. I felt the nerves in the last two holes, but it was already done, it was impressive,” she recalls.
What Julia did on Tuesday was an exhibition. Plain and simple. A warning of what she can achieve on the LPGA Tour. Although we will have to wait to see her debut. She might play the Founders Cup in February, otherwise, we would have to wait until the end of March. There is plenty of time to organise her head, her things, her future and prepare as best as possible for the landing in the mecca of world golf. “I will definitely take a week off because there has been a lot of golf in recent months. Then, it’s time for a lot of office work, organising, sorting things out and making decisions,” she notes.
For now, she only has a one-way ticket to Spain, to her Málaga. She will spend some time here and then her idea is to return to Mississippi and stay there at least until May. She has the doors of the university open to train as much and as she wants. She knows the facilities like the back of her hand and it’s where she will feel most comfortable. The rest has to be organised with Duncan, her manager, from Hambric, the same company that manages Scottie Scheffler. They have a good eye. The caddie, in principle, will continue to be Lauren. They understand each other wonderfully. And as for the technical part, beyond Manuel Araújo, her lifelong coach and a member of the family, she will combine the Spanish Federation with the Mississippi coach.
Julia is very eager to start her adventure on the LPGA. For this, as we say, she wants to be well prepared. She is clear about what she wants to focus on in the coming weeks. “In golf, there are always things that can be done better, but I think where I have the most room for improvement is in the short game, with the wedges, around the green, the chipping, I think it’s an area I can improve,” she assures.
For her debut on the American circuit, she will have the best guide possible, her fellow countrywoman Azahara Muñoz. “Seeing her at the School was crazy for me. I have a lot of respect for her. We talked on the training day and she gave me a hug and congratulated me on the card and the last day’s round. She gave me her phone number and told me to call her for anything I needed. She was very kind and helped me a lot… It’s very strong that we had the same teacher in school, very strong, Mr. Paco,” Julia recalls with more laughter in reference to the story that Azahara told Ten Golf.
