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When Stephanie Meadow hit the 18th hole at Baltusrol, she had the chance to become a legend.
After Ruoning Yin scored a club-leading eight at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Meadow was the only golfer left on the course with a chance of catching it. At 6, the 31-year-old would finally need an eagle to match Yin, but with the 18th playing as his go-to element, the 3 wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.
Meadow split the pass with her drive, letting herself go 243 yards to the flagstaff. If she can get up from more than two football fields, she can force a playoff. The probability was low, but she still had a chance.
With the ball on a slight slope, Meadow grabbed a fairway wood and aimed for the pin. She brings the club back to the past parallel and untwisted with every ounce of energy she can muster.
The ball barely got off the ground. Instead of watching her ball fly toward the green, Mead was disgusted as she watched it leap toward the water.
“Obviously that wasn’t the best shot of my career in the second,” she said.
In a stroke of luck, the ball didn’t come to rest in water when it leaped across the surface and settled on dry land. But after reaching the final position with an outside shot to become a major champion, a top-notch approach wasn’t what she had in mind.
“I tried to swing a little bit hard,” Meadow said. “It happens. The best players in the world can do it.”
Fortunately for Meadow, she was able to keep her par on the hole and sign a one-under 70 for the final round. She finalized a career week as she pulled off her career best finish and earned the biggest salary of her career ($423,070).
“The check isn’t bad,” Meadow said. “I did my best. I just put it all out there, and that’s all I could do.”