LPGA pro Sarah Schmelzel isn’t afraid to show a little emotion on the golf course. In fact, she’d argue it’s what she’s best known for.
Schmelzel, the 30-year-old pro, was the guest on this week’s episode of GOLF’s Subpar podcast and discussed how she got into golf, her life on the LPGA Tour, the 2024 Solheim Cup and lots more. She also talked about her fiery on-course personality (she broke her first club at age 8, she says).
“I was crazy from the get-go,” she joked. “I literally jumped on my golf club. I did not know that shafts broke.”
But that competitiveness, she says, is an important part of her game.
“I would say I have figured out that it serves me better to play a little more fiery than it does to be really like giggly and excited and that kind of thing,” she said. “I wish I could be that way. I wish I could hit a shot and smile and be like, it’s OK, it’s fine, but I think it takes away from the intensity that I have when I play.
“I need to lock into a shot and have somewhat of an intense emotion about it,” she continued. “I’m not happy when I hit bad shots; I don’t think anyone really is. I think I can kind of channel it in directions sometimes that are a little unhealthy, but I think if I stay channeling it in a way where it fires you up and its like, hey, you are better than that, go hit the next one great, instead of being like my viral moment.”
That viral moment she’s referring to? It happened when the TV broadcast caught her hitting a poor approach shot during the 2024 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. “F— you, Sarah,” she muttered.
Warning: The video below has NSFW language.
She only found out about the video after her brother texted her, “You have gone viral.” Although it turns out a large number of golf fans loved Schmelzel’s honest assessment.
“She is all of us,” said one comment on the video. “My new fave player on tour,” said another.
She wasn’t fined, either. In fact, she said then-commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan told her the LPGA could use a little more personality from its players.
“At the time [my brother] was like, ‘I can’t believe you would say f— on national television,'” Schmelzel said. “And then he saw how viral it was and the positive feedback and he’s like, ‘You should do it again.’ … It’s probably what I’m most known for on tour amongst my peers.”
Schmelzel joined the LPGA Tour in 2019 and is still looking for her first victory, although she does have 49 career top-25 finishes and 16 top 10s. She had a 2-2 record in her Solheim Cup debut last year and has made six of seven cuts this season with three top-20 finishes.
