Sarah Hawley Schmelzel (born May 12, 1994) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

and

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...

member.

Early life, college and amateur career

Schmelzel grew up in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

. Although she started playing golf when she was five, Schmelzel first competed in gymnastics. She was a talented at

uneven bars The uneven bars or asymmetric bars is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. It is made of a steel frame. The bars are made of fiberglass with wood coating, or less commonly wood. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is UB or ...

and was an Arizona State Champion in the discipline. In 2001, she watched

Annika Sörenstam Annika Charlotta Sörenstam (; born 9 October 1970) is a Swedish professional golfer. She is regarded as one of the best female golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she had won 90 inter ...

card a 59 at her home course of Moon Valley, which sparked a passion for the game. Schmelzel was highly ranked in both the National Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings and the ''Golfweek'' junior rankings. She was a standout at Xavier Prep and won the 2011 Arizona State High School Championship. Schmelzel led her school to its third team state title in four years, and carded rounds of 71-66 at the state championship to tie the Arizona state high school record with

Amanda Blumenherst Amanda Blumenherst (born November 4, 1986) is an American professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She was a three-time National Player of the Year at Duke University and won the U.S. Women's Amateur title in 2008. In 2013, sh ...

. She won the AJGA Bass Pro Shops/Payne Stewart Championship by 12 strokes with rounds of 69-71-70. Schmelzel attended the University of South Carolina between 2012 and 2016 and played on the South Carolina Gamecocks women's golf team, where she captured one individual title. She was on the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

All-Freshman Team and was an honorable mention All-American as a senior.

Professional career

Schmelzel turned professional after graduating and joined the 2017

Symetra Tour The Epson Tour, previously known as the LPGA Futures Tour, and known for sponsorship reasons between 2006 and 2010 as the Duramed Futures Tour and between 2012 and 2021 as the Symetra Tour, is the official developmental golf tour of the LPGA Tour ...

. In her second season, she recorded seven top-10 finishes, including four top-five results in her last five events to finish 13th on the Epson Tour money list. She finished third at the inaugural LPGA Q-Series to earn her

card for the 2019 season. In 2021, Schmelzel finished tied 17th at the

Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play The Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play is a women's professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour in Las Vegas, Nevada. It debuted on the LPGA Tour in 2021 LPGA Tour, 2021 at the Shadow Creek Golf Course as the only match play tournament on the schedule ...

, after her opponent

Carlota Ciganda Carlota Ciganda Machiñena (born 1 June 1990) is a professional golfer from Spain who plays on the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour. She won the LET's Order of Merit (money title) in her debut season in 2012, and was also named Player of t ...

was assessed a slow-play penalty. Ciganda and Schmelzel came to the 18th hole tied, but as the slow-play penalty in match play is loss of hole, Schmelzel was awarded the hole, and won the match 1-up. In 2022, Schmelzel made six birdies in her final seven holes to jump up the leaderboard into solo third at the

LPGA Drive On Championship The LPGA Drive On Championship is a series of women's professional golf tournaments on the LPGA Tour created after several tournaments were cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each tournament uses the tour's "Drive On" slogan to suppor ...

, her career-best finish on the LPGA Tour so far. On March 10, 2024, she had her best finish, second-place at the

Blue Bay LPGA The Blue Bay LPGA is a women's professional golf tournament in China on the LPGA Tour. It debuted in October 2014 at Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course on Hainan Island Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's ...

tournament, with a 273 (−15) to first-time LPGA winner

Bailey Tardy Bailey may refer to: People and fictional characters * Bailey (surname) * Bailey (given name) Castles and bridges * Bailey (castle), or ward, a courtyard of a castle or fortification, enclosed by a curtain wall * Bailey bridge, a portable prefabr ...

who shot a new tournament record 269 (−19). Schmelzel earned $208,128 to the winner's $330,000.

Amateur wins

*2005 Kingman City Junior Championship *2006 Mesa City Junior Championship, Yuma City Junior Championship, Tucson Conquistadores Spring Classic *2007 Yuma City Junior Championship, JGAA Winter Classic *2008 Antigua/Milt Coggins Arizona Junior Championship, Yuma City Junior Championship, Tucson Conquistadores Spring Classic, JGAA Fall Classic *2009 Yuma City Junior Championship, Thunderbird Invitational *2011 Arizona State High School Championship, Pro Shops/Payne Stewart Championship *2016 Bryan National Collegiate Source:

Results in LPGA majors

CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
T = tied

LPGA Tour career summary

Official as of March 10, 2024
* Includes matchplay and other tournaments without a cut.

World ranking

Position in

Women's World Golf Rankings The Women's World Golf Rankings, also known for sponsorship reasons as the Rolex Rankings, were introduced in February 2006. They are sanctioned by eight women's golf tours and the organisations behind them: Ladies Professional Golf Association (L ...

at the end of each calendar year. ^ As of March 11, 2024

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmelzel, Sarah American female golfers LPGA Tour golfers South Carolina Gamecocks women's golfers Golfers from Phoenix, Arizona 1994 births Living people