The 22-year-old, who plays out of Royal Portrush golf club, was +1 for her three rounds and finished just three shots back from first-time Major winner, and home favourite, Michelle Wie.
Irish golf had female Major winners back in the 1950s and the 70s — Philomena Garvey and Maureen Madill both claimed British Ladies Amateur titles, the equivalent of the modern British Open. Meadow’s nerveless performance is right up there for Irish sporting achievements in recent years, especially when taking into account that the US Open, at the daunting North Carolina course, was her professional debut.
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Speaking minutes after signing off for her final round, the Jordanstown native summed up her title tilt as “awesome”. She added, “It’s been amazing. Couldn’t have pictured a better way to start my professional career. It’s pretty much a dream come true.”
After answering two questions about her playing partner for the final day — the legendary Juli Inkster — a journalist brought up Rory McIlroy and his decision to declare for Ireland at the Rio 2016 Olympics. Meadow responded that she had not given the Olympics much thought and had no idea what her decision would be. In 2016, the top 60 women’s golfers [maximum of four per country] will compete for medals at the Olympics. Meadow said:
It’s weird, because growing up Rory and I all played — like Ireland as in all Ireland — our golf is an all Ireland sport. So we grew up playing for Ireland. There was never a Northern Ireland team or we didn’t play for UK, so it is very difficult and I’ll just are to wait. I haven’t even thought about that decision yet.”
Check out the video [below] of Meadow dousing US Open winner Michelle Wie with victory to mark her maiden Major triumph:
Meadow is only two years younger than Wie, who was the only competitor under par [-2] at Pinehurst. “ I don’t know if it was surreal, because I always believed that I could do it,” she declared.
“Honestly, the amount of hours that I’ve put in for I don’t know how many years like that’s what I’ve been working for. So to see all that pay off was really amazing. But to do it on my first week and to have enough confidence to keep going, I’m proud of myself for doing that.”
She added, “This whole experience is only going to make me work harder. Obviously, I didn’t win, there’s still people beating me and I’m competitive, so I want to try and win Majors some day. So I’m going to go back and work hard. If you’re a competitive person, this is a driving force, you do well and you want more. So that’s what I’m going to do.”
Minutes after her excellent US Open finish, Stephanie Meadow was asked about Rio 2016
NORTHERN IRISH GOLFER Stephanie Meadow signed off with a final round of 69 to finish third in the US Women’s Open at Pinehurst.
The 22-year-old, who plays out of Royal Portrush golf club, was +1 for her three rounds and finished just three shots back from first-time Major winner, and home favourite, Michelle Wie.
Irish golf had female Major winners back in the 1950s and the 70s — Philomena Garvey and Maureen Madill both claimed British Ladies Amateur titles, the equivalent of the modern British Open. Meadow’s nerveless performance is right up there for Irish sporting achievements in recent years, especially when taking into account that the US Open, at the daunting North Carolina course, was her professional debut.
Speaking minutes after signing off for her final round, the Jordanstown native summed up her title tilt as “awesome”. She added, “It’s been amazing. Couldn’t have pictured a better way to start my professional career. It’s pretty much a dream come true.”
After answering two questions about her playing partner for the final day — the legendary Juli Inkster — a journalist brought up Rory McIlroy and his decision to declare for Ireland at the Rio 2016 Olympics. Meadow responded that she had not given the Olympics much thought and had no idea what her decision would be. In 2016, the top 60 women’s golfers [maximum of four per country] will compete for medals at the Olympics. Meadow said:
Check out the video [below] of Meadow dousing US Open winner Michelle Wie with victory to mark her maiden Major triumph:
Meadow is only two years younger than Wie, who was the only competitor under par [-2] at Pinehurst. “ I don’t know if it was surreal, because I always believed that I could do it,” she declared.
“Honestly, the amount of hours that I’ve put in for I don’t know how many years like that’s what I’ve been working for. So to see all that pay off was really amazing. But to do it on my first week and to have enough confidence to keep going, I’m proud of myself for doing that.”
She added, “This whole experience is only going to make me work harder. Obviously, I didn’t win, there’s still people beating me and I’m competitive, so I want to try and win Majors some day. So I’m going to go back and work hard. If you’re a competitive person, this is a driving force, you do well and you want more. So that’s what I’m going to do.”
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2016 Olympics Here we go again no pressure Olympics Rio 2016 Rory McIlroy Stephanie Meadow team ireland US Open us women's open