Leta Lindley, who turns 53 on Sunday, hopes to make U.S. Women's Open history in Wisconsin
Leta Lindley turns 53 on Sunday and would like nothing more than to have a tee time that day at the 80th U.S. Women's Open. The oldest player in the field at Erin Hills Golf Course, Lindley would become the first U.S. Senior Women's Open champion to play the weekend at the U.S. Women's Open – 30 years after making her championship debut.
'I'm not fooling myself,' said Lindley. 'I know that it's going to be a great challenge.'
The average age of the field this week is 26, which means most of the players she'll be competing against have more in common with her college-aged kids. Lindley has a full-time teaching job at Old Marsh Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and with the Women's Open falling so much earlier on the calendar than the Senior in late August, she's worked hard to carve in three days of practice each week and an extra day in the gym during high season.
One of the LPGA's straightest players off the tee for many years, the petite Lindley made both her first and, what she thought was her final, U.S. Women's Open appearances at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2011. She finished fifth in her Women's Open debut in 1995 and remembers thinking she could buy a car with that money.
'I remember being interviewed at the end about this being such a big deal and I thought, I'm a conditional player, every tournament I play in is a big deal,' said Lindley with a laugh. 'Every tournament felt like a major.'
The most memorable part of Lindley's victory at Fox Chapel Golf Club last year was the raw emotion of her son Cole, who was in elementary school the last time mom played in a Women's Open. Cole's obsession with the game didn't start until college, and he likes to give his parents real-time scoring updates during his casual rounds.
At last week's LPGA Legends Championship in Hurricane, Utah, Cole, who was caddying, asked mom if they could go to the Solheim Cup after being paired with 2026 U.S. captain Angela Stanford.
'His enthusiasm alone will help propel me to have a good week,' said Lindley.
Husband Matt Plagmann will be on the bag in Wisconsin as he was throughout her 18-year LPGA career. Lindley met Plagmann as a 19-year-old at the University of Arizona. A fired-up Lindley was throwing her clubs and shoes into the trunk of a car when Plagmann, smitten at first sight, stopped to offer encouragement. Plagmann was there competing for Scottsdale Community College in a tournament, while Lindley had just lost in a playoff at an Arizona team qualifier.
Lindley apparently wasn't in the mood to flirt, but Plagmann drove home that night and told his father he'd met the girl he was going to marry.
Plagmann caddied for Lindley at LPGA Q-School during her senior year and then joined her on tour as a rookie in 1995.
Lindley, who never went back to Q-Schol, won for the first time on the LPGA at the 2008 Corning Classic at age 36 in her 295th start on tour and was playing the best golf of her career while traveling the country in a GMC Conversion van with two small children in tow.
As the tour began to travel more internationally and 8-year-old Cole and 6-year-old Reese were in school full-time, Lindley retired in 2012. Plagmann figured that would be the end of his wife's competitive golf.
Yet here she is, making her 14th start in a U.S. Women's Open with a game Plagmann says is longer than it was on tour.
'She never lost any of what made her good,' he said. 'The short game, the putting. She's always hit it very straight.'
The biggest difference between Lindley then and now, in fact, is self-belief. After finishing runner-up in her first two Senior Women's Open appearances, she put Post-it notes on the master bathroom mirror: 'U.S. Senior Women's Open champion. You can do this!' and 'Why not you?'
'I've always believed in her way more than she believed in herself,' said Plagmann.
When Lindley reached her 50s, that started to change.
Over the past year, she's tried hard to embrace what she accomplished at Fox Chapel and fully absorb the accomplishment. When she felt like she passing the trophy in her house without giving it any thought, she moved it the coffee table.
'Matt and I joke, 'Did you say good morning to your trophy?' ' she said with a laugh.
To prep for Erin Hills, Lindley started to play Old Marsh from a combination of back tees to get used to seeing the hole so far away. She wasn't able to reach several of the greens in regulation, which might be the case at Erin Hills as well.
Lindley still carries a 7-, 9- and 11-wood, as she did on tour, but has now swapped out her 6-iron for a 6-hyrid.
The Legends of the LPGA event in Utah last week prepped her for wind as she watched a table fly across the driving range some 30 feet.
After the big win in Pennsylvania, members at Old Marsh brought in Brad Faxon to host a fireside chat with Lindley. She's also been invited to speak to college teams in the area.
'I hope that I've inspired my peers of what's possible when you dream big,' said Lindley, adding, 'I didn't dare to dream big enough when I was on tour. I feel like I was just trying to stay afloat as I was raising my family on the tour. I just didn't see myself doing big things.'
And now?
'Top 20 would be pretty cool,' she says, dreaming of what could be at Erin Hills.
'Where is the Open next year?'
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