PRATTVILLE, Ala. - Ryann O'Toole knew she wasn't in consideration when Juli Inkster announced her two United States captain's picks Monday but that doesn't mean it's any easier to take knowing the second consecutive Solheim Cup will go by without her in it. O'Toole, a Captain's pick in 2011, is determined to one day get back to the Solheim Cup, but in the meantime she's just focused on the process of continuing to get the game back that left her afterwards.
Since she posted a 2-0-2 record at the Solheim Cup in 2011, she's had a difficult go of it. She injured her lower back in 2012, tried to play through it and suffered what amounted to a nearly two-year setback as a result. Looking back now on it, it's easier to admit that she should have taken a medical and not tried to play through it. It only made it worse and corrective surgery became inevitable anyways. She ended up taking a year to rehab and nearly a full year after to get her game back. She first saw flashes of her old self here last year with a tie for 39th but still had to go back to LPGA Qualifying School to ensure she'd have a spot on Tour in 2015.
That's where she started feeling like the Ryann of old was starting to emerge again after three years of frustration, rehabilitation, and searching. She finished in third among the strongest Qualifying School field in LPGA history at the end of 2014, and has shown flashes of the form that saw her finish 46th on the money list in 2011. She showed more Thursday, opening with a 5-under-par 67 that has her just two shots back of leader Brittany Lang.
"I think going back to Q School, it's awful, you don't ever want to go back, it's stressful, it's not fun, but it just showed me, hey, look you're deserving out there," O'Toole said. "Taking third at Q School made me just go it's there, and just to trust what I've been working on with Jorge and my team."
O'Toole had to remove the things from her swing that were causing the strain on her lower back. Her and her coach Jorge Porada have worked on creating more room for her to clear through the impact zone to keep her from getting stuck and creating the pinch in her lower back.
It's been a process and O'Toole's seen flashes but is working to find it on a more consistent basis. Four times in 2015 O'Toole's opened with a 68 or better but has averaged 73.25 in the following round, and she knows that's the next step in her evolution as a player.
"My sports psychologist Brent McCabe is constantly just reminding me look where you've come from, look where you are, look at the strides you've made," O'Toole said. "So I'm getting used to now playing on Saturdays and Sundays and that's nice."
It's all stepping stones for O'Toole, she says, and that's how she'll view a Solheim Cup without her. Her jump from 130th on money list a year ago to 76th this year is a stepping stone, and she hopes this week will allow her to step her way right into the field for the Asian events coming up and guarantee a top-80 end-of-season finish on the money list.
"This week is important. I'm in Evian, which obviously lessens the importance of this week, but the one thing that I look at is if I look at this time last year, I was fighting to keep my status," O'Toole said. "I had to make an incredible week just to give myself somewhat of status. So if I look where I am now in relation, I've got to be happy where I stand and just look at it as stepping stones."
She's short-term focused for now. But she has long-term goals sitting in the back of her mind, too. She hated not being in the field at the season's first major - the ANA Inspiration - last year and she doesn't want to have to go through U.S. Women's Open qualifying again either.
"I've been journaling these mini goals and looking where I stand and looking at the money list and looking at, okay, the last two events, how much I made and how much do I still need and kind of tracking it," she said." I'm just going out here and obviously on the course playing one shot at a time, but at the back of my mind going, all right, just use this as one more stepping stone, get to Evian, one more stepping stone."
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