Ryann O’Toole turned professional after graduating from UCLA in 2009, with LPGA Tour dreams in mind. She won three times on the Epson Tour and officially earned her card in 2011. A career highlighted by her selection onto the 2011 U.S. Solheim Cup team, O’Toole had been knocking at the door for years. Now over a decade later, she’ll leave the Home of Golf a champion, in dominating fashion, after a week at the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open.
“I've been obviously working my whole life for this and dreaming about it since I was a kid. I feel like ten years now, wondering, when is it going to happen and I just feel like this year's been very much kind of aligning and things are falling together and I just was trying to stay patient,” said O’Toole.
The 34-year-old’s final-round 63 ties her career-low 18-hole score, last recorded at the 2018 Amundi Evian Championship, where she ultimately finished in a tie for sixth. It’s the type of score that O’Toole believed she’s always had inside her, though she remembered one of her first experiences on the links at Royal Liverpool, and the “butt kicking” she received.
“I guess take it back to my first year, second year on Tour and playing my first British Open and learning what true links was. I felt like I got my butt kicked,” said O’Toole. “After that I was like, wow, there's so much to learn and change and grasp on this style of golf and after that, I fell in love with it, how to hit a really low tee shot, how to play the contours of the green and the course and I just feel like I love this style of golf and to have this be my first win, it seems fitting.”
O’Toole, who is set to get married this December, said she’s been thinking of her life beyond golf over the past year, with the goal of having kids, and how that works with her Tour aspirations. “I thought maybe this year would be my last year or I don't even know, I haven't even really announced that. I've been kind of playing it by ear. I think just kind of letting go of this, I've got to make something happen, I've got to do this; it's just accepting there's more to life. There's a future of other things, and I think that just kind of eased up out here rather than the pressure of just making the pressure -- I'm Ryann in a lot of different ways rather than just Ryann the golfer,” said O’Toole. “I feel like it's been a long time coming as far as all the work and effort I've been putting towards getting to where I am today.
“It's always a combination of where your swing is at, where your head is at, your team with your caddie, I think that makes a huge difference. It's a partnership out there, and how you guys communicate and all that. It's funny, this is the first week we worked together and I win. So, who knows? I'm excited to see what happens next week.”
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