PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif. — Two of the LPGA Tour’s newest mothers made their return to Tour competition this week at the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.
Caroline Masson gave birth to Benton David McDede on April 29, 2023, and teed it up on the LPGA Tour for the first time since the 2022 CME Group Tour Championship at Palos Verdes Golf Club. While she hasn’t been inside the ropes on Tour in 16 months, the 34-year-old has still been a consistent presence throughout her maternity leave as she and Benton often traveled with Caroline’s husband Jason McDede, longtime caddie for nine-time LPGA Tour winner Nelly Korda, across the United States and to many of the Tour’s international stops throughout the 2023 season. Mother and son even ventured to Andalucia, Spain last September for the Solheim Cup at Finca Cortesin, an unforgettable experience that Benton may not remember, but one that his parents will never forget.
Even though Benton is nearly a year old, Caroline really started hitting it hard in the last few months to prepare for her LPGA Tour comeback, both in the gym and on the golf course, a process that was made a bit more challenging because of her birth experience as she ultimately delivered her son via Caesarean section.
“I thought it was really hard,” said Caroline when asked how difficult it was to get back into professional golf shape. “I had a C-section, which really is not such a big deal, but I think it is when you do try to come back as a professional athlete. We had to build my body up from zero is what it feels like. That's why I'm so proud of what I did with (my trainer) and the gym just because we built it up slowly, and I'm maybe even at this point stronger than I've been before.”
Sophia Popov teed it up in her second professional event since becoming an #LPGAMom this week at the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship, having returned to competitive golf a couple of weeks ago at the Aramco Team Series – Tampa on the Ladies European Tour. She ultimately finished in a tie for 44th in her first tournament appearance after having her daughter Maya Mae Mehles on June 8, 2023, and while it’s been a wildly different experience traveling with a baby from event to event, Sophia feels like it’s been a nice way to disconnect from the stress that can come with playing a sport professionally.
“It was very exciting to have it be a little bit different traveling with Maya, with my mom, and kind of having a whole crew and trying to figure out the schedule,” Sophia said of her first start back. “For me, not spending so much time on the golf course, that was great. I saw Maya every now and then, which was cool on the course. It was a team event, and I played with Bronte (Law), who is a long-time friend of mine, so that was very easygoing. All in all, a cool way to start the season for me.”
Both players expressed just how impressed they are with their fellow LPGA moms as well as other female professional athletes who choose to have a family while competing at the highest level on some of the biggest stages in sports. Sophia remembers watching tennis last summer, not long after giving birth to Maya, and just being in awe of WTA Tour winner Elina Svitolina’s comeback at eight months postpartum, something the 2020 AIG Women’s Open champion wasn’t sure she’d be able to do when the time came to tee it up once again on the LPGA Tour.
“I was home over the summer. I had just given birth in June. I was watching Wimbledon,” recalled Sophia. “I was watching Elina Svitolina come back, and she was eight months postpartum and made it to the semifinals. I was sitting on the couch going, there is no way at eight months I'm going to be able to do this. I am just so out of shape. I had a lot of ab separation, so you're trying to get your abs back working, functioning.
“The respect I have not just for the golfers out here, but for all the female athletes that get back into track, tennis, swimming, all these sports, it's wild. I totally underestimated it. Now I am like, go moms everywhere because I've been through it now. You know what it takes.”
Caroline agrees, saying that she admires all of the mothers playing on the LPGA Tour even more so now that she fully understands what it’s like to try and compete while being a full-time parent.
“I honestly always had so much respect for all the moms on Tour. It doubled or tripled in the last few months,” she said. “You're not only getting adjusted to having a baby and managing life with a baby but to come back on Tour and put in all that work, I thought it was really challenging physically to get back into golf shape. I hadn't really touched a club in a year, so started at what felt like zero.”
Unfortunately, both Caroline and Sophia will miss playing the weekend at Palos Verdes Golf Club after finishing with two-day totals of 6-over and 5-over, respectively, following Friday’s second round. While it stings to not play another 36 holes at the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship, the new moms have to feel proud of themselves for even teeing it up this week, considering just how much they’ve physically and mentally gone through since having their children last year.
Babies often put things into perspective for their parents, as little ones don’t care whether or not you shoot 65 or 75, make the cut or miss the cut, hit the fairway or drain a putt. They remind even the surliest, most competitive professional athletes that there’s so much more to life than sports and that nothing matters more than family at the end of the day, something that Caroline and Sophia now realize more than ever as LPGA moms.
“The actual playing is more fun now because I just see her, and after the round, I played fine, great, I didn't play well, it doesn't matter. It's a different perspective,” said Sophia. “I come off the golf course and will always have fun because I'm always hanging out with her. I won't go back and be like, what happened on 13? I just won't care anymore. I think that's great.”
Caroline feels similarly, having goals now that are no longer about results but that are more focused on enjoying the gifts she’s been given in life, both on and off the golf course, a mindset shift for which the 34-year-old is incredibly grateful.
“I think I have more goals that are about me enjoying my time out here,” she said. “Having a baby, I was thinking okay, I would like to come back, but possibly I'll never play on the LPGA Tour again. It makes you realize how awesome this life is and how blessed we are to play as professional golfers and go from one great golf course to the next and all these things that after so many years on Tour, I took for granted a little bit.
“It's more the perspective of like, you have a few years left, and I think I can play at this level but really make the most of it, enjoy it. Benton's gonna be there no matter what, so one good or bad round is not going to change my life. That's what I want to do the most is just enjoy my time out here.”
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