MAINEVILLE, Ohio — The 2024 LPGA Tour season has not been very kind to Maria Fassi.

Ahead of this week at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G, the 26-year-old had made just five cuts in 16 total starts, earning a season-best T12 result at the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer back in June, her only top-20 of the year.

She hadn’t played the weekend in an LPGA Tour tournament since tying for 60th at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club, one of just two majors that Fassi had the chance to tee it up in this season.

And with time running out to maintain her LPGA Tour status for the 2025 season, Fassi entered the week in Maineville, Ohio, at 135th in the Race to the CME Globe, needing some great golf in the last few events of the year to get herself back inside the top-100 cutoff of players who will have full status next season.

But through two rounds at TPC River’s Bend, it seems things are finally starting to look up for Maria Fassi.

The Mexico native opened her week at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G with a 4-under 68, carding two bogeys, four birdies and an eagle on the par-5 8th hole to post her first sub-70 round on Tour since she shot 69 on day three of the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give.

Fassi then backed up that solid performance with a 5-under 67 on Friday, a second-round effort that has her currently sitting at T4 and three shots back of 36-hole leader Jeeno Thitikul.

She started the day on the par-4 10th hole and dropped two shots quickly after making back-to-back bogeys to kick off her round. She parred her next five holes before picking up a pair of birdies on 17 and 18 to get back to 4-under overall and turn in even-par.

Fassi made another birdie on the par-4 1st hole and then collected another set of back-to-back birdies on holes three and four to move to 7-under for the tournament. After parring her next three holes, she ultimately closed out day two at TPC River’s Bend with two more birdies on the par-5 8th and par-4 9th holes to card her second consecutive round in the 60s, something Fassi hadn’t done on Tour since the ShopRite LPGA Classic.

“I think it's a good setup for me. I've enjoyed it since practice round on Monday,” said Fassi. “It's been an interesting week. I've been battling some pain in my back and only played nine holes on Monday. That's all the practice I did before Thursday, so that might be a new idea to consider. I think the heat has helped to keep me mobile.

“Once I'm out on the golf course, I think we've done a very good job of taking advantage of the times that we could and then playing smart, playing to the fat parts of the green and having a two-putt and waiting for the next opportunity to show up.”

But Fassi credited a pep talk from her caddie, Alberto Doniga, as a big reason why she was able to turn things around on Friday after that frustrating 2-over start.

“Ended up making bogey, bogey to start the day,” said Fassi. “My caddie grabbed me, and he's like, ‘Hey, we made two bogeys yesterday. We're done for the day with bogeys. Let's restart, refresh. Let's go back to hitting good, quality golf shots.’ I haven't told him this yet, but he doesn't realize how much that actually really helped me and calmed me down.”

Fassi joined the LPGA Tour in 2019 and is no stranger to the on- and off-course difficulties that life as a professional golfer can present. But every time that she has found herself down on her luck, Fassi has fought tooth and nail to battle her way back, refusing to lie down and quit, even when it has seemed like the easier option. This time will likely be no different.

But no matter what ultimately happens over the next two rounds, her early play at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G has given Fassi a glimmer of hope that all of her hard work might pay off, that better times finally might be just around the bend.

“I've wanted to quit a of times this year. I've done a lot of work behind the scenes that hasn't paid off,” Fassi admitted. “(My team has) helped me tremendously. I wouldn't be here without them, not even close. I've had to rely on them a lot more than I normally would or more than I would want. Especially Donny, my caddie. He's a great caddie. He's gotten other offers to go work for people and he stayed with me.

“I love everybody on my team, and they've really helped me try to see the big picture, stay in it, stay true to my process, and hopefully, we have another two days, and we can enjoy a good week, kind of put us in a better place with only a few tournaments left in the year.”

Things Looking Up for Maria Fassi at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G

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