ERIN, Wis. — Julia Lopez Ramirez’s rookie season on the LPGA Tour hasn’t gone exactly the way the young Spaniard had envisioned.

The 22-year-old earned LPGA Tour membership for the 2025 season after tying for 10th at the Final Qualifying portion of LPGA Q-Series last year, and her first couple of starts saw her miss the cut at both the Founders Cup presented by U.S. Virgin Islands and the Blue Bay LPGA, something that isn’t rare for a rookie to do as they start their careers on the biggest professional circuit in all of women’s golf.

But after finishing her second round in the latter of those two events in the People’s Republic of China, Ramirez began to have stomach pain, what she thought was going to be a nasty bout of food poisoning.

It was only when she returned home and finally saw a doctor, however, that Ramirez quickly realized that she was dealing with something more serious, something that would ultimately put her out of commission on the golf course for a bit longer than she had expected.

“The doctor says the appendix is higher than where your stomach is. That's why it feels like food poisoning,” Ramirez revealed at the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro. “It ended up coming lower where the appendix is, and that's what happened to me. It started high, and I thought was food related, and then I got back, and I couldn't move my right leg, and they say that's appendix.

“It's crazy. I thought it was food, and I wasn't feeling good, and I ended up going to the doctor, got scans and ended up being in surgery in the same day.”

After taking some time off to recuperate from her appendectomy surgery, Ramirez returned to competitive golf at the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass, and even though she finished 73rd, the former Mississippi State University Bulldog glimpsed some promising positives in her golf game, having carded a 6-under 66 in round two at Whirlwind Golf Club.

However, it took quite a bit of time for Ramirez to finally start feeling like herself again, particularly as it related to her distance, something with which the European has never had much trouble before her appendix ruptured. But making the cut in her last two LPGA Tour starts in Utah and Mexico and kicking her U.S. Women’s Open debut off with a bogey-free 68, what’s her first blemish-free round as a professional golfer, has substantially bolstered Ramirez’s confidence in her recovery efforts.

“(My rookie season) was definitely a rollercoaster at the start,” Ramirez said. “Going through surgery, it took me quite a while to recover and get back to my distance, my game. But back from it, I would say I worked really hard on it. Came out working out and practicing quite a lot. Out here, everyone practices quite a lot, and you've got to keep up with the game. I feel like I kept myself in practice and kept myself in my bubble to know things happen, and you've just got to keep going with it.

“Right now, I feel like things are turning the right way because I'm more recovered from it and excited about the game coming in. It's exciting to see.”

The first round saw Ramirez sit alongside five other players in a tie for first at 4-under, and it was the first time since 1992 that the U.S. Women’s Open has seen five or more players hold the co-lead after day one of this major championship. Going bogey-free in the first round of your debut in what’s arguably the most difficult tournament in the LPGA’s current rota is no easy task, and considering what Ramirez dealt with off the golf course before advancing through qualifying to earn her place in this 156-player field, her Thursday moment at Erin Hills is a signal that all those struggles were ultimately worth it.

But there’s still golf left to play at the 80th U.S. Women’s Open and increasingly difficult conditions for Ramirez to deal with over the weekend in Wisconsin. So, while her 68 was a strong effort on day one, Ramirez is going to try and keep hanging tough as she works to record her career-best finish in both a major championship and on the LPGA Tour at Erin Hills.

“(The 68) gives me confidence for the rest of the week, but I do agree that it's a hard golf course,” Ramirez said. “Mistakes are going to be made. We are not robots out here, even though we're really good players out here. But I just say I have to keep myself patient out there.

“As long as I'm in control, that's all I can do.”

Julia Lopez Ramirez Riding High After Recording a 68 in Round One of U.S. Women’s Open

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