After she missed a putt on the final green of her U.S. Women’s Open qualifier last week, Maria Fassi sent out a text. “You’ve had to make a lot of putts in your lifetime. What do you do differently?” the message read.

Stacy Lewis, Lorena Ochoa, Annika Sorenstam and Angela Stanford likely all answered Fassi’s inquiry differently, but all of the words of encouragement she got from those women’s golf legends stuck with her as Fassi battled to make the cut on Friday at the MEXICO Riviera Maya Open in her home country.

She opened her week with a 3-over 75 at the El Camaleón Course at the Mayakoba Resort in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and knew she needed to shoot even or better in the second round if she wanted to play the weekend in front of her home-country crowd. With both that pressure and the advice she received from some of her mentors in the back of her mind, Fassi fought tooth and nail on day two of this inaugural event, posting an even-par round of 72 that saw her hole a critical birdie putt on 18 to make her first LPGA Tour cut since the 2024 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G last September.

“Actually, at (a U.S. Women’s Open) qualifier last week, I had a similar (putt) on the last hole (and I) missed it,” Fassi said when asked about her closing birdie. “I had texted Annika, Angela Stanford and Lorena and Stacy Lewis, I asked them, hey, you guys have had to make a lot of putts in your lifetime. What do you do differently? They each gave me their opinion and perspective on things.

“I feel like I put all their pieces of advice in a blender and executed properly on 18, so I'm very happy that I have all four of them in my corner. I respect them as people, as golfers, obviously. I knew I had to take a couple extra deep breaths and trust my putter was going to take care of it.”

Trusting herself has been tough for Fassi over her last two seasons of playing professional golf, as she lost her full LPGA Tour status after finishing 120th in the Race to the CME Globe last year. She has only made one start on the circuit in 2025 after being given a sponsor exemption into the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass, and the Mexico native ultimately missed the cut that week at Whirlwind Golf Club, another disappointment that Fassi had to fight to remain unfazed by.

Fassi has been playing primarily on the Epson Tour this season, and that experience has also proven to be a bit of a learning curve for the University of Arkansas alum, as Fassi has yet to finish better than T39 while competing on the Official Qualifying Tour of the LPGA.

Not living up to your own expectations is difficult for a professional athlete, and Fassi has admitted in the past that it’s been hard at times to give herself grace when dealing with her failures, but the 27-year-old has been working hard on that, dividends that she is hoping pay off sooner rather than later. A solid finish in her home country would do wonders for Fassi’s confidence as she works through some of the challenges she has been facing both physically and mentally in her golf game, and her Friday performance at El Camaleón is certainly a step in the right direction for Fassi, who just this week was added to the field at the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills after finishing as an alternate in a May 13 qualifier.

Teeing it up in a major championship is an opportunity that every professional golfer relishes having, and Fassi wants to be as ready as possible for her latest chance to do so next week in Wisconsin. So, she will be treating these next 36 holes in Mexico as excellent on-course preparation for her third LPGA Tour start of the 2025 season and will be working to shore up some of the nitty-gritty aspects of her golf game as she readies herself for another major test.

“Honestly, extremely proud of the work I did out there today,” Fassi said. “Obviously, super happy I get to play two more days in Mexico. But in general, I'm happy I get two more days to go at it, preparing for the U.S. Women's Open next week. I think it's such a great test of golf. I just wanted to keep seeing it and keep seeing good golf shots.”

But Fassi also wants to remember that playing the weekend at the MEXICO Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba is another opportunity to inspire the next generation of female golfers in Mexico, and she will be doing everything she can to do just that in this moment, as Fassi vividly remembers the impact that Lorena Ochoa and the tournament the 27-time LPGA Tour winner hosted back in the day had on her life and her aspirations of playing professional golf.

“I think it's so important to have it back,” Fassi said about this tournament. “I picked up a golf club because having the LPGA come to Bosque Real and me wanting to follow Lorena around. It's so big for exposure. I think the sport is growing a lot out here, but we were still lagging a little bit behind on the women's side without a golf tournament. Being able to bring the girls out here, show them our country, show them a very challenging golf course, it's a lot of fun.

“For me, it means the world. The guy that taught me how to play golf, my family invited him to come out. It's the first time he's watched me compete as a professional. It's been a very, very emotional week, and very relieved I get to do two more days.”

Leaning On Advice From LPGA Legends, Maria Fassi Fights to Make Cut in Mexico

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