Sky Sports Golf podcast: Meghan MacLaren on LPGA Tour Q-Series stresses and her 2022 ambitions
Meghan MacLaren opened up about her LPGA Tour Q-Series disappointment, securing her Ladies European Tour card and where she plans to compete in 2022 - listen to the full interview on the latest Sky Sports Golf podcast
Last Updated: 24/01/22 3:54pm
The first full-field event of the LPGA Tour season takes place this week at the Gainbridge LPGA, live on Sky Sports, with the tournament an opportunity for many of the Q-Series graduates to impress at the highest level.
The Q-Series is one of the most gruelling events in the golfing calendar, with players competing in eight rounds - across a two-week period - to try and secure their LPGA Tour playing privileges for the following season.
Meghan MacLaren was among the players who took part in last month's contest, narrowly missing out on her LPGA Tour card, with the Englishwoman revealing to Sky Sports Golf the challenges faced over her two weeks in Alabama.
"It's very hard to describe," MacLaren told the Sky Sports Golf podcast. "When you're in it, you almost don't notice until the moment either something goes wrong, or you step off the golf course. It's like holding your breath for five hours at a time or walking on a tight rope for five hours.
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"While you're in it you just put one front of the other and do what you have to do, but the second you step off, you're like oh my god, I need to lie down. But obviously, you can't lie down, you need to go practice because you know if you shoot 73 tomorrow then that could be it.
"That balancing act of trying to get the rest that you need to survive two weeks like that, whilst still playing your best golf because it's unbelievably tough and competitive, is the bit that I find the hardest."
MacLaren was inside the projected standings for a playing card going into the eighth and final round, only for her to double-bogey her opening two holes on her way to a closing 75 that saw her miss out on her LPGA Tour status.
"When it comes down to two weeks, or one round like it did for me in the end, you just don't want to be in that scenario," MacLaren added. "You want to have played well enough to have taken care of business long before that, although that's a lot easier said than done.
"I think at a certain point you just go into auto-pilot, because I don't think I could give up even if I wanted to. You find a way to make yourself believe you can still do it. I think I would've had to be five under for the round after that, which is doable, so I tried to keep it together.
"Even on the opening green, when I made double, I was scrambled then because I just wanted to rewind 10 minutes and make this never happen again. I could stand on that tee 100 times or stand in that fairway 100 times and not make double from those positions, so how did I let it happen?
"They're the questions you're trying to deal with while you're still trying to play golf, that self-doubt and pure confusion of how have I done this?! You look back and think there's a million ways to stop that from happening, but in the moment you're just trying to do the right thing."
Rather than putting the clubs away for a much-needed winter break, MacLaren immediately made the trip from the USA to Spain for the Ladies European Tour's Qualifying School, having seen her exemption for winning the Women's NSW Open ended at the conclusion of the 2021 campaign.
MacLaren avoided further Q-School heartbreak as she safely secured her Ladies European Tour privileges for 2022, finishing in a share of fourth place, although admits she is likely to spend most of the next season back playing across the Atlantic.
"I think, as of now, I'm going to concentrate on the Symetra Tour," MacLaren said. "In an ideal world, I would play great and it might free me up to play the LET later in the year.
"The one downside still is that if you want to get to the LPGA Tour, you have to go to Q-School if you want to join from the LET. You can get to Q-Series, but you can't get any more than that.
"Having been through Q-School a few times now, obviously I'm not ever trying to put myself through it. I just want to do everything I can to take that out of the equation, plus to be honest, the Symetra Tour has made me a better player and I've learned a lot about myself."
Download and listen to the latest Sky Sports Golf podcast and don't forget to subscribe via Spotify or Apple Podcasts! The LPGA Tour season continues this week at the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio. Watch live on Thursday from 4.30pm on Sky Sports Golf and - for free - on the Sky Sports Golf YouTube channel.
