Marissa Steen (West Chester, Ohio) had the worst omen of all: the flu on Christmas Eve 2014. It was right after the best season of her career, a three-win campaign punctuated with the top spot on the Volvik Race for the Card money list and the Epson Player of the Year award. The lightly recruited high school player that held a 79.1 scoring average as a freshman at Memphis was now off to play on the best Tour in the world for the first time. It was a dream come true. Unfortunately, the flu caused a lot of coughing which a week later led to pain in her ribs. But, there was no time to rest, the 2015 LPGA season was around the corner.
She missed the cut at the season opener in Ocala and then flew to the Bahamas for the second event. She was in so much pain that her practice round was limited to just getting familiar with the course and picking her lines, no shots. On Tuesday, she was on the range hitting half-wedges only and on the third swing felt a pop in her side on impact and she got the wind knocked out of her. She took Wednesday off and strongly contemplated withdrawing. Steen decided to play, albeit on pain medication, and actually made the cut and finished T38. She had hope, but it turned out to be false hope.
The day before heading to Australia, Steen saw Dr. Thomas (Medical Director for the LPGA) in Melbourne, Fla. They looked at the results and a broken rib was likely, but Dr. Thomas wanted to get confirmation from the x-ray technicians. Steen was off to Australia and had no cellphone service so she didn’t get the official diagnosis until returning. The voicemail confirmed Steen had not one, but three cracked ribs.
She wasn’t fully healthy until mid-May and then the issues turned mental.
“Because I was trying to protect myself, I wasn’t swinging aggressively and I wasn’t making a real athletic move at the ball,” said Steen from her off season home in Lake Mary, Fla. “When I wasn’t hurt anymore, I couldn’t convince myself to just let it go.”
Steen missed the cut in the final eight LPGA events of her year and it wasn’t until the offseason when she forced herself to forget about the injury and just move on.
“I’ve played sports since I was four or five years old and that was literally the first injury I have ever had,” said Steen. “I had never been through this before, plus I am coming off the best season of my life and I was on the biggest tour in the world and that’s what made it so hard.”
The 2016 season started for Steen right after her final LPGA Tour event in Prattville, Ala. Steen said her mechanics took a big hit in 2015 in part because of the injury and she lost consistency from her full swing to her putting stroke.
“I spent the offseason trying to rebuild my golf season,” said Steen. “I think my golf swing is better now than it was in 2014 when I had such a good season.”
Steen made a change in her swing and has been able to take the change from the practice range to a competitive round for the first time in her career. She’s always had a shallow takeaway and she worked on getting a steeper backswing. It helps her to compress the ball with more consistent solid contact. She also worked on her putting mechanics and is seeing early dividends.
“This was one of the best putting events I’ve ever had,” said Steen, who finished T8 in at the IOA Championship. “There was only one putt that I missed where I really felt like I should have made it. It’s great to see all the work on mechanics I’ve done pay off early.”
Now, Steen is at the point where she just needs competitive rounds to help boost her confidence so she feels comfortable with the changes in a competitive environment.
“This is the best my swing has ever felt.”
Steen will spend the season aiming for a return trip to the LPGA, a place she belongs regardless of the results in 2015.
“I have a goal to win on the Epson Tour again, hopefully multiple times,” said Steen. “I honestly believe, even though it wasn’t the lowest round I’ve shot, I really think my Sunday round (at IOA Championship) was probably one of the best rounds I’ve ever played, especially short game wise. I think it’s going to be a really good year. My game is coming back into form and the main goal is to get back to the LPGA."
With her work ethic and determination, don’t bet against Steen accomplishing her goals.
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