Teeing off in the second to last group today in Mesa, AZ for the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic Janet Mao (Johns Creek, GA) carded seven birdies and one bogey to finish the day 6-under-par. This is her first under par opening round on the Epson Tour. Last season, Mao competed in the Founders Tribute at Longbow Golf Club and went 73-71-67 to finish 5-under-par overall and tied for twenty-second.
“The course is playing pretty different that last year,” said Mao. “My mindset going in was to not think too much about what I did last year and start fresh. That is honestly what I will do tomorrow morning too. It probably won’t be as firm out there and it will definitely be a little cooler, so will approach it again with a fresh mindset.”
Last season, Mao made five cuts in ten starts throughout last season. With a full schedule ahead in 2021, the “Road to the LGPA” rookie used her off-season to reflect on it.
“Overall, I mentally needed to be a little more confident in myself. I needed to trust that I worked hard to get where I am, know that I am better than I give myself credit for and start giving myself credit where credit is due,” said Mao. “Putting last year, I had a lot of really close calls. I felt like I was putting really good they just wouldn’t fall so I tried to get a little more precise with my green reading.”
Mao attended Northwestern University which she credits with prepping her for this stage. She was individual medalist at the 2015 Shoal Creek NCAA Regional and named a 2016 All-Big Ten Second Team performer and All-Big Ten First Team in 2018.
“Northwestern was an amazing building block for me,” she said. “Prior to playing there I didn’t have any expectation to play professionally. My time there really opened my eyes that I might be better at this than I thought. And I liked it more than I originally thought. All the credit to them for bringing that out in me.”
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