The glamorous life of golfers isn’t the easiest. The proof of which can be seen with a golfer juggling between personal and professional life. Notably, many prominent names over the years have stepped away due to the constant pressure of the sport. Take the example of Lexi Thompson, who retired after a 14-year career in 2024, citing mental health struggle and prioritizing personal life. Well, not only her, but another big name, Michelle Wie West also struggled to make a balance between the two.

Apart from the personal life, motherhood can also be a key factor affecting the professional decisions of any golfer. Michelle Wie West was also affected while juggling between the roles and injuries. She joined the LPGA Tour in 2009 and since then has been the top pick with her exceptional performances. She won 5 LPGA Tour events, including the U.S. Women’s Open in 2014. But the golfer recently shared her struggles in the Quite Please podcast with Mel Reid and Kira Dixon.

The ex-LPGA professional got married in 2019 and welcomed her first kid in 2020. Despite motherhood, she assured the fans about her comeback, but it wasn’t for long as she retired in 2022. Now, during the podcast, she shared fond memories as a professional golfer and mother. She explained how life changes upside down with waking up all night, adopting motherhood, all the while being a professional.

She said, “Because I was a professional athlete, that was a really hard thing to get adjusted to.” Playing a professional sport, the athlete has an entire team assisting her throughout, be it a nutritionist, trainer, and caddie. As the primary aim of a player is to focus on health and getting the best results on the course, but embracing motherhood changes everything. The result of which can be seen since she welcomed the first kid. Out of the 9 events, she missed cuts in 6. Even her last appearance at the US Women’s Open had a missed cut finish.

Despite the struggles of becoming a mother, West even shared about the struggle away from the course and how society changes with the period of motherhood. She pointed out a weird thing that she felt about the society. West said, “It’s amazing how different people are towards you. Like when you are travelling, pregnant people on your way will open doors for you and be like oh my god, please sit down, and all of a sudden when you are traveling with young kids, people are a–holes.” She further discussed multiple encounters when people reacted differently as compared to her pregnancy period. Even Mel Reid joined in, sharing her instance of traveling on the plane with her young one.

Not just her, but the struggle with the LPGA professional can be seen with others as well. Last year in 2024, Amy Olson and Emma Talley chimed in on the same.

LPGA professionals come together to share their struggles before retiring

Among the many golfers who retired in 2024, Amy Olson and Emaa Talley cited a similar struggle as shared by Michelle Wie West of motherhood for her retirement. Both golfers parted ways in 2024 to focus on their personal life leading towards the bigger role of motherhood. During an interview with Golf Monthly, Olson talked about her decision to step away at 31 and how other peers also face the same problem, which forces them to retire early in their career.

Speaking about her personal life, leading to marriage and having a family, she went on saying, “And so there’s always this clock ticking in the back of your mind and you’re sitting there calculating, ‘okay, if I retire now, how many kids can I have before my time runs out?” After sharing the reality, the golfer did choose her path to excel, while sacrificing the other.

She also talked about her preference after becoming a mother in September 2023. Olson said, “For me, if I was going to fail at something, I’d rather fail at golf than motherhood. I just didn’t know that I had it in me to do both at the same time.” She expressed how other mothers managed to be good at both roles, but for her, priorities were clear. And to not emphasize juggling multiple roles.

Even Talley announced her retirement, saying, “I am getting to relax this year. Usually, this is where I spend my off-season to grind and practice, but this year, I don’t have to grind and practice because I am retiring.” Later, she even shared the news of her pregnancy on Instagram, which resulted in her decision to part ways. The post read, “Christmas came early. The greatest gift we could have asked for. Baby girl Smith coming June 2025!!”

For a professional, the tiring routine and 32 events to participate in the calendar can lead to burnout. Sharing for which many golfers have taken the route away from the course towards prioritizing personal life and family. What are your thoughts on this? Can there be any changes that one can adopt as a professional? Share with us in the comments below.