Stephanie:
I have a sports psychologist I work with. She set up this drill —
just five-foot putts in a circle around a hole. For the first ten, she gave me
all these positive comments: “You're the best putter in the world, your stroke
is amazing,” that kind of thing. I missed every single putt. For the next ten,
she said things like, “I can't believe you're going to go to Scotland tomorrow
— you're not going to win any money, you're just going to miss the cut.” I made
every putt. Every single one.

Positive things only really hit
home if you truly believe them. But when she started giving me those comments,
that Irish fire kicked in. I thought, all right, I'll show you. Being calm is
good if you're too keyed up and frustrated, but for me, getting myself going a
little and turning up the intensity really helped.

Karen:
Today's guest is an elite athlete showing up on some of golf's
biggest stages. Stephanie Meadow has been competing on the LPGA Tour since
2015. She has represented Ireland at three consecutive Olympics, and today she
continues to compete among the best in the world. Stephanie, I am so glad
you're here.

I'm Karen Norheim, and this is
Always Lifting.

Karen:
I think the best place to start is — how did you enter the golf
world? Do you remember the first time you ever played?

Stephanie:
Oh gosh, well, it's all thanks to my dad. He was the golfer of the
family — my mom was never a golfer, she's an equestrian, and golf just isn't
her thing. I don't remember the exact first time, but my dad used to take me to
the golf course as babysitting, and all of a sudden I fell in love with it. I
started taking lessons — I probably wasn't much older than five or six. I rode
horses too for a while, and then I fell off the horse and told my mom I didn't
want to ride anymore because I couldn't play golf. The rest is history. So it's
all thanks to dad.

Stephanie:
Such a special connection. He wasn't an amazing golfer — his
handicap was around 12 — but he loved the game, and it shows you that you can
inspire your kids even if you're not great at something, just by having a great
time with them and being part of it. That was a bond that was very special to
me, and to him too. He passed away about ten years ago now, but he got to see
me compete as a pro, and I know that was his dream as well. So I'm glad that
was able to happen.

Karen:
That's amazing. I lost my dad about five years ago, and it's nice to
have those memories that stay with you. I still think about my dad almost every
day.

Stephanie:
Definitely — it was very raw at the beginning. But now when I play,
I remember him, because we go back to a lot of the same golf courses every
year. I might remember him standing on the side of the ropes, or something he
said. Those are all memories I'll cherish forever.

Karen:
At some point you went on into school — when did you really realize
you were good? Because most of us suck at golf.

Stephanie:
I think I was around 11. I started playing in my first Irish amateur
junior events, and I came second in the Irish Girls Close — a match play event
— when I was 11. Out of nowhere, I went from okay to pretty good, and I played
some Irish team events that year as the 11-year-old on a team with 16, 17,
18-year-olds, which was always interesting for me. That was the moment I knew —
I really enjoy this, and I'm good at it.

But then things changed. My
parents made a huge sacrifice and decided to move to the US, and I went to a
golf academy in South Carolina. That was a weird moment — I came from this
teeny tiny country where I was really good, and suddenly I was plopped in the
middle of the US where there were a thousand more girls just as good as me. I
kept working and got better, had a pretty good junior career, but I think I
really blossomed at the University of Alabama. I won nine times there, had an
incredible coach.

Karen:
For someone so young, that's quite a thing to do — what age were you
when you arrived in the US?

Stephanie:
I was 14.

Karen:
That's early. I remember being 14 and just trying to figure things
out.

Stephanie:
There was definitely some culture shock. I was just so in love with
the game. That's something I always tell people — my parents never pushed me to
do this. They gave me the opportunity, and I latched on. I was obsessed. Not
much has changed.

Karen:
That's a good lead into what life on tour is actually like. Give us
some insight.

Stephanie:
It's very different. In college, you play maybe 12 events a year,
one week on, maybe two weeks off. In pro golf, you're playing four or five
weeks in a row, managing your own travel, your own hotels. Your body changes
when you play five weeks straight — that surprised me when I first turned pro.
There's a cut — up until pro golf, there were no cuts in any tournament I
played. In pro golf, only the top half of the field makes the weekend and gets
paid. That's a new element nothing in junior or college golf prepares you for.

The hardest part is the travel.
But you also have to remember you're living your dream — it's easy to get out
there, get focused on competing and being ranked, and lose sight of the fact
that you're actually doing what you always wanted to do. Even when it's hard, I
try to remember: I am where I wanted to be, doing what I wanted to do.

Karen:
I saw that in 2015 you won the Heather Farr Perseverance Award.
Perseverance and grit are things I value so much — these must be a necessity
for you on a whole other level.

Stephanie:
That was a really special award — it was voted on by my peers on
tour. My dad passed away in 2015, and I felt like he would still want me to
play, so I didn't take much time off at all. I got back out there, and the tour
came together as a community and really helped me through a tough time. There
were people who had already gone through what I was going through — people I
didn't even really know — who stepped up and helped me, a rookie at the time.

I kept playing. Honestly, I
don't even know how I did it looking back — but I never gave up. My parents
taught me: you never give up, you never give in, you never quit. And I never
did.

Karen:
That mindset is probably a big part of why you've been successful.

Stephanie:
For sure. You truly have to believe there's light at the end of the
tunnel, no matter how dark it gets. You have to believe, put in the work, and
find the right process for you. As long as you believe there's light at the end
of the tunnel, I believe it'll come.

Karen:
We've talked about the LPGA and your journey there, but what about
the Olympics? You've represented Ireland three times.

Stephanie:
So special. Growing up, golf wasn't even in the Olympics — it was
added for 2016 — so it was never something I dreamed of, because I didn't think
it would ever happen. Rio was the first one I played. Tokyo was strange because
of COVID — no fans at all, which is such a strange feeling for a huge event.
Paris was the opposite — we had the crowds. I had the first tee time on the
first day, playing with a French player, and they had the wraparound grandstand
behind the tee box, singing chants and the national anthem for her. There's
nothing like representing your country — hearing the anthem, wearing the logo.

The girl I played all three
Olympics with is Leona Maguire — we've known each other since I was about 12
and she was 10. To be able to do that together, and to be the first two people
ever to make it to the tour from Ireland, is pretty special.

Karen:
Is there any other tip on recovery or training? I call it CEOing
your health — the only person who's going to take care of your health is you.

Stephanie:
There are two big things. First, I've learned I really have to
advocate for myself. I've tried acupuncture, dry needling, red light therapy,
cryo — you name it, I've done it. Some things work, some don't.

The biggest thing I've changed
is how important strength training is. After my shoulder injury, I started
seeing a physio who was an ex-gymnast, and her philosophy scared me a little at
first — different exercises and heavier weights than I'd ever done in shoulder
rehab. Two or three weeks in, the pain was gone — after I'd been struggling
with it for a year. I just needed stability and strength, and I had to have
faith because nothing else was working. It worked, and I think people are
realizing how much of a difference strength training can make for your life and
your mobility.

Karen:
Thank you so much for sharing your story and what it takes to
compete at the level you're at. It's been a pleasure.

Stephanie:
Thank you. I had so much fun chatting.

Karen:
Knowing when to push, knowing when to rest, listening to your own
body — that's the grit Stephanie showed us today, and you could feel how much
she still loves the game every step of the way. The light at the end of the
tunnel is a lot easier to find with the right people beside you. If you haven't
already, give us a subscribe, and remember — always lift.