Douglas rookie Sara Byrne has learned the hard way about how difficult it is to play a schedule on both sides of the pond.
Byrne, who has status on the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA’s second tier Epson Tour, has been jetting back and forth across the Atlantic this season. Even the best in the world have struggled to adapt to playing in both Europe and America.
It is a predicament for Byrne. The LET offers no direct route to the LPGA Tour while Epson provides ten cards for the following season. Admirably, Byrne had no interest in consolidation as she began her rookie season, with the LPGA firmly on her mind. But she knows she needs to make a decision soon on which tour to commit to towards the end of the season.
“Halfway through the year, I’d probably say yes, just because it’s maybe not going my way at the moment,” Byrne said when asked if she wished she had just one card rather than two. “The Ladies European Tour is great, more money, more world ranking points, a little bit closer to home. But I want to get to the LPGA, and Epson Tour seems to be the only way to do it.
“I know it’s a really hard to say, yeah, one tour is better, but then I want to get to the LPGA, so it’s definitely difficult in a rookie year trying to figure out everything on two tours as well.
“So look, lots of learning, and that’s all I wanted to do this year.”
Byrne isn’t exactly in no mans land as she lies 66th in the LET’s Order of Merit which means she’s on track to retain her card. But it’s been a tricky season for her missing six cuts in total on both tours.
The Dromoland Castle star is 94th on the Epson Tour with a best finish of T28 while on the LET she has two top-15 finishes and was one shot off the pace in the season opening event heading into the final round.
So, is Europe her best bet?
“I don’t know. It’s kind of up in the air at the moment,” she confessed. “I might have to make that decision.
“It’s hard to play both tours but that’s what the best players in the world have to do.
“Charley (Hull) and Georgia (Hall) go over there and they come back. So just learning that is the name of the game really. It’s been tough. It’s been a hard year but we are getting there.”
“My plan is to go back to the US, but it’s kind of all up in the air. I decide week in, week out, what I want to do and when I need a break and stuff like that, because crossing the Atlantic isn’t the easiest of things.”
Friday at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open was another day where the Cork woman was left wondering. Despite taking over 30 putts on day one she finally found her form on day two, rolling four birdies in a row to leap inside the cut mark before a double bogey on 5 and bogey on 8 saw her miss the weekend by the minimum.
“I feel like I’m not playing well, and seem to be missing the cut by one a lot, and that hurts even more than missing by 10, I think. But it is what it is. We have to keep working, keep getting better.”
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