Anna Foster is not thinking about trying to qualify for the LPGA Tour next season despite a very comfortable rookie season on the Ladies European Tour where she has already retained full playing status for 2026.
While her peers Sara Byrne and Lauren Walsh will go across the Atlantic in the winter to try and join Leona Maguire on the LPGA Tour, Foster is happy enough in Europe and will follow Pádraig Harrington’s nugget of advice to become a big fish in a small pond.
“I’m really happy with where I am on the LET,” said Foster after finishing as the leading Irishwoman at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open with a T12 spot which should earn her in the region of €8000.
“Pádraig Harrington gave a little nugget like, I think it’s great to be a big fish in a little pond first before you decide to kind of jump to the LPGA. I think where I am now, I’m really happy, and I want to be up near the top of the leaderboard. I think the LET is really strong, and it’s a great place to play. So not currently going to go this year, maybe next year, depending how I feel, but yeah, enjoyment is the main thing for me.”
Enjoyment is the main thing for the Elm Park star and she looks more than comfortable in each and every scenario she puts herself in. Despite the runaway Woad, Foster got a sniff of what it feels like to compete at the top of the leaderboard when she teed off in the third to last group alongside Charley Hull and Chiara Tamburlini in front of the bulk of the Sunday crowds.
She acquitted herself well with a one-under 72 for an eight-under total.
“I’m really happy with the week, really proud of myself with how I kind of come in today, new for me, playing in that type of group with like Charley Hull. So I’m just happy with the week, with how I dealt with the pressure at the beginning of the week and managed to just keep in the present and focus on what I needed to at the time.
“Charley played very nicely today, really effortless, like four under. So it’s nice to watch that.Definitely feel like I belong where I am now, so I never really had questioned that before.”
It’s now four top-20 finishes, including 4th last week, in a six tournament stretch for the 23-year-old who can now pick and choose her schedule for the remainder of the season and will crack the top-30 on the Order of Merit.
“I’m very pleased with this stretch since we got back into Europe. And I’ll be looking forward to putting my feet up and just kind of reflecting a bit on it, and be proud of myself for how I played, because the competition is really good competition out here. So to play how I’ve played, I’m really happy.”
Foster is only a professional less than a year and has already seen her peers like Mimi Rhodes and now Lottie Woad win on the LET and she admits, seeing so many of her former collegiate colleagues play so well has spurred her on.
“I didn’t have any expectations or numbers in my head of where I wanted to be. I have seen some of my peers come out and win early on in the year, and that’s kind of given me a of kick up the arse to tell myself that I am just as good.
“It’s just on the week that’s literally just depends if it’s your week or if it’s not your week. I think a lot of the rookies have just come out and not really taken too much time to adjust.”
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