As rookie years go, Sara Byrne’s maiden professional campaign was just about as tough as it gets.
It’s never easy to know what is the right or wrong thing to do – you don’t find out until you do it. Byrne made the bold claim at the start of last season that she wanted to be on the LPGA Tour by 2026 – that may still happen by the end of next season, but after this year she knows how difficult it will be.
The Dromoland Castle star had Epson Tour status, which is the feeder tour for the LPGA Tour. Fifteen LPGA Tour cards were available via that tour, while the top ten on the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit are only afforded a spot in the final stage of LPGA Q-School. From that standpoint, giving the Epson Tour a rattle made sense. Combining it with the Ladies European Tour? Not so much.
Results on both sides of the Atlantic weren’t forthcoming for a long time in the first half of Byrne’s season. A run of ten missed cuts in thirteen put her LPGA dream to bed but also left her in hot water on the LET, with a battle on her hands to regain her status for 2026. After the anguish of balancing a hectic travel schedule and different time zones took its toll, a jaded Byrne made the difficult decision to prioritise the LET for the final few events of the season. From there, she finished fifth in Switzerland and made four of her last five cuts to keep her card.
“If I was to do it again, would I play LET and Epson in the same year? No,” Byrne admits. “But we were only ever going to find that out by doing it. I don’t regret anything, but I definitely found out which tour I like and where I want to be, and that’s the LET. I want to play that fully and I made that decision in July. I was like, ‘I am done travelling and playing two tours.’ Once I did that, things began to look up a little bit and the tide turned. Definitely a lot was learned.
“I was going from Florida to South Africa, back to California and back to Amsterdam with no break. Fly on a Sunday, arrive Monday for a Thursday tee-off, and different continents and different time zones. Looking back, I actually don’t know how I managed. It was physically and mentally draining. It was burnout incoming, so I called it off at the right time in July. If I had kept going it would have taken a huge toll on me.
“Switzerland was a mental shift. We were seeing the hard work I was putting in. I had a local caddie that week so I stood up and made all of my own decisions and came fifth, so that was an awakening for myself, to know I can do it on my own. It was the week that made me keep my card in the end, really.”
The 2025 season didn’t go the way Byrne wanted, but she was brave to tackle everything and every possibility head-on. She was equally brave in deciding when enough was enough and that playing on two tours just isn’t sustainable. Heading into the new season, Byrne will be solely focusing on Europe.
The LPGA dream still lingers, but she won’t be caught trying to chase it too quickly. After a learning year she knows that patience is her best virtue, and with the stability of knowing which tour she wants to compete on, there is no doubt that the struggles of this year could pave the way for a very bright and successful future.
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