IF Sally Watson had been a shade taller, she just might have been pursuing a career in the WNBA. However, at 5 foot 6 inches, Watson was on the small side to forge a career in the professional basketball ranks so instead, she set her sights on a sport in which height is not so imperative; golf.
It was certainly a good choice with Watson one of a handful of Scots currently making their presence felt on the Ladies European Tour.
The 2017 season, which kicks off in earnest next month, will be Watson’s fourth year on the LET with the Fife native beginning her season at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco in mid-April. After an injury-plagued 2016, the 25 year-old is raring to get back on track this season.
“I’m really looking forward to getting going and Morrocco’s a great event so I’m looking forward to starting there,” she says.
“It’s been nice to have some time to work on my game over the winter and so I’m feeling good about things.”
Watson’s last few months have not been spent in the dreich Scottish winter though – rather, she has had the pleasure of honing her game in the warmth of the Florida sun.
“It’s great to go to America and get some warmer weather and so hopefully that will help me make a strong start to the season,” she says. “There’s not many better places to practice your golf so it’s great that I have that opportunity and it helps keep things enjoyable because when it’s freezing cold, windy and rainy in Scotland, golf isn’t always the most fun sport to play.
“Practicing indoors in the winter in Scotland is fine but you can’t recreate the environment you’ll be playing in and so it makes it much harder to work on the skills you really need to develop your game.
“So being in America means that I have that consistency of being able to play golf rather than just practice it over the winter which is so important.”
Watson’s American connections are long-standing. The Scot first moved to the States in 2000, when she lived in California for three years. A stint in Edinburgh followed before she returned to America to finish high school. In 2009, as an 18 year-old, Watson was accepted into the prestigious Stanford University which boasts alumni of the calibre of Google CEO Larry Page, Chelsea Clinton, Netflix founder Reed Hastings and most relevantly to Watson, Tiger Woods and Michelle Wie.
The four years she spent at Stanford were, says Watson, some of the most important of her life and not just from a golfing perspective.
“Stanford helped me develop as a golfer but even more so, I think it helped me develop as a person,” she reflects. “It was an unbelievable experience. And immersing yourself in a community that’s filled with highly successful people in all walks of life is really valuable – you can learn a lot from successful people whether they’re golfers or not.”
Watson’s time in America stood her in good stead for her foray onto the LET four years ago and in her maiden season, she finished second as Rookie of the Year. In the intervening seasons, she has consistently notched up top ten finishes although her 2016 results were hampered by a niggling back injury. With the back issue sorted, Watson is feeling confident and has the belief that as long as she is healthy, she can compete with the very best on the Tour.
“I think that this year is going to go well in terms of game improvement and taking that step to the next level,” she says.
“I don’t feel necessarily that the best players in the world are hitting shots that I can’t, it’s more just the consistency with which they do it. And if you’re more consistent, you’re more confident and you perform better under pressure so it all ties in.”
Watson’s time spent in America means that her goal, ultimately, is to play on the LPGA Tour. At 25, she still has plenty of time to make the transition and she admits that it is still too early to put a definite timescale on when she would like to make the move across the Atlantic.
This season will give her a good marker, however, about how far she has to go to reach the standard required for the LPGA.
“This year, I’m just going to focus on my game and see where that takes me but in the long-term the LPGA is definitely the goal,” she says. “I really enjoy playing in America, I’ve got a lot of friends out there and financially, the rewards are much greater so I’ll keep working on my game and see what I can do.
“But I want to make sure that when I make the transition, I’m fully ready to compete rather than just going out there to make up the numbers.”
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