Life on the LPGA Tour

Hello everyone!

First I want to thank everyone again for all of your comments and nice notes and emails. I really appreciate all of your support and cannot tell you how nice it is to have all of you in my corner.

This week has been so exciting! My first major championship. I am in Palm Springs, California where it is not suppossed to rain but if you have noticed the rain and wind follow the LPGA Tour. It has warmed up and it looks like it is going to be a beautiful week.

I got here on Sunday night and played a practice round on Monday morning. The rough is so thick that you can barely see your ball. The course is in good shape and the greens are rolling good so it should be a good week. On Tuesday, I was paired in the pro-am with Ben Rothesberger, the quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was really nice and his girlfriend who is an actress rode around with us too. She was the lead in the movie Stick It and is also on the television show Heroes. He also had his 2 bodyguards and his agent with him. We had a lot of people following us but it was a fun day.

I played 9 holes this morning at 6:45 am. We call that the E-9, which stands for emergency 9. Got a really good practice in and was able to work around the greens and chip and putt a lot. I play tomorrow and Friday with Julieta Granada who I played with last week in Phoenix. It should be a nice day.

The tournament will be on ESPN this week so everyone can watch and of course follow on www.lpga.com. I am looking forward to having a great week! I hope I will be jumping in the water next to 18 green this week. The only thing is they better have swimmies or a life preserver since i don’t really swim too well!

Hope all is well and thanks again for all of your support this season!

Meaghan

Hey everyone!

Well in and out and more rain delays this week in Phoenix, Arizona. Unfortunately, I fell one shot short of making the cut this week. I played much better than the scores I posted but did not make enough putts this week. I guess I used up all the putts in Mexico City two weeks ago!

I practiced today and worked on my putting and short game. My mom leaves in the morning so once I drop her off I am driving over to Palm Springs for the first major of my career and first of the year. I am pretty excited about next week! I think it will be a great week and a great experience for me. I am confident in my game and plan on having a great week at the Kraft Nabisco Championship!

I will write more early next week. It will definitely be a crazy but exciting week and I am really looking forward to it. I hope all is well at home.

Thanks again for following!

Meaghan

Hey!

Wow what a crazy last week and a half it has been. I tried to relax but it was extremely difficult to. I was on such a high and still am!

I want to thank everyone for all the phone calls, emails and texts I have received and am still receiving. I can’t tell you how much it means to have your support! I have heard from some people I haven’t seen since I used to run around at Holy Child in the gym when my mom taught there and I was just a little kid!

This week has been fun. I have been getting a lot more attention than I am used which is weird. It has been fun though. I got here Sunday night and practiced Monday and Tuesday most of the day. Today I played a practice round at 8am and finished around 1 so just practiced for a couple of hours before I got back to the hotel. I am doing laundry right now since I don’t have any socks left for this week! I saw Annika today which was crazy because I still look at her and can’t believe I beat her 2 weeks ago! It is still unbelievable to me.

Tomorrow I play at 12:19 with Julieta Granada who won the ADT Championship last year for 1 million dollars. Her mom carries her big bag so that will be fun to see! They are both so nice. The other player is Hee Won Han and she is 5 months pregnant. The Kraft Nabisco Championship next week will be her final tournament of the year before she takes her pregnancy leave. It will be a nice group tomorrow. I was glad I am playing in the afternoon since my mom is flying in tomorrow morning. It worked out great so she will be able to watch all 18 holes tomorrow.

I will write more later in the week. I have to go get my clothes and switch them into the dryer. Hope all is well with everyone! See you in May!!!

Meaghan

Hello everyone!

First, I would like to thank everyone for their comments, emails, phone calls and text messages. I couild not belive how many people were following this last week! THANK YOU!!!!

Well never in a million years did I think that I would be winning my first LPGA event in the third week of the season and on top of it never thought I would be in a four hole playoff with the #1 female golfer in the world and maybe of all time.

The week started out slow. We sat through a few rain delays which pushed the tournament to a Monday finish. It was a very long week. The first day I only played 9 holes and then I had to come out and play 27 holes the next day. I finished 27 holes at 8 under and was the tournamet leader. The rain came down and the thunder and lightning continued to transpire all day Sunday so I never got a chance to tee off. There was talk at first of maybe going to a 36 hole tournament and since I was leading I was all for it! But the tournament sponsors wanted a 54 hole tournament so we had to finish on Monday morning. The players were all scrambling to change and cancel flights and get ready to play on a Monday for the first time in 9 years on the LPGA Tour.

The final round was a little bit nervewrecking before I started. Playing in the final group in only my 3rd event of the season was something that I had never done before. I had a really nice group. I got paired with Stacy P who won the Fields Open in Hawaii a couple weeks ago and Seon Hwa Lee who was the Rookie of the Year last year and a prduct of the Duramed Futures Tour, winning her card in 2005. I was trying not to throw up before my tee time Monday morning. I was extremelly anxious and nervouis. My emotions were going in all different directions but I knew it was going to be a long day so I needed to stay patient and in the present. I had the lead all the way up to hole 13 when Annika had birdied the next 2 holes. I got to #15 and saw she had a 2 shot lead on me. I looked at my caddie and said Herbie, she had to shoot her low round today when I am seeking my first LPGA win! He laughed and said Meg, there are a lot of holes left and anything can happen. Well he was right. With my birdie on 16 and her bogey it put us tied at the top of the leaderboard and that is how the round would finish. I never thought that I would be going back to the 18th tee in a playoff with the best in the world.

After I signed my scorecard and ran to the bathroom they drove us back out to the 18th tee which was a par 5. The rules official came up with a hat with 2 numbers in there so we could pick the order and i drew number 1 so I was first to play. I smoked one down the middle and my nerves were better after that! The first playoff hole was pretty exciting. Annika hit it in there really close and I hit a wedge pretty far from the hole since I was so excited. I almost made a 40 foot putt, it hit the back of the hole and popped out! I thought it was in when I hit it. She missed hers and we went onto the next hole. We both made pars on the second and third playoff holes so we went back to the tee box which would be for the fourth and final time. Aniika absolutely killed her drive and had an option to go for the greeen. She decided not to which I was pretty shocked about. It was goign to come down to our wedge games. I was first to hit from 104 yards and hit a gap wedge up there to about 4 feet so I had put the pressure on her to hit it close. She gets up there and hits it to about 10 feet. We get up to the green and I saw her putt and said ok you better expect her to make this. She got up there and missed and I saiid to myself youi better make this because she is not going to miss anymore putts! I saw the break which was left center and stroked it and it went in! All the tension was gone and all the worries had left me. I had just won my first LPGA Tour event and had just beaten the #1 player in the world. It was something I will never forget for the rest of my life. My friends Sarah and Meredith ran out on the green along with my dad and were crying with me. It was amazing!

The ceremony was all in Spanish but it was quite alright! I recieved a check for $180,000 and a first time winner recieves a Rolex watch which was a pretty nice treat as well. Before this week nobody knew who I was but by the end of the week in Mexico City the crowds were yelling FRANCELLA FRANCELLA! What an amazing experience. It was a dream come true.

Thank you again to everyone who has followed me and to those of you who have helped jumpstart my career. I would not be able to do this without all of your support. Thank you again so much!

 Meaghan

Hola!

I hope everyone is having a great week. This week so far has been pretty good for me too. Although I was a little skeptical of coming to Mexico I have enjoyed my trip.

Well it has been a long couple of days. I only got in 9 holes yesterday for my first round and then we had weather which postponed the finish to this morning at 7:30am. I got up at 5 am and finished the first round with a 4 under 68 and then we went right back out with a twenty minute rest in between. We played 11 holes and then we had another weather delay for about 3 hours. We finally went back out at 4:00 and finished the round. I shot another 4 under 68 and I currently lead the tournament at 8 under par. Half the field has not finished 36 holes so the plan is for everyone to go out at 7:30 am and finish the second round. They are going to make a cut and repair with a hopeful start at 2pm. The tournament is going to finish on Monday morning since there is no way everyone will finish play tomorrow. I probably won’t go off until close to 4pm tomorrow so I plan on hanging out in the morning and just relaxing.

Today was definitely fun I had Golf Channel cameras following me around which was pretty cool. A little nerve wrecking but it was something I could get used to! Hopefully I can keep making some putts and stay patient. I think patience will be the key to a good finish to the tournament.

Keep following on Golf Channel and www.lpga.com for updates! I will check in when the tournament is over! Have a good rest of the weekend.

Meaghan

HOLA!

Well hello everyone! I hope everyone is doing well. I am sitting here in the beautiful locker room at the golf course! This place is amazing. The course is in great shape and the facilities are spectacular!

It was quite a trip getting here. It was my first time ever leaving the United States so going through customs and showing my passport was all new for me. I made it through ok though. Thank goodness they didn’t need to take me in the back and question me. I guess I didn’t look that suspicious. A lot of players and caddies were on my flight from Phoenix to Mexico City which was nice. I actually sat next to a couple of my friends so we were able to talk and pass the time on the flight.

It has been a little difficult to communicate with people since I have been here. The first question I need to ask is do you speak english? Some people do and some don’t. My dad, friend Meredith and I went to dinner last night and it was a little difficult communicating with the waiter because he did not speak any english. I have learned this week how hard it is to communicate and not know the language. I feel for people who come to the United States and do not know any english. It must be so difficult.

I played a practice round this morning at 9:15 (central time). We were going to play earlier but there was a frost delay this morning. The altitude here is so different than I am used to so it takes me a little time to catch my breath. We are taking golf carts this week because the walks are so difficult. My dad walked most of the course today but had a really hard time. It is definitely not a spectator friendly golf course. For example, the hill is so steep on holes 7 and 8 they don’t even let spectators see those holes. It is different from any golf course I have ever played. The yardages are so different because you have to take off 10 yards for downhill or add 10 for uphill and then factor in about 5-10 yards for the altitude. My math background is getting some major practice this week!

The tournament starts on Friday. I am playing in the pro-am tomorrow at 1:15pm and then will have all day Thursday to practice and relax a little bit. The course sets up well for me so I am looking forward to having a great week!

Hope all is well in Westchester County! I will check in later in the week.

Meaghan

HI !

Well it’s Sunday night and I am just finishing up some last minute laundry and packing up the last of my things. I am leaving Phoenix tomorrow morning at 10:55am and arrive in Mexico City at 2:55pm central time. This will be very exciting since I have never been out of the United States before. I just got a passport for the first time ever in November.

I am excited to get back into tournament golf again! Although the week off was definitely very relaxing! The season starts out kind of off and on because ater this tournament in Mexico we have another week off before our event in Phoenix, Arizona at the end of the month.

I wanted to write tonight because I don’t know how the internet access works there so I figured I would let you know this might be the last time you hear from me until I get back into the states on Monday, March 12th. The tournament starts on Friday the 9th and is only a three day event. It will be televised on the Golf Channel each day so hopefully you all will maybe see me! Also, I don’t know if you are aware of this but you can also follow live scoring (where they update my score after each hole) on www.lpga.com .

I hope everyone has a nice week. I will check in during the week if I can. But if you don’t hear from me you can follow on the internet!

Adios!

Meaghan

Hi Everyone!

First I would like to thank everyone for all of the emails I keep getting! I really can’t tell you how much it means to me to have all of this support! It is so encouraging to go out there to play and know that there are so many people following me and supporting me! So I thank you all for that!

Just enjoying a little bit of rest and relaxation before I leave for Mexico on Monday. I am in Phoenix, Arizona right now working on my game at Desert Mountain and playing a little bit around the Phoenix area.

It was a really long trip back. I spent all day Monday sleeping after the red eye flight from Honolulu to Phoenix. Monday and Tuesday I just relaxed since I was still struggling from the time difference.

I played golf today with the General Manager of the Phoenix Suns and one of his golfing buddies who was the club champion at the place we played. It was a little on the chilly side. I was wearing pants and a sweater all day and by the 14th hole I found myself with a jacket on too! Tomorrow it is suppossed to warm up a little bit. I am playing with Pat Hurst tomorrow which should be a lot of fun. I will have to bring my A game! Don’t want her to take my money! After tomorrow I don’t have any other games lined up so I just plan to practice and relax before I leave. I am going to the Phoenix Suns game on Friday night which will be a lot of fun. I am really looking forward to it. I am taking my friend Ashley Gomes with me, some of you may follow the show on the Golf Channel called the Big Break. She was on the last one and is on the one that is going on right now. It should be a fun night. We are sitting in the suite so it should be a relaxing evening. Harvey who I played with today told me that a girl from Westchester County was actually going to be sitting with us. Some of you who followed local high school basketball might know her, Hilary Howard. I remember going to her games when she played for Scarsdale High School and she went on to play college ball at Duke. I haven’t met her but have followed her career closely.

I am looking forward to a nice and relaxing rest of the week here in Phoenix. I hope everyone is having a great week and are surviving the cold weather in New York!

Meaghan