Champagne Sherri

Every sportsperson has their own routine ahead of major events – and Sherri Steinhauer’s unusual preparation at Royal Lytham & St Annes helped cement her place in golfing history.

When the AIG Women’s Open was staged on the Fylde coast for the first time, in 1998, Sherri had won just twice on the LPGA Tour – the du Maurier Classic (then a major) in 1992 and the Sprint Championship in 1994 – and wasn’t among the favourites in Lancashire.

Ever a student of the game, Sherri was, however, constantly searching for anything that would make her a better player, be that a technical tweak or some sage advice from the revered golf psychologist, and friend, Dr Bob Rotella.

And her unusual approach to preparing for Royal Lytham & St Annes – the venue for this year’s Championship – paved the way for two remarkable victories.

“Before I went to Lytham in ‘98,” Sherri explained, “I had heard one of the male pros say that they had walked the course backwards before their round and it was really beneficial.

“I can’t remember if it was Seve [Ballesteros], Tom Lehman or [Nick] Faldo, but I thought it was really interesting. So I decided to give it a go.

“The way the bunkers are shaped … you can see it from the green but you can’t see it from the tee.

“So I was able to look at the bunkers from the green and map them out. Then I knew which ones I really had to avoid.”

Indeed, such was her meticulous planning – walking from the 18th green all the way back to the 1st tee – Sherri didn’t find a single fairway bunker during her four rounds.

“I used the same strategy in 2006 and I avoided a lot of bunkers then too,” she said.

“I’m a very visual person and I need to see my angles and where I should be hitting the ball from.

“For example, the 15th at Lytham [below] is a long par-4 and the entrance to the green is very narrow. If you went for the green in two you had to go between two bunkers. But having walked the course backwards, I knew exactly where they were. It gave me a completely different perspective.

“You can obviously see the hole better from the green and then you realise what you need to do to reach it!”

In 1998, Sherri recovered admirably from an opening-day 81 – 10 strokes behind first-round leaders Brandie Burton and Betsy King – using her infamous low ball flight to tame the blustery conditions and win the AIG Women’s Open for the first time.

She finished with rounds of 72, 70 and 69. It remains the biggest comeback the Championship has ever seen and the second-biggest recovery in LPGA history.

“That Thursday night I was literally looking for flights back home on the Saturday,” said Sherri, fearing she wouldn’t even make the cut.

“Golf is golf and you’re going to get down on yourself. Then I woke up Friday and the wind was howling. I just thought to myself ‘you never know what could happen’ and I went out and played really well.

“I was able to make the cut, I kept on playing pretty well and kept moving up the leaderboard. I won with a score of four-over so that shows you just how difficult it was.”

Coming down the 72nd hole, Sherri was tied with Swedish debutant Sophie Gustafson, who was in the group behind.

The Wisconsin native hit a 6-iron to within a few feet of the pin and tapped home for a closing, ultimately victorious, birdie.

An unlikely winner at Lytham, Sherri arrived at Woburn the following year as the defending Champion. Fellow American Debbie Massey was at that stage the only player to have successfully regained the title, in 1981, so Sherri knew the size of the task ahead.

Sherri explained: “I was paired with Laura Davies for the first two days.

“After the second round we were signing our scorecards and Laura said ‘all the best … and good luck with the defence of your title’ – and it really hit me.

“That really put something in my head and I remember thinking ‘yeah; that’s what I’m out here to do!’”

A 9-under-par score of 283 – which included a five-under third round – was enough to hold off the great Annika Sorenstam by a single stroke and secure back-to-back victories.

Only Yani Tseng, in 2011, has achieved consecutive Championship wins since.

“I somehow pulled it out and managed to hold on to the trophy,” was Sherri’s magnanimous assessment.

“But it was really cool, and I’ll never forget what Laura said to me that day. She’s a really wonderful person.”

The AIG Women’s Open became a major in 2001, with Sherri failing to make the cut at Sunningdale; an unwanted feat she repeated in 2002 and 2003.

She finished T42 and T39 over the next two years and by the time she arrived at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2006, she had not had a top-10 in 30 consecutive majors.

But this was Lytham, a place which held such special memories.

Sherri, then aged 43, rolled back the years and, after her customary walk of the course, played some superb golf.

Propelled by a magnificent six-under third round – and 48 consecutive holes without a bogey – she eventually saw off Cristie Kerr and Gustafson once again, this time by three strokes.

“That one was very, very special,” said Sherri. “Winning it twice was amazing, but it obviously wasn’t a major back then.

“So to win this Championship as a major really was amazing. Like the cherry on top of the cake. It was a dream.

“I had the lead coming down 18 so I could enjoy the walk more than in 1998.

“My caddie Bob Kendall and I were just delighted walking off 18; delighted that this was the reward for our week and that we’d managed to pull it off.”

No player in its 50-year history has won the AIG Women’s Open more times than the legendary Sherri. Only Karrie Webb can match her tally of three victories.

Sherri is the oldest Champion and second-oldest major winner ever, behind Fay Crocker who was 45 when she won the Titleholders Championship in 1960.

A two-time winner on the fabled track, Sherri’s name will be forever associated with Royal Lytham & St Annes, much in the same way Seve Ballesteros’ is after his Open triumphs there in 1979 and 1988.

“When you say ‘The Open’ everybody knows what that is, be it men’s or women’s,” said Sherri.

“They’re both steeped in history and played where golf began.

“So to be able to come over and play St Andrews, Royal Lytham and all these iconic golf courses is really exciting and so different to the golf courses in the United States.

“It’s a privilege to play on them, an honour to play on them and to think of all the players who have gone before you … it’s just really, really special.”