It was a crowning of sorts at the Epson Tour Championship for Madelene Sagstrom. Not one, not two, but three awards at the Top 10 LPGA Card Ceremony for Sagstrom. She swept Epson Player of the Year, Gaelle Truet Rookie of the Year and the Epson Swift Award, given to the player that finishes first on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.
Sagstrom posted her record 12th top 10 finishes (in 15 starts) on Sunday at the Epson Tour Championship with a ho-hum 7-under, 64. Nobody in the history of the Tour has ever notched 12 top 10’s in a single-season. That tells you a lot about Sagstrom. When she could have mailed it in a long time ago because of how much she earned at the start of the year, she grinded until the final hole of her season, the greatest in Tour history.
She completely destroyed, obliterated, demolished or whatever other word you want to use to describe how much money she earned compared to previous bench marks. Sagstrom finished with $167,064, which is $72,486 more than the previous record of $94,578.
Think about this, Sagstrom earned more in 2016 than the Player of the Year in 2014 and 2015 combined ($144,021). Yes, combined!
“I’ve learned so much about myself and my game during my first season on the Epson Tour. I’m super excited to bring it onto the next level against the best players in the world. It is going to be a dream come true to play on the LPGA. It is a childhood dream of mine to play out there and I am just super thankful to have this opportunity to play out here (Epson Tour) and really learn. It has been so much fun and I am honored and blessed to be part of this.”
The question is what makes Sagstrom great? It’s a consistent desire to be better instead of a focus on results. She said during an interview with EpsonTour.com that everyday she goes to bed, she wants to wake up better. Expect her to work hard in the offseason to try and be better as she heads to the LPGA.
The other thing that makes Sagstrom great is her humble nature. When she was asked to say a few words at the card ceremony for winning Epson Player of the Year, the first thing she did was congratulate the other nine women that earned their cards.
It was a season to remember. She led the Tour in scoring average (70.34), putts per GIR (1.75) and rounds in the 60’s (19). She also finished second in driving distance (277.45) and tenth in greens in regulation (72.11%).
Pretty special year and she’ll cap it with a visit to New York City for a media tour with Golf.com, Golf Digest, Players Tribune and others.
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