Maude-Aimee Leblanc stepped away from golf after a disappointing 2019. Now the Canadian is back on the LPGA Tour

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This article was published 25/01/2022 (1716 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BOCA RATON, Fla. Maude-Aimée Leblanc took one look down the fairway of the long seventh hole at Boca Rio Golf Club and effortlessly ripped a drive 40 yards past her playing partners Tuesday morning.

The long, fluid action of the six-foot-one Leblanc was a familiar sight on the biggest stages in women’s golf for nearly a decade. After a disappointing 2019 on the Symetra Tour, however, she decided to retire.

But the native of Sherbrooke, Que. found herself without much to do in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. When golf came back on television, she was re-inspired to take up the game again. She changed the way she putted — the part of her game she had always struggled with — and started having fun again on the course.

Leblanc turned in a solid, if unspectacular campaign on the Symetra Tour (the Triple-A circuit for women’s golf that will be renamed the Epson Tour on Wednesday in a new title-sponsorship deal) in late 2020 before she broke through in a big way in 2021. She finished sixth on that tour’s money list and regained LPGA Tour status for 2022 after earning more than $94,000 (U.S.).

She makes her return as a full-fledged member this week at the Gainbridge LPGA Classic at Boca Rio.

“There are a lot of familiar faces, but lots of new ones too. I guess I’ll have to meet some new people this year,” Leblanc told the Star with a laugh. “But I’m just excited to get going.”

Leblanc turned professional in 2012. She never finished higher than 81st on the LPGA money list.

Still, Lorie Kane — a four-time LPGA winner and member of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame — has always been high on Leblanc’s ability. Stepping away from the game, Kane predicts, will be a big help for her as she returns.

“When someone tells you that you have this potential, it’s what you do with the potential. And sometimes it can be crippling when people tell you you’re good and you haven’t done anything,” Kane told the Star. “I think overcoming that, she probably had an ‘a-ha’ moment.”

Leblanc, who had nine top-10 finishes on the Symetra Tour last year, tested positive for COVID-19 a few weeks ago so couldn’t practise as much as she had hoped for her first event of the season. She said she can still “play pretty good golf” with what she has right now, though.

“This week I’ve already hit a decent amount of drivers,” said Leblanc, “so I can take advantage of that, definitely.”

While Leblanc is returning to the LPGA this season, Maddie Szeryk of London, Ont. will be a tour rookie after earning status via a gruelling eight-round qualifying event late last year.

Szeryk spent 10 days over the holidays in Canada before returning to her home base in Dallas to prepare. She’ll play a few events on the Symetra Tour to stay sharp, she said, before getting into LPGA events starting in late March.

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Szeryk told the Star by phone she’ll start the year focusing on keeping little things sharp as she gets more comfortable.

“Practice is more fun now,” said Szeryk, “because it’s like, ‘OK, I made it.’ It’s something bigger now.”

Brooke Henderson said she’s thrilled to have more countrywomen on the LPGA Tour and acknowledged both Leblanc’s return and Szeryk’s qualifying-school effort were impressive. Alena Sharp will have partial LPGA status in 2022 to round out the Canadian contingent.

“It’s cool to be able to have all these maple leaves on the leaderboards,” said Henderson. “The fans back home are going to love it.”

Adam Stanley is an Ottawa-based contributor to the Star’s Sports section and the host of golf podcast Next Round’s On Me. Follow him on Twitter: @adam_stanley