Steen, 24, has been trying to qualify for the Open since she was a senior in high school, so she was thrilled to earn medalist honors at sectional qualifying last month at The Woodlands Country Club in Texas.
“I’ve been close in years past and missed by two or three shots,” she said. “That’s always tough when you feel like you left a shot or two on the course. To finally qualify is an awesome feeling. It’s been a goal for me for a long time so to make that a reality is pretty exciting.”
It’s been an exciting year for Steen, who has won twice on the Symetra Tour and is well on her way to earning an LPGA Tour card for 2015. Steen is ranked No. 2 on money list with $51,401, with the top 10 at the end of the season earning cards. This is her third season on the Symetra Tour, the development circuit for the LPGA.
Steen, who spends the winters in Orlando, Fla., and summers in West Chester, has put in a lot of time honing her game with coach Tim Lambert, the director of instruction at Shaker Run Golf Club. Lambert was the head coach for the Lakota West girls team when Steen played there.
Steen has six top-10 finishes in 10 starts. She ranks second in greens in regulation (77.6 percent), third in scoring average (71.6), third in birdies (3.34 per round) and 15th in driving accuracy (80.9 percent).
“I’m just really comfortable in my own skin. That’s been the biggest difference for me,” said Steen, who played collegiately at the University of Memphis. “A lot of these courses this is my third year playing them and we (Steen and Lambert) finally feel like we’re getting to the point where my swing is where we want it to be. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty good.”
Steen will begin play off No. 10 today at 12:41 p.m. with Sue Kim of Canada and Mathilda Cappeliez of France.
Steen has experience at Pinehurst No. 2, having played in the North-South Amateur there in 2010. That was before Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw redesigned the course, replacing thick rough with more natural wire grass and sandy areas off the fairways and around the greens.
She said the difficult U.S. Open set-up should suit her game.
“Everyone goes in wanting to win it, but the main goal is to make the cut,” Steen said. “I’ve always thought that I tend to play better on the harder golf courses. I like when the courses are set up really hard. I definitely want to play on the weekend.”
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