While most of her competitors started playing the game at an early age, Steen didn’t pick up a club until she was 13 years old.
“I started kind of late,” Steen said. “I played soccer, softball and basketball before I started golf. … I didn’t even think about playing college golf until I was a junior in high school.”
Now, Steen is one step away from playing on the LPGA Tour.
Steen is currently fifth on the money list on the Symetra Tour, the LPGA’s developmental tourn. The top 10 at the end of the season earn a full exemption to the LPGA Tour.
“That has really been the goal since my junior year of college,” Steen said.
Steen finished 16th on the money list last year, making $28,642 in 15 events. A late-season slump knocked her out of the top 10.
“That was my first time in that type of hype,” Steen said. “At first, I didn’t know how to handle it, but this year I feel more comfortable with it. It was definitely something you need to get used to.”
Steen started the 2014 season with a second-place finish at the Visit Mesa Gateway Classic with a 10-under par total. In her last three events, she has tied for fifth, 10th and 14th. She’s currently fifth in player of the year points.
Steen believes the reason for the progress has been simple.
She ranks fourth in greens in regulation (76.3) and third in scoring average (70.55).
“From 100 yards in, my ball striking has been good,” Steen said. “I wanted to get my greens in regulation up and I did. It is all about scoring. My par five scores have gone down, but my putting has to get better.”
While being in the top five in almost every category on the tour, Steen is 67th in putting average at 30.45.
Steen lives in Florida in the offseason, but makes trips back to Ohio to see her parents and her swing coach. Steen still works with Tim Lambert, her coach from Lakota West.
“I am so comfortable with him,” Steen said. “He knows my swing so well. I can tell him how the ball is coming off the club and he can fix it without even seeing it. He has really helped my progress out a lot.”
Steen won six tournaments while playing at the University of Memphis. She graduated from there in 2012, playing 13 events as a rookie on the Symetra Tour that summer. Steen finished 34th on the money list, making $15,401 in 13 events.
“I watch the (LPGA) events and I know some of (the players) and it does put it in perspective,” she said. “I am a couple steps away from being there … it is pretty surreal.”
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