Michelle McGann was sorting through old newspaper articles when she answered the phone. The 50-year-old was supposed to be prepping for a summer of majors, including her debut in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open, but instead found herself reorganizing her signature straw hats and a bevy of beautiful shoes to pass the time. The third edition of the Senior Women’s Open was scheduled to take place this week at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield, Connecticut. McGann, who married Jonathan Satter 10 years ago, had plans to visit her in-laws in Maine during the run-up.
A hotshot junior player who turned pro out of high school before it was a thing, the statuesque McGann turned heads as one of America’s bright young stars. A seven-time winner on the LPGA, McGann has also inspired as an athlete who has battled Type 1 Diabetes since age 13.
Golfweek recently caught up with the vibrant player who lives in North Palm Beach, Florida, to talk about senior golf, straw hats and her work to help educate and support children with diabetes through The Michelle McGann Fund.
Here are excerpts from that conversation:
I play with the guys. We’ve got the Treasure Coast Senior Tour, which is guys 50, and then 45 and older the ladies, because they let me start playing when I started playing again for the Legends Tour events. We play those once a week, sometimes twice a week in the summer. Ken Duke and Thomas Levet have played the last couple weeks with us. … It’s kind of fun to have those guys join us. I shot 68 on Friday and I finished second, another player shot 63. I mean it’s good competition and no matter what you have to keep a score and compete.
I’m going to try to play in the Florida Women’s Open and also the South Carolina Women’s Open, that counts for Legends points. Our Boston and Nantucket events haven’t been canceled yet, so that’s kind of a day-to-day thing. You check your email and hope the bad news isn’t coming.
We’re in a very isolated place where we live. Everyone is kind of cautious anyway. My parents are 76. My dad’s got cancer, so we all were extremely isolated and didn’t go anywhere. … It’s been a couple years now and it’s a blood cancer, where he’s producing too many red blood cells. He’s on a chemo pill so they are able to somewhat keep it under control. Fortunately, it’s not aggressive. The biggest worry is blood clots or a stroke. So he has to try to stay active still.
We had a big summer planned – the (U.S. Senior Women’s) Open, then the Senior LPGA Championship. There were quite a few other legends events that we were going to play. (My parents) were going to go with me. Like I said, it’s a disappointment, but something we don’t have control over. We’ve just got to be grateful that we’re safe, we’re healthy.
Right now, I would say my diabetes is great. I feel good. I have a good balance of the amount
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By: Beth Ann Nichols
Title: Michelle McGann, 50, had a big summer planned. Organizing hats and shoes wasn’t it.
Sourced From: golfweek.usatoday.com/2020/07/09/michelle-mcgann-usga-senior-womens-open-lpga/
Published Date: Thu, 09 Jul 2020 16:18:52 +0000