Roller coaster year

Kelly spent a Merry Christmas in the snow of Calgary, Canada.

‘Now we look forward to what next season has in store’

WHAT a year it has been for me! Two-time Olympian, though, just sounds so much nicer.

While this year has been quite the roller coaster ride for me, I am thankful to have gotten through it and be able to look back and know that I have learned so much from the hurdles that I had to get through and also embrace the highlights I achieved.

In the middle of the (northern hemisphere) summer, I went through quite a bit of darkness as I just could not find anything positive in me to fight this game from a mental perspective.

I started to lose confidence in my ball striking and that in turn touched every other part of the game. I missed six cuts in eight tournaments and I was really devastated and felt helpless. But this was all prior to the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

I had to make a big decision about risking my LPGA season by representing Malaysia at the Olympics. If I went to Tokyo then I would have had to take off during a LPGA tournament week as I could not get back to the event in time if I went to the Games.

And so, I did it. I went to Tokyo. Nothing beats representing your country on the biggest stage of sport – the Olympic Games.

I was not really feeling good in Tokyo but I did everything I could to try and earn a spot on the podium. My fiancé Dusty caddied for me and we had lots of chat about flying over to Japan, as well as the hours of conversation at the Olympic Village, trying to get me mentally ready to play.

I was afraid, not confident, and uncomfortable, feeling a lot of negative things that week.

But it really helps when you have someone that knows you well on the bag, when you are in a situation like that.

I went out and played hard, and I gave myself lots of chances – and no, I did not finish on the podium. But I did shoot an incredible round of 64 on the final day.

It seemed like I found something new and everything just clicked in the last round. However, after that week playing in the Olympics I knew that I would have a real uphill battle trying to finish in the top-100 on the LPGA Tour.

So I committed to playing the best golf I could and building confidence to prepare myself for the Q-Series, which I knew was important to give me full playing status on the LPGA Tour in 2022.

As many of you now know I finished T12 to complete my goal of finishing my 2021 season on a positive note.

And as I look forward to next season on Tour, I just wanted to share this experience with you, the readers. It may not be a case like it is for me on the course, but you could also be going through something difficult like this in your own work or with personal issues.

Sometimes life can be dark, low and lonely. But you just never know when the ship is going to turn around. And when you have great people around you it helps.

I have been fortunate in my golfing career, to meet amazing people from around the world, companies and some individuals that believed in me even when sometimes I didn’t.

I have been blessed to have several sponsors who have supported me through this.

I am sincerely grateful to Bermaz Motor, Top Glove, Pisteou Advisory, Jasa Sarjana, J. Lindeberg and Duca Del Cosma for their unwavering support. I am really excited and looking forward to my ninth season on Tour.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my column this past year and especially want to thank my fellow Malaysians for sharing my journey on Tour. I hope you all enjoyed a Merry Christmas with your loved ones and wish you a Happy New Year. Please stay safe!