Emma Talley will have to make a decision about which tour to play on this season.
Staying competitive on the LPGA Tour is no easy task not only because of talented veteran players but also the constant influx of younger, talented players.
Emma Talley was a three-time Kentucky high school state champion before winning a NCAA championship at Alabama. She also won the 2013 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
Talley, 30, turned professional in 2015, joined the LPGA Tour in 2018 and had two top-10 finishes and was 52nd on the money list. She also got her first victory in 2021 at the ISPS Handa World Invitational but lost in a playoff to Pajaree Anannarukarn.
The last six months the Princeton, Ky., native has dealt with a thumb and left hand injury.
“But there’s no pain now. I am doing what the doctor said and it is not impacting my golf at all,” Talley said. “I do have to baby it as far as practicing and doing everything i always do. I was worried a few months ago and switched clubs because of it. A lot of little things have helped me heal and I really feel like I am at the best place in my golf career that I have been.”
Talley, a four-time All-American at Alabama, made the cut in nine of 21 events last year on the LPGA Tour with a season best third at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational. She earned $174,473.
“Right now I do not have great status on the LPGA Tour. I have been playing on the Epson Tour and sprinkling in LPGA events. I will have to decide which tour to go with in May. I don’t want to get to the end of the year and just have okay status on both tours,” Talley said. “By the end of May I will know which is best for me.
“If I happen to play well on both tours, it could get tricky. If I play well on Epson and not the LPGA, that could make for a weird decision but one I would have to make. But good golf takes care of itself and it will all work out.”
Talley feels like she is playing the “best golf” of ever life which is a big statement considering all she’s done.
She switched coaches after last season and is now working with Atticus Bellen of The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green.
My game is better than it has ever been,” she said. “I have a lot of confidence in my game. I am older and more experienced. I just need some good opportunities. If I go Epson, I have to just let go of my ego. It would be kind of weird to go backwards in my career but if I have to do that, I will do it.”
She tried to gain distance in 2019 since she was not one of the LPGA Tour’s biggest hitters. However, that cost her accuracy.
“My game kind of fell apart. I lost my swing,” she said. “I worked with Graham Benson all last year in Nashville and he set me up and Atticus has just made it better. I truly am playing the best golf of my life.”
Talley married professional caddie Patrick Smith of New Zealand in January of 2023.
“Being married is great. I definitely married the right guy. He has been selfless about my career,” Talley said. “He has made it to where I can basically play golf this long. Someone not willing to travel and be here with me, I don’t know if I could have done this for this long or not. He’s a goodie. He’s a good golfer, too, but he stays out of my game. We keep business and our relationship separate or we probably would not still be married.”
Smith, who does not caddy for Talley, have not been on a trip together outside of golf or family.
“We just don’t want to get back on a plan with all the travel we do,” Talley laughed and said. “But we have booked our first trip for May.”
