A few weeks ago, Patricia Isabel Schmidt’s life changed when she clinched her maiden LET title winning the Belgian Ladies Open.
The German came from behind on the final day firing a round of 66 (-6) to secure a two-shot victory at Naxhelet Golf Club.
But the reality of what she achieved didn’t sink in straight away, in fact it’s only just begun to sink in now.
“I think it’s sunk in a little more,” she said. “When I looked at the Rolex Women’s World Golf Ranking and saw the huge jump and also in the Race to Costa del Sol and what’s still crazy is being entered in the huge co-sanctioned events in August now.
“It feels surreal. That’s pretty much when I realised it changed everything. I thought in August I was going to have a break and go to Sweden like I always do but now I can tee it up in a Major.”
Schmidt heads into the Amundi German Masters as one of the players to watch at Golf & Country Club Seddiner See.
The 27-year-old has never played a professional event in her home country and is looking forward to being able to do so.
Visually the course this week is similar the one in Belgium, but the leader of the LET Rookie of the Year says there are some differences.
“It’s a nice course and pretty straightforward,” she explained. “There are some nice par-fives where I hope to take advantage of a good drive and a nice iron in, so that always helps.
“There’s a couple of longer par-fours which can be really tough. It’s a nice course and they’re good greens and they already got faster from yesterday to today, so I’m looking forward to the week.
“It’s similar to Belgium visually, but I think in Belgium I’m not sure if it was because we had downwind on so many holes you could land it in front of the green and let it roll a little. Whereas here I think you have more bunkers in front, and I think the greens are a little softer and spin more, but it looks similar.”
Schmidt continued to tee it up on the LET after her win and has not taken a break from playing since her victory.
She has belief in where her game is at and acknowledges that at last week’s Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed, she made some strategy errors.
And she is not putting any additional expectations on herself, instead she is always just trying to play the best she can.
She added: “My game is quite okay. In Helsingborg, I took it as a relaxed week and tried to enjoy the win from the week prior and enjoy being in Sweden and going swimming and all that. I didn’t stress myself because of that.
“Last week, my long game was pretty okay I just made some wrong decisions such as I would have laid up in a different area. I think my score didn’t result in super bad shots, or that one part of my game wasn’t working out. I think it was more strategy. I had a good feeling, especially from the tee box, and that helps if you’re in a good position.
“I’m always just trying to do my best. People can always have the week of their life and beat you. I always try to do my very best and be relaxed and don’t worry about the shots and give it a chance to be good and let’s see.”
The German will begin her first round at 1.57 pm local time alongside compatriot Chiara Noja and Slovenia’s Pia Babnik.
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