When it’s time, it’s time. And for Angela Stanford, that time is now.
While she had announced her intentions to retire at the conclusion of the 2024 LPGA Tour season on April 24 after she was denied a special exemption into the U.S. Women’s Open, it still caught some by surprise when Stanford shared her retirement plans in a Golf Channel interview early in the week at The Amundi Evian Championship.
Stanford joined the LPGA Tour in 2001 and may not have intended to play competitive golf for as long as she has until 100 consecutive majors began to come into view. Stanford has spent the last few years of her career trying to reach that mile marker on the LPGA Tour, a benchmark that only Jack Nicklaus has surpassed on any other circuit, playing in 154 straight majors for which he was eligible over the course of his career.
But her major run ultimately came to its conclusion at The Chevron Championship, Stanford’s 98th consecutive major start since the 2002 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, a bittersweet ending for the 46-year-old who was trying to set one of female professional golf’s unbreakable records.
“While a handful of people did not believe the road to 100 was a worthy pursuit, I feel like most did,” said Stanford in a social media post after not qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Open. “Sometimes we don’t get the results we want in this game, but I went after it. I put myself out there and went for a goal that was really hard.
“A friend of mine sent me a text saying my mom would have been proud. She would have. She taught me to go for the tough things in life. She loved the majors. They have always been the toughest. Thank you to my family and friends who have sacrificed so much for me.”
Now, with the streak ended and the sun setting on her LPGA Tour career, Stanford has officially played in her final major at The Amundi Evian Championship.
It was a fitting place for the Texas native to call it quits on major championship golf. Stanford won the tournament in 2018, defeating a quartet of players that year in Evian-les-Bains, France, including Austin Ernst, Sei Young Kim, Mo Martin and Amy Olson, who also announced her retirement from professional golf earlier this year.
And while that major victory was a career-defining moment for Stanford, coming back the next year as a defending champion will also forever hold a special place in her heart for an entirely different reason.
“That's the amazing thing about this tournament, is that when you win, they kind of put your face everywhere. It was really neat for my mom to come in 2019,” Stanford said. “She saw all the posters and everything, so that was really cool. This event, they just treat their champions really well. I think that's why it does feel special because I did win, but they just make you feel welcome.”
Stanford’s mother passed away on March 9, 2022, and Angela felt Nan’s presence as she made her way around Evian Resort Golf Club in her final major just over two years later, her mom’s words of wisdom ringing louder than ever when the golf and the emotions weren’t so easy to deal with.
“It's been the whole week, and it's funny. I felt her a lot yesterday,” said a choked-up Stanford after her final round. “Sometimes when it's the hardest times is when she shows up the most. So it's good. She's cheering in heaven.”
There were plenty of emotions for Stanford throughout the week, understandably so, considering all of the memories she’s made in major championships over the years.
The tears spilled over a bit as she got her first round underway on Thursday and then bubbled up again coming down the stretch on Sunday in France as the magnitude of what she has accomplished throughout the last two decades on the LPGA Tour finally started to hit her, particularly as Stanford was trying to calculate how many holes of major championship golf she has played over the years.
“The thing all day, I think I was on 11, and I was like, I have eight more holes,” said Stanford. “Eight more holes in a span of how many have I played? I don't even know. And I'm down to the last eight, then down to the last six, then I was on the last tee, and I'm like, this is the last major hole I'm going to play.
“I did really good all day. I kept it under wraps. I was grateful all day. And then I crossed that bridge on 18, and it just (was) waterworks. I'm a crier, so once I start, I can't stop. It's so hard. All day, I knew it was the end, but at the same time, I'm okay. I'm happy.”
But she didn’t show up at Evian Resort Golf Club just to say goodbye.
Stanford played some seriously good golf at The Amundi Evian Championship, golf that her T26 showing didn’t fully tell the story of at the end of 72 holes. She made 18 birdies and an eagle throughout the week, getting on a hot streak in the second round that saw her go eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie on holes nine through 12 before play was suspended for the day due to dangerous weather conditions.
That stretch was a reminder of just why Stanford has hung around so long, of why she won her lone major at the tricky venue, of why The Amundi Evian Championship was the place for her to hang the major sticks up. The longevity it requires to compete in 102 major championships is something that she will forever be proud of, and as careers get shorter in this modern era of professional golf, Stanford knows that even though she never got to 100 straight, 98 consecutive majors is a benchmark few are likely to meet in the coming years.
“I think the thing that I'm most proud of is that I played so many. This is 102 total, and I don't know how many females have played 100 majors,” said Stanford. “I can't imagine there are that many females that have played that many. To play in 102 majors, I played at a pretty high level for a long time. I wish I could have won more. I should have won more, probably. But year in and year out, I did what it took to continue playing all these majors.”
Her final walk on Sunday was a tough one, more so mentally and emotionally than anything else. But when the final putt fell on the 18th green and with tears rolling down her cheeks, Stanford was greeted by Jacques Bungert, vice president of The Amundi Evian Championship, who presented the 2018 Evian winner with a bouquet of flowers.
He also encouraged the crowd sitting behind the 18th green to give Stanford one last round of applause to celebrate the final major appearance of someone who The Amundi Evian Championship considers to be their adopted daughter, a reminder to Stanford of just what she means to not just that event, but to those around her as well.
“That was so nice. I didn't expect anything,” Stanford said. “This whole week (Jacques has) been, you're part of the family. You're one of ours. It just means so much. I think when you win a major, you should be in that sorority of winners. But for that specific event, I've always said Evian treats their major winners better than anybody.
“They're always happy to see me, and when I turned around and people were nice enough to clap, I said, they've made me a part of their family. I'm not from France and they've always cheered for me, they've always supported me. This is a perfect place for me to end my major (career.)"
But Stanford’s retirement celebrations are far from over. While Evian marked her final major championship, the Texan will still get to have those moments at the rest of the events on her 2024 LPGA Tour schedule, getting the chance to say so long to her friends, fans and fellow competitors every time she tees it up in the coming months.
There is also still so much for Stanford to look forward to this year. She will once again serve under Stacy Lewis as an assistant captain for the U.S. Solheim Cup team in September at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. She has a couple of titles to defend later this season on the Legends of the LPGA circuit. And she’s hopeful that an on-course commentating career will come to fruition with Golf Channel in 2025.
And even though competitive major golf won’t be a part of Stanford’s next life, the fresh page she’s turning is begging to be filled with tales from her second chapter, one that is beckoning with possibility and promise of even more adventures on and off the golf course.
But for now, though, Stanford will kick back and reflect on the past two decades of major championship golf, recalling both the fond memories and the heartbreaks, celebrating every tribulation and triumph and readying herself for all of the goodbyes that are still to come.
)
)
)
)
