JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Frida Kinhult can’t stop smiling. And no, it’s not only because she carded a 3-under 69 in the first round of the Mizuho Americas Open.
This week at Liberty National Golf Club is the 24-year-old Swede’s first start since the Ford Championship presented by KCC, as Kinhult had to have surgery to remove an ovarian cyst after being diagnosed with endometriosis last month.
Kinhult was forced to withdraw from The Chevron Championship to have the procedure, unable to deal with the pain that has plagued her for the last six years any longer. She shared the news on her Instagram page on April 17, seemingly in good spirits and cracking a couple of jokes in her caption about her boyfriend and PGA Tour player Vincent Norman’s ability to “caddie” for her during her recovery.
“Unfortunate update and I’m sorry to say I’ve had to withdraw from The Chevron Championship and will likely be out for a few weeks,” said Kinhult’s Instagram post. “I’ve just undergone ovarian cyst removal and have been diagnosed with endometriosis. I just wanted people to know I hadn’t totally lost my mind and started withdrawing from majors for fun. Wish I could be there – even double bogeys are more fun than recovering!!!
“Vincent Norman is caddying well so far! His ability to reheat pre-made soup is out of this world. Hope everyone has a good week! Can’t wait to be back on the road healthy again!”
Even though the pain had been a constant presence for Kinhult for quite some time, it started to feel different at the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship and the Ford Championship presented by KCC earlier this season. Resolved to tee it up in the first major of the year, the Swede tried to power through the discomfort, but she ultimately had to consult with her doctors about a course of treatment, a plan that required near-immediate surgery to alleviate her symptoms and that caused her to miss competing at The Club at Carlton Woods.
While it was disappointing to be sidelined by something out of her control, and while she would have much preferred to have this kind of surgery during the offseason, the pragmatic, unflappable Kinhult knew it was necessary for her long-term health to have the procedure done as soon as possible so she could get back out on the course pain-free as quickly as she could. And so far, that decision has paid off for Kinhult, who is having a blast being back at work this week at the Mizuho Americas Open.
“I'm feeling good. It's good to be back pain-free,” said Kinhult. “I’m just excited. It's been boring at home, but it's been good weeks, too. I've been able to watch the girls play. Obviously, a bummer missing Chevron, first week out, but it was fun to watch them play from home. I'm just glad to be out here again.”
Kinhult hasn’t been shy about discussing her endometriosis diagnosis both online and with her LPGA Tour counterparts. According to the World Health Organization, the condition affects 10 percent of the global population of females who have reached reproductive age, making it an incredibly common issue for women and girls worldwide.
And it’s for that reason that Kinhult has been so open about talking about what she has gone and is going through as an athlete with the disease.
“It's obviously quite a normal diagnosis, but not a lot of people talk about it,” said Kinhult. “I don't see why not talking about it. I've helped myself looking on Instagram and TikTok and just Googling about people writing about their experience with it. I even talked to people out here that I didn't know had it that are dealing with it every day.
“So just be open and talk about it. It's not a lot of research about it either, so it's kind of learn day by day. But, I think it's good to be open about it and talk about it. It's no shame. It's so normal.”
Her 69 on Thursday was a perfect welcome-back present for Kinhult, although the opening hole at Liberty National Golf Club gave the Epson Tour graduate fits. She made a double bogey right out of the gate on the par-4 1st hole, but after parring her next three holes, Kinhult made a pair of back-to-back birdies on holes five and six to get back to even par on the round.
She made two more birdies on the par-5 8th and par-4 9th holes to turn in 34 at 2-under overall. Kinhult then parred holes 10, 11 and 12 before striking again with a birdie on the par-5 13th hole, now sitting at 3-under with five holes to play, and she closed out her round by going birdie-bogey-par on her final three holes at Liberty National to post a 69 in her first round since tying for third at the Ford Championship presented by KCC in March.
“It's just kind of hit and hope, especially right now that I don't really know my miss,” said Kinhult, who hit 7 of 14 fairways and 11 of 18 greens on day one. “I've been swinging the golf club for about a week, so yeah, try to keep it simple. I started off with a double bogey, which was like oh, welcome back, punch in your face.
“We turned it around pretty good and gave ourselves a lot of good chances and dropped quite a lot of putts out there to make some birdies and save some pars. It was definitely a challenge in this weather, but it was fun.”
With plenty of perspective gained from her recent health challenges, fun is all Kinhult is looking for on the golf course this week in Jersey City, N.J. Good results might be nice to see come to fruition with little prep work, but it’s even more gratifying playing well after dealing with something serious off the golf course.
So, no matter what happens tomorrow on day two of the Mizuho Americas Open, Kinhult is already chalking this week up as a victory, enjoying every second she has had to be inside the ropes and playing the game that she loves this week just outside of New York City.
“I'm just excited. I'm just happy. I feel like this is a bonus,” Kinhult said. “I wasn't sure how much time I needed to recover, but I got cleared about a week ago. I'm just enjoying the moment, enjoying walking on grass, having a good time with my caddie, Bruce (Lowe). We're having fun out there. Trying to just enjoy being back really. No expectations. I mean, I could go out and shoot a 65 or 85 tomorrow. Still going to be a fun day."
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