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Sophia Popov

Sophia Popov
Popov in 2019
Personal information
Born (1992-10-02) 2 October 1992 (age 32)[1]
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.[3][4]
Height5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Sporting nationality Germany
ResidenceWeingarten, Germany
SpouseMax Mehles[2]
Children1[2]
Career
CollegeSouthern California
Turned professional2014[3]
Current tour(s)LPGA Tour
Symetra Tour
Professional wins4
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour1
Ladies European Tour1
Other3
Best results in LPGA major championships
(wins: 1)
Chevron ChampionshipT44: 2022
Women's PGA C'shipT23: 2020
U.S. Women's OpenT26: 2024
Women's British OpenWon: 2020
Evian ChampionshipT60: 2021

Sophia Popov (born 2 October 1992) is a German professional golfer who competes on the LPGA Tour.[5]

Personal life

Popov holds dual United States-German citizenship, having been born in the United States, and moved to Germany with her family when she was four years old.[3] Her paternal grandparents are Bulgarian.[6] On 11 June 2023, she and husband Max Mehles announced the birth of their daughter.[2]

Amateur career

As an amateur, she played college golf at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.[7] She won the 2010 International European Ladies Amateur Championship and played on the Junior Solheim Cup and Espirito Santo Trophy teams.[6]

Professional career

In 2015, Popov was part of the German broadcast team for German television during the Solheim Cup.[8]

Popov played on the Symetra Tour between 2016 and 2020, where she had a best of four runner-up finishes: 2016 Chico's Patty Berg Memorial, 2016 Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic, 2017 Tullymore Classic and 2020 Founders Tribute at Longbow.[9][10] In 2016, she qualified for the U.S. Women's Open at CordeValle,[11] where she finished last of those making the cut, and in 2018 she played in the Women's PGA Championship at Kemper Lakes, finishing tied for 57th place.

In February 2019, Popov came within a stroke of gaining a place on the LPGA Tour for the 2019 season via the qualifying school. In 2020, with the LPGA and Symetra tours being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, she won three tournaments on the Cactus Tour, a mini-tour based in Arizona. She followed that up with victory in the AIG Women's Open at Royal Troon, having qualified by means of a high finish at the Marathon Classic. Prior to the Women's Open, Popov was ranked 304th in the world.[12]

Amateur wins

  • 2008 European Ladies' Club Trophy (individual), German Girls Championship (Under-16)
  • 2009 European Ladies' Club Trophy (individual)
  • 2010 International European Ladies Amateur Championship, PAC 10-SEC Challenge
  • 2011 PING/ASU Invitational, PAC-10 Championship
  • 2012 Battle at Rancho Bernardo
  • 2013 SDSU Farms Invitational

Source:[13][5]

Professional wins (4)

LPGA Tour wins (1)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other LPGA Tour (0)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 23 Aug 2020 AIG Women's Open −7 (70-72-67-68=277) 2 strokes Thailand Thidapa Suwannapura

Cactus Tour wins (3)

  • 2020 Event 14, Event 16, Event 20[14]

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin Runner-up
2020 AIG Women's Open 3 shot lead −7 (70-72-67-68=277) 2 strokes Thailand Thidapa Suwannapura

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order.

! Tournament 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Chevron Championship T60 T44 CUT
U.S. Women's Open 72 T40 CUT CUT T26
Women's PGA Championship CUT T57 T23 CUT CUT CUT
The Evian Championship NT T60 CUT CUT
Women's British Open 67 1 CUT CUT CUT
  Win
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
T = tied

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

Solheim Cup record

Year Total
matches		 Total
W–L–H		 Singles
W–L–H		 Foursomes
W–L–H		 Fourballs
W–L–H		 Points
won		 Points
%
Career 3 0–3–0 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–2–0 0 0.0
2021 3 0–3–0 0–1–0 lost to M. Khang 3&2 0–0–0 0–2–0 lost w/ C. Ciganda 1 dn
lost w/ C. Boutier 3&1 		0 0.0

References

  1. ^ "Sophia Popov". Golfdata. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Kellam, Sarah (11 June 2023). "Sophia Popov Becomes Latest LPGAMom". LPGA. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "Sophia Popov Makes Pro Debut in Germany". Ladies European Tour. 16 July 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  4. ^ "In The Winner's Circle With Sophia Popov". LPGA. 23 August 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Sophia Popov LPGA Bio". LPGA. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Players at the Lalla Aïcha Tour School PQ A: Sophia Popov". LET Access Series. 22 June 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  7. ^ "USC Nails Down Spot Into 3rd Straight NCAA Match Play Bracket". University of Southern California. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  8. ^ "Healthier Sophia Popov Ready for 2016". LPGA. 18 February 2016. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  9. ^ "Sophia Popov – Results". Symetra Tour. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  10. ^ "The Path to LPGA Qualifying School Stage III - Sophia Popov". LPGA. 22 November 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  11. ^ Monaco, Lou. "Southwest Florida golf: Naples' Sophia Popov qualifies for U.S. Women's Open". Naples Daily News. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  12. ^ Scrivener, Peter (23 August 2020). "Women's Open: Sophia Popov wins at Royal Troon by two shots". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  13. ^ "Sophia Popov". World Amateur Golf Ranking. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  14. ^ "The Cactus Tour".
  15. ^ "Mannschafts-Europameisterschaften, Mädschen" (PDF). golf.de, German Golf Federation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
Quelle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophia_Popov