Golfer Olivia Mehaffey has taken the brave decision to step away from the game for an undetermined period in order to prioritize her mental health.
he Tandragee woman withdrew from the Skaftö Open on the Ladies European Tour overnight after a tough first round in Sweden and has struggled over the last couple of months, and now she has revealed her inner demons.
In a statement on Twitter, Mehaffey revealed she hasn’t given herself time to come to terms with the death of her father Philip last year, turning away help and trying to convince herself she is okay.
The Ulsterwoman described her father as the person she would have relied on most for her game, and his passing from cancer hurt her deeply, and she dedicated her performances at LPGA and LET Q-Schools to him.
But she now admits that she needs to take some time away from the game in order to make sure she focuses on herself as a person rather than an athlete.
“Since the end of last year I’ve been in denial and tried to brush all my feelings aside. I hid behind golf and didn’t give myself anytime to heal,” Mehaffey wrote on Twitter.
“I pushed everyone who wanted to talk and help away. I constantly told myself I was fine, I was coping, life was ok. Until everything caught up with me a few months ago and reality hit me.
“I’ve tried to put a smile on my face and hide behind the fact I can’t make it through a day without crying, without feeling lost, without feeling broken inside and feeling so isolated from everyone. I feel I have lost myself and I can’t find happiness right now.
“I’m learning that grief is a weird thing, something you don’t know how you will handle and what the next day will bring. It has taken me 8 months to admit I need help to get through this, to learn how to move forward, to navigate through life without my dad here.
“Therefore, I have decided to take some time away to get the help I need and be surrounded by my family. I’m not sure when I will come back on tour, but I feel right now I need to focus on myself as a person ahead of an athlete.”
Mehaffey, a former college superstar with Arizona State, started this year well with five top-20 finishes in six starts, but her form suffered after a tied-ninth finish in May at the Comunidade de Madrid Ladies Open.
She has missed nine straight cuts on the LET since then, however it is admirable that she has still continued to compete while battling these inner struggles.