After losing LPGA card, Maria Fassi learned how to look inward and stop self-sabotaging

Maria Fassi hit rock bottom last year when she lost her LPGA card. Then came the hard conversations – with herself and her team.

 "I think I was sabotaging myself a lot," said Fassi ahead of the 2025 Meijer LPGA Classic.

Six years ago, the powerful Mexican player was on top of the world. She didn't win the Augusta National Women's Amateur but became a fan favorite and overnight star after finishing runner-up to Jennifer Kupcho. A month later, she won the NCAA championship in front of a home crowd in Arkansas and kicked off a professional career that many thought might change the tour.

Perhaps it's not surprisingly to learn then, that the now 27-year-old put a lot of pressure on herself.

Fassi now finds herself in Grand Rapids, Michigan, playing on a sponsor exemption due in part to the actions of Brittany Lincicome. After the two-time major winner accepted a sponsor exemption of her own to the Meijer, she learned from her friend and former caddie Michelle Simpson that Fassi wasn't in the field. (Simpson now loops for Fassi.) Lincicome realized that she could get in the field using her status as a past champion and didn't need the exemption. She called the tour to make the change and offer a suggestion.

"Her and my caddie are very good friends and they were just trying to help me out," said Fassi. "I know I needed a little more this year, the extra help, and it's nice to know that I don't only get it from sponsors, but from fellow competitors and players."

The Meijer mark Fassi's fifth LPGA start to the season, and while the scores aren't yet where she'd like them, she's starting to regain some of her confidence.

Fassi credited her team for helping to hold herself accountable.

For example, when she'd practice last fall, she might be at the golf course for several hours, but wasn't putting in the work in the right places. Her team got right to the point: Stop wasting time. Identify what needs to improve and get to work.

"Drills are very boring," Fassi said. "It was not what I wanted to do, but it was what I had to do.

"You know, that's more on the golf side. On the mental side, just like stopped lying to myself about things that I was not doing and I was, again, lying to myself, saying that I did do them or something like that. Instead be like OK, you can't expect for something different if you're continuing to go down the same hole ... it was painful looking inward because there was a lot of things I didn't like to see, and I was very angry with myself."

But the hard process was worth it, and on the other side, one of the most naturally talented athletes on tour found a way to enjoy the game again.

"I'm just proud that I'm showing up for myself and showing up for my team in a positive way," said Fassi, "and not kind of shooting myself in the foot before I even start."

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: After losing LPGA card Maria Fassi learned how to stop self-sabotaging