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After a long absence from competitive golf , Jenny Suh Thompson returns home in June to play in the KPMG Women ’ s PGA Championship
IT ’ S BEEN 22 YEARS SINCE FAIRFAX NATIVE JENNY SUH lapped the field by 16 strokes at the 2000 Virginia State Golf Association Junior Girls ’ Championship . That dominant victory marked a stunning margin that is still regaled in Virginia golf lore .
Fast forward more than two decades later and Suh , now the mother of an infant son and married to club professional Kurt Thompson , is hoping to add to her storied golf resume with a spot in the field this June at the KPMG Women ’ s PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club .
Suh earned that spot in February at the PGA Women ’ s Stroke Play
Championship at PGA Golf Club in Florida . She didn ’ t win the tournament , but she grabbed the one available qualifying entry into the LPGA major by virtue of the fact that the top five finishers were already exempt for the KPMG .
“ I ’ m just as surprised as anyone else after having a baby only three months before I played that tournament ,” said Suh , now 36 and the membership director at The Dye Preserve Golf Club in Jupiter , Fla .
“ Thank God I was oblivious to the fact there was only one qualifier taken in that event ,” she added . “ My mental game was honestly like I had a classroom full of kindergartners in my head on every shot and my mind was all over the place — wondering things like if my mom was OK with the baby , if he had eaten , if he had pooped — and oh yeah , don ’ t pull this shot !” by LISA D . MICKEY photos by STEVEN MARTINE
18 V IRGINIA G OLFER | M AY / J UNE 2022