Having Big Misses Off the Tee? Try Taking This LPGA Player's Approach

Golf is unique because more often than not, it's exposing your weaknesses. Unless you're competing at the highest level, errant and wayward shots are to be expected. But even the most elite players have a mishap or two. It's obviously not always a highlight reel moment for them but a humanizing one we can all relate to. In fact, I actually love when players are open about their struggles and let us in on their process.

Something that second-year LPGA player Ingrid Lindblad is doing, with an unbelievable amount of candor. She’s letting us see the misses. The big ones. The “where did that even go?” tee shots. And instead of hiding it, or trying to act like it's a quick fix, she’s talking about it extensively. Her honesty isn’t just refreshing—it might be exactly what amateur golfers need to finally fix their own driver struggles.

Last month, after the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore, Lindblad posted a very raw caption to Instagram, writing "I don’t really know where to start. The golf this week makes me feel empty. I have been struggling off the tee for a little while but this was on a new level. Doubting myself on every tee shot is exhausting and not knowing where the ball will fly makes me fill up with panic. After Saturday’s round, I didn’t want to play on Sunday, because why would I? There’s been a lot of tears but I’m proud of myself showing up to the course for the last round. I’m thankful to have people around me who care about me as a person and don’t see me as less based on my scores."

When I first read it, my heart ached for the 26-year-old because I knew actually what she meant. Though I've never teed it up in an LPGA event, I know that feeling of doubt (admittedly, all too well), that's so strong I'd go into a full blown panic attack over my game. Attaching your self-worth to your golf score is something I think a lot of golfers, at any age and skill level can related to—and hearing it come from an LPGA Tour-winning professional really puts that into perspective.

Ahead of her title defense at the JM Eagle LA Championship this week, Lindblad was asked about her post and she offered up some more insight around her recent struggles.

RELATED: JM Eagle LA Championship Provides Last Dress Rehearsal Before First LPGA Major

"I wrote that post when I was sitting on the plane from Singapore back to Sweden. I was like, 'I'm just going to post it'. I don't usually post when I've had a tough tournament," she said in her Tuesday pre-tournament presser. "[I've] been struggling for a while and I was like, well, I guess we're going to try to post about it."

And I guess the first step to healing is saying the hard part out loud. Now that she's given birth to those big feels, she can begin to fix them.

So what has Lindblad been working on over the last few weeks?

She and her long-term coach of over 20 year, Thomas Lindstrom, have been focusing on focused targets. It's less about the mechanics of her swing, and more so about building up her mental confidence to steer shots in specific directions.

"I've started to see things that are kind of far out from the fairway that I'm supposed to hit it to. It's been kind of like a lot of steering off the tee box. If I see something right I definitely can't hit it right. I just hit it left instead," Lindblad explained, but she knows it's not the long-term fix.

"There is no way of playing golf like that. You can't steer away from everything. It's not going to work. So a lot of just like swings with full speed, just trying to see like the target and just accepting that there is water right or OB left, and just like if it misses, it misses. That's part of it. You're going to miss a couple. You're not going to hit everything perfect. Just need to hit a couple better than the big miss."

Ingrid Lindblad of Sweden after winning the 2025 JM Eagle LA Championship at El Caballero C.C. in Tarzana, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images).

She's been big on quieting the mental noise, the panic, and not swinging scared. Last year, Lindblad implemented a new 5-hybrid into her 14-club lineup (she uses PING equipment) which has been a game-changer/saver as of late.

"I put a 5-hybrid in my bag last year...I played, I used to play 3-wood, 5-wood, and then 4-iron, but now I play 4-wood, 7-wood, 5-hybrid, and then 5-iron, which it's been a really good change. That 5-hybrid is pretty good," she said in response to what club she feels is the best in her bag.

Brick by brick, tournament by tournament, Lindblad is steadying the ship. Returning to a course where she has great memories may be the kind of boost she needs ahead of the first major of the year.