The Waiting Game

Career-changing moments in pro golf happen on greens at the U.S. Open, or on the 12th hole at Augusta, but often, they occur without cameras or media nearby. They happen in places like the front seat of a four-year-old Opel Astra in the parking lot of the season's final Ladies European Tour (LET) event. 

That is where 42-year-old Celine Herbin and her caddie, Harry Ewing, were doing anything they could to keep from hitting refresh on the leaderboard for what felt like the thousandth time. A few hours earlier, the pair thought Herbin's chances of finishing in the top 70 on the Order of Merit and retaining full status for next season were gone after a disastrous 15th hole. 

Herbin, who has won twice on the LET and has three career LPGA Top-10s, struggled with health issues this year and came into the tournament 70th on the Order of Merit. A solid, yet unspectacular opening two rounds had Herbin T31st. Through 14 holes in the Round 3, Herbin was 4 under for the day, and for a brief moment, the top 70 became an afterthought. However, double bogeys on the 15th and 17th holes resulted in an even-par 72. Falling out of the top 70 was again a real possibility. 

The 6th hole (Herbin's 15th) at Real Guadalhorce Golf Club in Malaga, Spain, is a shot par 4 that played easy in the final round. Herbin stood at 1 under in Round 4 and was safely inside the top 70 as she stood over the 15-footer for birdie. The putt ran four feet by. 

The next putt lipped out.

The next putt missed left.

The next putt she tapped in. 

It was a triple-bogey 7, and Herbin fell out of the top 70. "I was kind of in shock, " she told me. On the walk to the next tee, she talked openly with her caddie, Harry Ewing, about her struggles to stay in the moment. Ewing encouraged her to get refocused. 

On the 16th tee, Herbin took a minute to think about the years of mental training that led to this moment. "I tried my best to find my comfort spot," Herbin told me. The 16th is a par 5 where Herbin says most of the players were laying up. After a perfect drive, she and Ewing decided to go for the green, and she hit her 5-wood into the front bunker. It left her a long bunker shot of 20 yards, but she managed to get it to five feet. The tricky downhill putt was perfect. Birdie.

Herbin's approach on the 17th was another good one, leaving a tough putt. "It was 10 feet, but I played two feet of break," she says. Again, center-cut. Birdie. 

An excellent wedge approach on the last left just five feet for birdie. She needed it to have any chance at the top 70. Dead center. Three in a row. 

When Herbin reached scoring to sign her card, it showed that she was currently 69th on the points list. It was then discovered that live scoring recorded a double bogey on Herbin’s 15th hole instead of a triple. There was confusion outside the tent about how that would affect the points, so Ewing suggested they retreat to the car, away from all the chaos. That is where the pair sat and refreshed the leaderboard and points list. After the scoring correction, Herbin ranked 70th on the Order of Merit. Switzerland's Elena Moosman ranked 71st, and was the only player remaining on the course who could pass Herbin. 

"I tried to talk about anything else," Ewing told me about the time in the car. He subtly told her fiance and father, both nearby, to leave them alone. 

In the meantime, Elena Moosman made birdies on both her 16th and 17th holes. Moosman had moved past Herbin. If Moosman made par on the last, Herbin would be out; bogey, or worse, and Herbin would have full status for 2025. 

The 15 minutes it took for scoring to update Moosman's 18th hole score felt like an hour. But finally, with one last refresh, the score appeared: double bogey. 

The pair’s exhaustion and anxiety turned to relief. They shared a cathartic hug. "I almost cried," Celine Herbin told me. She has a full-time place to play next season. 

Career-defining moments happen almost weekly in pro golf. Sometimes, they happen on TV and in front of the media. There are interviews and tears. But sometimes, they happen in a Silver Opel Astra in a parking lot with no one around but the caddie – and they mean just as much. 

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