THE WOODLANDS, Texas — When Lindy Duncan felt nervous standing over tee shots during the second round of the Chevron Championship she visualized one thing: Sean Foley.
Duncan is a 12-year journeywoman on the LPGA Tour who played her way into contention heading into the weekend at the season’s first major championship, shooting 66 Friday. At 6 under, she was one off the lead with the second round still in progress.
The opportunity to chase down her first tour win — let alone first major victory — was made possible in part to a change she made at the end of last year, when she began working with Foley at her home course, Lake Nona Country Club in Orlando, Florida.
“I asked him for help with my alignment, just some really basic stuff,” Duncan said about reaching out to Foley. “And he goes to Lake Nona and works with Ben An and it just kinda turned into, ‘Hey do you want to see me after Ben?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah.’ So we just kept doing little things here and there.”
Foley, who has worked with several of the game’s best, including Tiger Woods and Lydia Ko, made his relationship with Duncan Instagram-official in January when he shared details of what the two were improving. The basic things they tried to tackle grew into addressing bigger issues as Foley changed Duncan’s ball position with her driver along with her hand position on the club. It helped her address what had been a low, left miss, which has plagued her throughout her professional career.
When Duncan felt uncomfortable on the tee Friday, she just envisioned those range sessions — and Foley.
“He would do this thing on the range where he would stand behind me and he’d just say, ‘high draw,’ and so he’ll just say it then I just hit it, so I was picturing him a little bit today out there on some of the tee shots that I was nervous on,” Duncan said. “I was just kind of being playful with myself [picturing] like Sean is right there telling me to hit a high draw.”
Duncan has found 75% of fairways through the first two rounds this week. And while the duo has made measurable improvements with Duncan’s swing — she finished tied for fifth in March at the Ford Championship — Foley’s insights have also helped her address mental challenges, too.
“He’s really into, I’d say, philosophy, psychology and perspective. So it really took a turn in that direction,” Duncan said about how her relationship with Foley has evolved. “He’s really amazing to talk to in terms of what’s going on in life and he’s been really helpful with that.”
Duncan said with both she and Foley having busy travel schedules they don’t often get to see each other, but when they’re both in Orlando they’ll make time to connect. And while Duncan might not have her coach by her side this week in Texas, she feels as if Foley is by her side.
“I think about the stuff we talk about every single day,” Duncan said. “So, he’s kinda with me everyday.”
