The tears flowed as Angela Stanford soaked up one last walk off the 18th at the Amundi Evian Championship. Tournament director Jacques Bungert was there with a bouquet of flowers.
It’s safe to say that no one will likely ever again have a major championship resume quite like Stanford’s, who played in an LPGA record 98 consecutive majors before the streak ended with this year’s U.S. Women’s Open. The 2024 Evian marked 46-year-old Stanford’s final major championship appearance in her final season on the LPGA. She has made 103 major championship starts, 102 as a professional. She will not play in next month’s AIG Women’s British Open at St. Andrews.
“I did really good all day, I kept it under wraps,” said Stanford of keeping her emotions in check. “I was grateful all day.
“And then I crossed that bridge on 18 and it just – water works. And I’m a crier, so once I start I can’t stop.”
Angela Stanford, the woman who came just shy of playing in 100 consecutive majors, just wrapped up her final major championship in her final season on tour. Tears were flowing for the 2018 Evian champ as she walked off the 18th. Incredibly high standard of golf for 20+ years. 👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/csDb2Hvhis
— Beth Ann Nichols (@GolfweekNichols) July 14, 2024
The 2018 Evian champ won her first major championship in her 76th start at the age of 40. This week, she enjoyed several magical birdie runs inside the ropes and an especially magnificent sunset from her view at the Hotel Royal. She took it all in with a smile on her face, thinking of her late mother Nan, who always loved the big events.
A seven-time winner on the LPGA, Stanford joined the tour in 2001 and made her first run at a major title at the 2003 U.S. Women’s Open, won by Hilary Lunke.
In 102 major starts as a professional, Stanford made the cut 67 times and recorded 14 top 10s.
The first time the Texan got into the Evian Masters, long before it became a major, she cried going down the runway in Dallas because the small-town girl in her didn’t want to travel the globe for a living. Needless to say, the place has grown on her all these years later.
Tears of gratitude fell for a major championship career that, in some ways, might never be matched.
