ROGERS — Brittany Lang knew that those in her inner circle were trying to be helpful, but after awhile their words of encouragement got on her nerves.
She didn’t want to hear anymore from her family, friends and agents that she was good enough to win on the LPGA Tour. She had her doubts, especially after coming so close several times over the past seven years.
“I was like ‘I don’t think it’s ever going to happen. I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t even care, and I just want to play golf,’” Lang said. “I love golf. I just want to enjoy myself, and I was just so tired of talking about it.”
Sure enough, as soon as Lang stopped dwelling on her winless streak, she snapped it.
The 26-year-old American got over her fears, settled her nerves and took advantage of a new driver to become a first-time winner at last week’s Manulife Financial LPGA Classic in Waterloo, Canada.
Lang missed a birdie putt on the 18th hole that would have won her the tournament in regulation. But she regrouped and birdied the same par-5 three straight times in the playoff, allowing her to shake the distinction of being one of the best LPGA’s players without a victory.
“I’m still in shock that I finally won. It took me seven years,” Lang said. “I’m so thankful that it happened. I’m starting to believe it now.”
Now Lang can turn her focus to earning her second career victory at this week’s Walmart NW Arkansas Championship at Pinnacle Country Club. The opening round begins today, and while much of the attention will be on the battle between Yani Tseng and Stacy Lewis for the LPGA’s No. 1 ranking, Lang could be a factor.
After all, it might not take another seven years for Lang to capture her next trophy.
“I don’t know how she hasn’t won until last week,” said Lewis, the former Arkansas golfer. “She’s been in contention so much, and you could tell kind of down the stretch (last week) that she wasn’t exactly comfortable where she was.
“It kind of took her a couple of holes to win that playoff, but she’s been playing good golf for a long time and she’s a really good ball striker. So when she gets some putts to go in, that’s when she plays her best golf.”
Lang has recorded 35 top-10 finishes and earned $3.4 million during her career, but it took a new golf coach and some changes to her game to become the first former Duke player to win on the LPGA. She also put a new Adams Speedline driver in her bag last week, helping her hit more fairways at the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic.
“I think before I knew I was a good player, but I always thought people looked at me and said, ‘She has a lot of talent, but I don’t know if she can get the job done,’” Lang said. “And now that I have, they can say, ‘She has the lot of talent and she knows how to get it done now.’”
Lang, whose brother Luke was an all-conference golfer at Arkansas Tech, admitted that her confidence has wavered over the years. She worried too much about how she played, and as a result, she essentially took herself out of position to win.
“I think I kind of shied away from the spotlight because I didn’t want to have that putt to win and I didn’t want to do it,” Lang said. “I think now that I jumped in head first and experienced it and won, I think I’m OK to have another putt to win, so absolutely I think the second win will come easier.”
Especially now that seven-year drought has come to an end.
“I think it was just a matter of time,” Lewis said. “I always thought she was going to be the first Duke player to win, and I’m just glad she got that win out of the way.”