The 27-year-old has become the lowest ranked female player to ever with a Major and she's since jumped 280 (!) places in the Rolex World Rankings.
Image: Getty Images - By Harriet Shephard
I don't know about you, but Sophia Popov is quickly becoming one of my favourite female golfers.
She was a fantastic winner for the absolutely brilliant 2020 AIG Women's Open at Royal Troon, and it has totally transformed her career.
Practically overnight she jumped an amazing 280(!) places in the Rolex World Rankings, taking her from No.304 to the 24th best female golfer in the world.
This puts her four spots above top English player Charley Hull who has now dropped down two to No.28.
Making it even more special is the fact that she now becomes the first German woman to EVER win a Major and the lowest ranked player to ever win a women's Major.
It really is like a fairytale, further demonstrated by the fact that before last week many of us in the UK had never even heard of her.
Plus, the more she reveals about her background, the more amazing her victory seems.
I really felt for her when she publically revealed that she had struggled with her health when she first started out on tour, and was eventually diagnosed with Lyme disease.
"It took about, a total of about 20 doctor visits and three years later to figure out that I had Lyme disease. I had like 10 different symptoms and it was just very…it was a tough time to go through just because I didn't know what it was, and it took so long to pinpoint exactly what was going on," she said.
"For me to regain all my energy…I lost like 25 pounds and had to regain all of that and get back to where I was before, and it was just a struggle, and really, only my inner circle knew about that until now."
But if you've seen the images of Sophia pouring her celebratory beer into her trophy and drinking from it (legend), you'll have gathered that she knows how to party.
Speaking after the final round she said:
“It feels amazing. There's a lot of hard work behind it, and a lot of struggles that I went through the last six years, especially health-wise, and I'm just glad I was able to overcome everything and just keep my head in it. I think we are going to have a thorough celebration at the hotel, social distanced of course. But as soon as I get home, it will be a little more extensive.”
"I almost quit playing a year ago. Thank God I didn't."
The 27-year-old narrowly missed out on getting her LPGA card for 2020 and up until now has only won on feeder tours like the Symetra and the Cactus Tour in America.
Maybe it was also a premonition of the great things to come that her last win was at a course called Troon North in Arizona back in May.
(You really couldn't make these things up...)
However, it's a safe bet that Troon North is a stark opposite to the dramatic windswept links of Royal Troon.
Of course these wins are super achievements and not to be underplayed, but it was still a bit jump to go from a mini tour to winning a Major tournament on the LPGA.
Speaking on Twitter the day after the final she said:
"Today I woke up a major champion. I still can’t believe what happened yesterday. A single week that turned my life upside down (in a good way)."
When the LPGA resumed this summer she started not by playing in the Drive On Championship, Ohio, but by caddying in the event for her best friend and Dutch player Anne Van Dam, known as being one of the biggest hitters on tour.
Then, as so many players couldn't take part due to COVID travel restrictions and being No.1 on the Symetra priority list, she got a suprise start in the LPGA Marathon Classic. Finishing T9, this then secured her a spot in the AIG Women's Open.
She's the perfect example of why you should never give up on her dreams; you never know what might be around the corner.
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