ARIZONA NEWS
Rising to the Top |
| A 10th-place follow-up finish for Nagl earned her Rolex College Golfer of the Month honors. |
Her swing coach at Leadbetter, Jonathan Yarwood, still works with her on a part-time basis. (Yarwood also coaches 1999 U.S. Amateur champ David Gossett, a sophomore at the University of Texas and a Leadbetter graduate.) It's the work Nagl herself puts in, though, that has gotten her so far, so fast.
"She came in with good credentials," says Vollstedt. "She is very consistent and is constantly working on her game. She's also a team player, by which I mean that she's not just concerned with her own scores. When a freshman comes in and plays this well and everyone likes her, that's a good indication that she's taking an interest in the team."
Nagl's teammates and competitors, no doubt, are taking an interest in her as well. She carries a stroke average of 72 (roughly even par) after seven rounds of collegiate play. That includes a 72 shot in the first round of the Stanford/Pepsi Intercollegiate tournament Friday, leaving her tied for 5th in another event stocked with the country's top talent.
"I would say my iron play is the best part of my game," Nagl says. "I used to be told I was a long hitter. Then I came here and there are a couple of girls that are really long."
Pressure? What pressure?
Grown men have been known to wilt under the pressure of a fourth-round PGA tour lead. Tennis players have been known to peak too soon and go into a free fall after tasting too much success.Then there are champions - those who relish the spotlight and know what to do when they are in it. They have total confidence in their abilities. They welcome pressure and seem to rise to the occasion when the spotlight is brightest.
Then there is Nagl. A far cry from the wilters, it is yet to be determined weather she fits the mold of a champion. But one thing is for sure: To look at her, you wouldn't know she was the NCAA's top gun - that the pressure to perform is on.
A friendly smile and an easy, almost nonchalant manner mask the competitor that must lie within, where ice-water courses through veins.
Nagl is a self-proclaimed range rat. While her counterparts may be willing to put in the work in practice, Nagl actually prefers it.
"I'm not much of a player," she says. "I'd rather hit balls and chip and work on my short game. Some people don't like to practice and they think they can just go out and play and try to get better. I don't believe that. I work very hard on my technique."
Is she a perfectionist, then?
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"Attitude and consistency are very important. You need a balance of both. You need to be relaxed and know what you are capable of, have a good gameplan and play within it. There are lots of good players out there that go into tournaments with a bad gameplan or no gameplan at all and they can't handle it."
So far, Nagl's gameplan seems to be right on. She shows no signs in her behavior or her play of feeling the pressure of being No. 1 and the leader of her young Sun Devils team. It remains to be seen how she would handle things if she slipped in any of the subsequent rankings, but that possibility doesn't worry her coach at all.
"She's handled everything very well," Vollstedt says. "She's humble and has taken any pressure in stride. We really don't have leaders on this team, but I would say that Miriam sets an example with her focus and hard work.
"The players I have come to ASU to be on a winning team. They expect it."
Not exactly a legacy
It's interesting to note as further proof that Nagl's success is a product of the work she's put into golf, that she didn't pick up a club until she was 12 years old.
| Thanks in part to her world travels, she speaks four languages. |
Nagl found the game boring.
"I didn't enjoy it at first," she says. "Before that I had played all other sports like basketball, tennis, ballet . . . but I got good really fast and by the time I was 14, I really loved it. I even made my mind up then that I wanted to play golf professionally."
A local coach discovered Nagl and she began to play the Juniors circuit in Europe. from there it was on to the Leadbetter academy at the age of 16.
"The weather was better there," she says, "so I could play more golf. I was only going to stay for a semester and see if I liked it, and I really liked it and made friends so I decided to stay for the two years. I can't tell you how happy I am with my time there."
Playing in Europe in the summers, Nagl placed second in the British Girls tournament twice. This past summer, she made the finals again, and lost again.
"I wasn't sad at all afterward," she says. "We both played well. I was minus-5 and the other girl was minus-7."
Nagl did find the winner's circle this summer, however, playing for a victorious Continent of Europe team for the Vagliano Trophy. The Europeans beat Great Britain and Ireland, 13 matches to 11.
"This summer I want to play in the U.S. Ladies and in the World Team Championships for Germany," Nagl says. "They will be held in Berlin, so it would be nice to be there."
When Nagl graduated from Leadbetter, ASU was a natural college choice. There isn't much collegiate golf to speak of in Germany, and coming from abroad, she didn't have a favorite school in mind.
"ASU is well known in Europe because of the six NCAA titles, so I knew I couldn't go wrong," Nagl says. "I corresponded with Coach Vollstedt from Florida, then I came here and I loved the practice facilities. The weather here is as good as it gets for golf, too."
School daze
In her short career, Nagl has succeeded Park as the ace in the Sun Devil's hole. She dreams of following Park in another way, though. She would like to leave school early to pursue a career on the LPGA Tour."I've talked to Coach about it. I don't expect to finish school," Nagl says. "My goal is to be on the LPGA Tour. I'll probably play for two years. By that time I'll be ready to devote more energy to playing golf. Right now I have to split my life between school and golf.
"School is good for me now. It's good for my personality, not having mom and dad around. I'll see how I can do at school. It's not easy to handle both school and golf. I'd like to have more focus. I'm usually playing my best when I'm focused.
"Maybe after two years I'll feel differently, but right now I'm just going to see how I can do."
Nagl is frustrated with the demands on her time, but she is hardly anti-intellectual. Thanks in part to her world travels, she speaks four languages. ("Spanish, English, German and Portuguese, and my brother speaks French as well as the others.") She's currently a Business major, but she's considering a switch to Psychology.
Can you blame her, though, if occasionally her mind wonders out the window of the Mathematics building, across campus to the practice tees at the Karsten ASU Golf Course? Her future lies on the fairways and greens, not behind a degree.
Vollstedt, more than anyone, knows what Nagl is dealing with. She has produced 13 LPGA professionals. Some have left early, other have stayed to graduate. Most have had some form of success on the professional level.
"An education is the most important thing for these students," Vollstedt says. "For some of the girls whose future is playing golf professionally, I understand that they will pursue that as soon as they are ready. Some are ready after a few years, some are not. They'll usually figure it out on their own.
"Wendy Ward was one player who could have left early, but she really wanted to stay and fulfill her obligation to get her degree."
Of course, time will likely make this debate moot. Talk of staying or going pro is certainly jumping the gun for a first-semester freshman. But it's just one of the things that comes along with the early success Nagl has achieved. The LPGA tour isn't going anywhere. It will be there when she is ready for it.
The only thing she is thinking about right now is winning a tournament at Stanford. She will continue to put in the hours of practice, focus on the round she's playing and lead her Sun Devils by example.
And right now, no golfer in the country is setting a better one.
Talking Stick Golf Club - South Course