On Tuesday, Spain’s Beatriz Recari made it official. The Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio, the event nearest her U.S. home in Miami, will be her grand finale. The 34-year-old from Pamplona will officially retire from the LPGA Tour after this week. She does so with three LPGA Tour wins and one Ladies European Tour victory in a 16-year professional career.
Fighting emotions, Recari said, “After a bit of soul searching, I felt like it was the right time for me to move on. You know, enjoy all the good moments that I have on the course and the not-so-good moments, because they had a lot of silver linings. This game has been such an important part of my life that I’m so excited to be here and have a little bit of closure and have the opportunity to do so.
“It would’ve been okay if I hadn’t had this opportunity (to close out a career this way), but if I’m given the chance to be again on the golf course and have that one last feel of what it is competing at the highest level, it’s such a blessing that I’m going to take it and just enjoy this last week.”
Recari started on the LET as an 18-year-old in 2006 while also studying economics at the University of Navarra. That came after victories at the Women’s Spanish Amateur and the Women’s French Amateur Championships.
But all was not rosy in her life. In 2007, her health failed, and she had to face a hard reality. Weighing under 100 pounds with her hair falling out, Recari accepted that she had an eating disorder. After lots of work and plenty of support, she battled back. She won the Finnair Masters on the LET in 2009, and then joined the LPGA Tour where she won in 2010 and twice in 2013. Just before her victory at the 2013 Kia Classic, she was introduced as an ambassador for the Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness. For many, it was the first time they knew of Recari’s struggles.
Now, after many hip, back and leg-related injuries, the most recent of which required a couple of surgeries, the Spanish star is comfortable with her past and her future.
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