A Q&A with TCU great Angela Stanford, a Rangers diehard and an LPGA major champion

One of the best American golfers on the LPGA Tour for nearly the past two decades knew that if she didn’t make time Sunday for her Texas Rangers, she wasn’t going to have another chance to see them play for who knows how long.

And it’s a safe bet Angela Stanford was none too pleased to learn that the TCU men’s basketball team wasn’t selected for the NCAA Tournament.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram caught up with the Fort Worth native, Saginaw Boswell High and TCU great, Tarrant County resident, LPGA major champion and big-time Rangers fan before the bracket was revealed minus the Horned Frogs, but she was anxiously awaiting their fate.

In the Phoenix-area ahead of the Founders Cup this weekend, Stanford made her way to Surprise Stadium to deliver the lineup card for the Rangers’ game against the Arizona Diamondbacks and then played catch on the field with third-base coach Tony Beasley before the 7-2 win.

She is coming off a season that culminated with a victory in the Evian Championship, the fifth LPGA major each season. The win might have been over due for the then-40-year-old, but Stanford isn’t complaining.

She’s reveling in it six months later and confident she can win another after shaking off some rust following a two-month off-season layoff to address a rib injury.

Stanford tees it for her third event of the season Thursday.

You’re a big Rangers fan from watching them as you grew up?

Yes. One of my first memories of the old Arlington Stadium, Pete Incaviglia, I remember him hitting a ball over the left-field wall, out of the ballpark. It was literally one of my first memories. I didn’t know a guy could hit it out of a ballpark. I went to Toby Harrah’s baseball camp growing up. I was one of the few girls there.

Do you have a current favorite Rangers player?

It’s kind of a weird time because it’s always Adrian Beltre. My season tickets used to be on the third-base line, and I got a kick out of watching Beltre. I would just watch him in between innings, talking to Elvis [Andrus]. But now, I guess [Joey] Gallo is probably the popular choice, but I like Rougie [Odor] because, obviously, he doesn’t back down. I like that.

So … you’re a major champion now. A thrill of the lifetime, I’d assume?

It’s still fun to hear. It took a while. It’s been pretty interesting. I always felt like it would be a blessing to win a major, but I feel like I’ve been able to enjoy it more at this age. Knowing myself, I think if I’d won one earlier on, I would have put so much pressure on myself to do it again. I can do it again, but I’ve enjoyed it so much and I have a different perspective about it. I think I’m getting to enjoy it more than if I’d done it at 30.

When you lost in the U.S. Open playoff in 2003, did you think a major would happen quickly?

Yeah. It was my third year on tour. I thought, ‘I know I’ll be here again. This isn’t going to be my last chance.’ Between 2007 and 2010, that’s when I thought I’d win one. When I didn’t, I was like, ‘I didn’t expect that.’ By 2014 and 2015, I thought, ‘I’m not sure it’s going to happen at the point’ because the girls keep getting younger, they’re getting younger and they’re getting better.

How cool was it when Jack Nicklaus tweeted about your win?

I was in the air flying home, and thankfully they have WiFi. Juli Inkster actually sent me a text and said, ‘Oh, you must be big time now.’ I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ And she said, ‘You need to look at Twitter.’ To hear from one legend about another legend, that’s cool.

How are you hitting them now?

This year has been a little different. I had an injury that I didn’t really tell people about. I spent Thailand and Singapore [her first two LPGA tournaments this season] kind of figuring out where I was game-wise. I have some work to do, but I’m excited. I’m excited to play at 41 and still have passion. I think it’s going to be one of my best years once I get through this.

It sounds like you didn’t have much practice time in the off-season.

I didn’t actually hit a ball from Nov. 6 to Jan. 22. No rotation. It was a rib injury. I’m playing catch-up. But I’m kind of looking at it as a wake-up call. This young girls are very preventative about how they go about injuries, and I never was. Now I’m doing a lot more stretching and a lot of extra things I haven’t done in the past. ... Forty is a real thing.

This story was originally published March 18, 2019 at 1:25 PM.