It is a few days before Christmas and UA women鈥檚 golf coach Laura Ianello is talking about her team鈥檚 fearless, almost bigger-than-life run to the 2018 NCAA championship.
Her voice breaks and tears spill from her eyes.
鈥淚鈥檓 such a bad mom,鈥 she says, sobbing. 鈥淚t was the worst summer of my life.鈥
Her declaration is so unexpected, her emotions so raw, that I feel I will cry, too.
鈥淵ou are not a bad mom,鈥 I say.
鈥淚 was only home 13 days this summer,鈥 Ianello says, dabbing at her tears. 鈥淭he last six months have been the most stressful of my life. I鈥檓 just exhausted.鈥
A few days later, Ianello and her daughters, Natalie, 5, and Joanna, 3, join her husband, Jeff, in Laura鈥檚 hometown of Charleston, Illinois. They break the unofficial Facebook record for happy Christmas photographs taken with grandma, grandpa, cousins and aunts.
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It is a year that Laura Myerscough Ianello will never forget. It is the year she became the Star鈥檚 No. 1 figure in 蜜柚直播 sports, 2018.
Sensational finish
To put 蜜柚直播鈥檚 2018 women鈥檚 golf season in perspective, you almost have to go back to the epic 1982 鈥淭he Band Is On The Field!鈥 finish of the Cal-Stanford football game.
蜜柚直播鈥檚 dauntless victory at the Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Oklahoma, merits the adjectives that Cal radio broadcaster Joe Starkey used 36 years ago when he blurted 鈥渢his is the most amazing, sensational, dramatic, heart-rending, exciting, thrilling finish. 鈥︹
The difference is that 蜜柚直播鈥檚 exhilarating comeback was not accompanied by a band or by a radio announcer using exclamation marks after every syllable. It was done in relative silence 鈥 it was golf, after all 鈥 on a hot and humid afternoon in Oklahoma.
鈥淏asically, we had no chance,鈥 says Ianello鈥檚 long-time assistant coach Derek Radley, now the head coach at Oregon.
After four days of stroke play at Karsten Creek, ninth-place 蜜柚直播 trailed Baylor by two strokes for the final berth in the match-play championships. 蜜柚直播 junior Bianca Pagdanganan needed to eagle the hole for 蜜柚直播 to force a sudden-death playoff against Baylor.
Do you understand how difficult it is to eagle a hole?
Pagdanganan was 188 yards from the pin. Her golf ball was sitting down, in a depression. She would have to carry an imposing lip at the edge of the green just to get the ball onto the putting surface.
鈥淚 was thinking, 鈥楤ianca, you have to get a little lucky,鈥欌 Ianello says now. 鈥淪he could鈥檝e chunked it 150 yards. When I look at the TV footage, I still can鈥檛 believe she carried it.鈥
Even at that, Pagdanganan, a transfer from Gonzaga who arrived on campus two weeks after the 2017-18 school year began, needed to make a 30-foot eagle putt 鈥 with a twisting, downhill break 鈥 just to get 蜜柚直播 into a playoff against Baylor.
鈥淏ianca is a player who is fearless,鈥 says Ianello.
The putt dropped into the cup. After not only a shot-for-the-ages, but also a putt-for-the-ages, how can you possibly lose?
About an hour later 蜜柚直播 eliminated Baylor and advanced to a match-play showdown against No. 1 UCLA, the first of three potential matches against top-10 teams in a three-day period.
The UA was in ninth place at the NCAA championships after four days of stroke play. Next, a rally for the ages that lifted the Wildcats to the peak of women's collegiate golf.
Taking golf seriously at 9
Ianello arrived on the UA campus in January 1997 at a time 蜜柚直播 was coming off the 1996 NCAA championship. She was immediately sold on playing for a program that produced Annika Sorenstam and would win the 2000 NCAA championship.
鈥淚 struggled my first and second years at 蜜柚直播,鈥 she says. 鈥淏ut the team was outstanding. We won the 2000 NCAA championship, although I didn鈥檛 make the lineup.鈥
Ianello wasn鈥檛 a golf-specific athlete growing up in Charleston, Illinois. Her father, Jerry Myerscough, who has made a living owning Arby鈥檚 franchises in the Midwest, coached his daughter鈥檚 softball teams and basketball teams. She started golfing at 5, accompanying her dad to the local country club.
鈥淎t 9, I began taking golf seriously, taking lessons,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 had the bug. My parents didn鈥檛 push me and I am so grateful for that.鈥
In 2000, Ianello had the week of her young life, reaching the finals of the U.S. Women鈥檚 Amateur. A year later she was captain of her final UA golf team. She didn鈥檛 complete her degree requirements, choosing to hit the road and push for the LGPA Tour.
鈥淚 never gave a thought to coaching,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 was going to make playing golf my life.鈥
By 27, bouncing on and off the LPGA Tour and several mini-tours, Ianello injured her back and began working at an upscale Scottsdale golf facility. She gave lessons. She sold golf gear.
鈥淚 hated the job,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 love golf any more. I was broke and miserable. I was tired of asking my dad for money so that I could travel to another tournament.鈥
Her UA coach, Greg Allen, left 蜜柚直播 to become the head coach at Vanderbilt. He told Ianello he wanted to hire her as his assistant coach, but first she needed to return to the UA and finish her degree work.
Ianello entered the CATS Forever program and graduated. She was immediately hired as an assistant coach on Shelley Haywood鈥檚 UA staff; Haywood left the golf program during the 2010 season. New 蜜柚直播 athletic director Greg Byrne promoted Ianello to the top job. She was 31.
鈥淟aura鈥檚 had several chances to leave the UA,鈥 Jerry Myerscough says. 鈥淏ut she loves 蜜柚直播 and so do her mother and I. We have been spending the winters in 蜜柚直播 for 20 years.鈥
After Bianca Pagdanganan's (second from top left) eagle in sudden-death against Baylor at the NCAA championships, the Wildcats went on to beat Baylor, UCLA, Stanford and Alabama to win the national title.
Momentum 'such a big thing'
In the NCAA match-play finals, 蜜柚直播 opened by shocking No. 1 UCLA. A day later it chopped down No. 5 Stanford. It would have to beat No. 2 Alabama to win the national championship.
鈥淢ost of the attention went to Bianca鈥檚 eagle putt and to the 5-footer Haley Moore made to beat Alabama on the last hole,鈥 Jerry Myerscough says, 鈥渂ut it also took Gigi Stoll and Sandra Nordaas to rise to the occasion and win matches people didn鈥檛 expect them to win.
鈥淢omentum is such a big thing. They got on a roll like few I鈥檝e ever seen. You鈥檝e also got to get a little bit lucky.鈥
Luck? When three-year starter Krystal Quihuis quit the team to play on the LGPA Symetra Tour at the outset of the 2018 season 鈥 a transaction that rocked the program 鈥 freshman Yu-Sang Hou enrolled. She has since become one of the top players in college golf.
No one thought it then, but Hou鈥檚 arrival was trading up.
鈥淗ou eats and sleeps golf, but she鈥檚 a kind and gentle soul,鈥 Ianello says. 鈥淪he brought a new dynamic to the team. She brought all the good things; we just jelled. The girls accepted one another and got along. That鈥檚 so much of the battle.鈥
Moore鈥檚 5-foot putt to beat Alabama and win the national championship triggered an impromptu celebration that was played and replayed by Golf Channel for a week.
鈥淚 was standing next to Haley鈥檚 mom, Michelle; she was so nervous she couldn鈥檛 watch,鈥 Jerry Myerscough says. 鈥淚 told her 鈥楬aley can handle it鈥 and she did. It was a moment I鈥檒l never forget.鈥
鈥楢 Rock Star鈥
Laura Myerscough met Jeff Ianello at a Scottsdale nightclub in 2004.
鈥淛ust a random thing,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 loved the fact he was driven and had goals. He was so disciplined for a 23-year-old. He has seen me through everything.鈥
Laura and Jeff were married in 2009. He worked for the Phoenix Suns and was soon working in Manhattan as part of the NBA鈥檚 vast marketing and sales unit. In their first four years of marriage, Jeff lived in Phoenix. When he was hired by the NBA, he commuted to Manhattan every week.
Somehow, the Ianellos made it work.
鈥淛eff put his career second to mine,鈥 says Laura. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a rising star in his business, yet he put his family first.鈥
She stops and dabs tears from her eyes again.
In a 15-month span, Laura gave birth to Natalia and Joanna. At the UA, Byrne feared Ianello would quit to become a full-time mom, or move to New York to support her husband鈥檚 career.
Byrne often referred to Ianello as 鈥渁 rock star.鈥
Two years ago, Jeff Ianello became executive vice president for SeatGeek, a New York-based firm that markets tickets to the NBA, NFL, to concerts and to the theater. Their sometimes long-distance relationship endures.
鈥淟aura鈥檚 such a good mother, she makes me so proud,鈥 her father says. 鈥淪he鈥檚 a lot like her mother and her grandmothers. She doesn鈥檛 do things halfway. You couldn鈥檛 get a better daughter. She does amazing things.鈥
Three weeks after 蜜柚直播 won the NCAA championship, Ianello lost her treasured assistant coach. Radley was hired to be the head coach of Oregon鈥檚 women鈥檚 golf team. It was a back-to-reality moment that shook Ianello and ended the championship celebration.
鈥淐oach D and I literally were like brother and sister,鈥 she says. 鈥淲hen he left, it was like I had gone through a divorce. It was so painful. It was like 鈥榟ow am I going to recruit?鈥欌
Not only that, 蜜柚直播鈥檚 recruiting Class of 2019 was far from complete. Ianello flew to England, where she got a commitment from top prospect Hollie Muse. She hit the road to all of the summer鈥檚 must-see girls golf tournaments, but this time, minus Radley, she did all of the footwork herself.
She did not replace Radley, interviewing a handful of candidates, until school began in September.
鈥淣atalie and Joanna spent a lot of time with us,鈥 Jerry Myerscough says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 part of the support from your family. I know Laura went through some anxiety, but it all worked out. She gave it all she had.鈥
In late November, after most of the Top 25 women鈥檚 golf programs had completed their recruiting classes of 2019, Ianello knew something was missing. The UA had won the biggest event of the fall season, the Pac-12 Preview in Hawaii, but the school鈥檚 top recruiting target, Taiwan鈥檚 Vivian Hou 鈥 sister of standout sophomore Yu-Sang Hou 鈥 had delayed her choice of schools. Every team in the top 10 wanted her.
Finally, on the morning of Nov. 21, Ianello noticed a Facebook message from the Hou family. Once she translated the message from Mandarin, she read the happy words: 鈥淚 will be attending the University of 蜜柚直播.鈥
鈥淚t was 7 in the morning but I just broke down and cried,鈥 Ianello says. 鈥淚t had been such a long year, but a great one, too.鈥
Contact sports columnist Greg Hansen at 520-573-4362 or ghansen@tucson.com. On Twitter: @ghansen711
Greg Hansen
Columnist
