Sarah Schmelzel has spent seven seasons on the LPGA Tour earning a reputation for pushing through tough times. What fans didn’t realize, and what very few people knew, was that much of her struggle was happening inside a body that doctors kept telling her was just experiencing normal issues for a woman.
In a recent Instagram post, Schmelzel shared that she had endometriosis excision surgery about five months ago. This ended a 15-year search for answers, during which she went through many ultrasounds, MRIs, failed treatments, and doctors who dismissed her pain as normal. She was diagnosed with stage IV endometriosis. When surgeons operated, all 22 tissue samples they removed tested positive for the disease.
She underwent an appendectomy and bilateral ovarian cystectomies to remove endometriosis cysts. Scar tissue and adhesions had fused her pelvic organs, leaving her body effectively immobilized. Despite this, she continued to compete for more than ten years.
“I was waved off, laughed at, told ‘welcome to womanhood,’” Schmelzel wrote. “I thought it must be all in my head, telling myself I needed to be tougher.”
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Viewed against her 2024 season, the reality becomes clear. She entered The Chevron Championship after four straight top-10 finishes and was in contention for Solheim Cup qualification. The day before play, an ovarian cyst ruptured, sending her to the hospital. She still chose to compete, but missed the cut with rounds of 75 and 76. The five missed cuts that followed were not a typical slump. They were the direct result of a disease that had been limiting her career for years.
Her Solheim Cup qualification was shaped by this period of setbacks and recovery, ultimately resulting in a captain’s pick from Stacy Lewis.
“I continued to try to play through it because I had gotten off to a good start, and I was trying to get Solheim points,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get back to a performance state because I started missing cuts, and I didn’t know where the golf ball was going. It was hard to work through.”
She reached the Solheim Cup, finishing with a 2-2 record and contributing to a U.S. team win. The disease persisted. When she withdrew from the 2025 CPKC Women’s Canadian Open, there was no official explanation.
That silence marked the point when she stopped competing through pain and pursued a clear diagnosis. Dr. Larry Orbuch, the surgeon responsible for her diagnosis and recovery, provided what previous medical appointments had not.
“He validated me, let me cry, and showed me the light at the end of the tunnel,” Schmelzel wrote.
Sarah Schmelzel’s Endometriosis battle and what it demands from women’s sports
Endometriosis affects one in ten women. The average wait for a diagnosis is seven to ten years, with surgery as the only definitive test. There is no cure. Schmelzel waited 15 years longer than that average. That is a failure of the system.
Her Instagram post was direct. She described the impact of the disease, listed the doctors who dismissed her, and called for earlier diagnosis, more research funding, and a standard where women are heard the first time.
“Women deserve to be listened to the first time they say something is wrong,” she wrote. “My story is not rare.”
Professional sport has failed to address women’s chronic health conditions. For Schmelzel, the difference between public perception and her reality is clear. Her career paid the price for a diagnosis that came 15 years too late. Now, that cost is measured: 22 confirmed specimens, each with her name.
