A choice can change everything, but it's only as powerful as the will of the person who makes it.
Five years ago, Emma McMyler made a choice and her commitment to that choice effectively changed her life.
"My freshman year of high school I decided to play golf and soccer," said McMyler, a San Antonio, Texas, native who just finished her sophomore year at Xavier University.
The attempt to play both sports meant she was usually missing something, either a soccer game, practice, or a golf tournament.
"I had to make a lot of hard choices at that time," she said. "I felt like I needed to make a choice because I was missing things that I didn't want to miss.
"Once that time came, I kind of realized that I could be pretty good at golf if I worked at it."
So she did.
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Golf has always been a part of McMyler's life. Her father, Brian, played in college at Stephen F. Austin and today works as a golf pro and a part-time caddie for his daughter.
One of the nice things about golf, McMyler learned, was the individual aspect meant that she could make her own practice schedule.
And pretty soon, McMyler started getting noticed. Going into her senior year, McMyler played in the U.S. Girls' Junior tournament in Wisconsin.
Xavier women's golf coach Breanna Jenco happened to be there on a recruiting trip.
"It's probably one of the biggest junior tournaments you can play in," McMyler said. "There were a bunch of college coaches there and coach Jenco followed me around a little bit."
After the tournament, they connected more, and McMyler took a visit to Xavier and ultimately decided it was where she wanted to go.
In her first college season, McMyler broke Xavier's freshman scoring average on her way to earning Big East Conference freshman and player of the year honors.
McMyler followed that up her sophomore year winning Big East player of the year again and helping the Musketeers win a third straight conference title.
McMyler didn't stop there, though. She went up to the Scarlet Course at Ohio State University Golf Club and finished second out of a field of 63 to qualify for the 77th U.S. Women's Open.
"If you would have said four or five years ago that I'd be playing in the U.S. Open I would have thought you were crazy," McMyler said. "But at the same time, I know that I've put in a lot of work. I've worked really hard at this. It just goes to show that hard work pays off and I've had a tremendous support system around me. My dad has put tons of time into my game and he's helped me develop as a player and so have my teammates and coach Jenco, and all my family around me have done nothing but support every decision I've made."
Two weeks ago, McMyler headed to Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina, to compete against the best golfers in the world.
"It was a great experience and just to be in the player tent with all the best players in the world, like looking over and seeing the World No. 1, the former World No. 1 ... I'm playing in the same tournament as them," said McMyler. "Even playing practice rounds with Lexi Thompson and Michelle Wie West, comparing my game to them and it didn't feel like my game as that far off."
McMyler shot a 3-over par 74 in the first round and ended up missing the cut at 13-over par after the second round.
"It's unreal," said Jenco, who went down and watched McMyler play in the U.S. Open. "Going through college golf myself, we all did those qualifiers. And I always felt like if I play good golf I could qualify. But until you get there, you don't realize the magnitude of what you've done.
"... It was an unbelievable experience. She already had the big run at the U.S. Amateur last year so I'm sure it's just another feather in her cap in terms of what her whole experience with golf and professional golf will look like."
McMyler called the U.S. Open experience eye-opening and it helped reinforced her long-term goals.
"There are always pros and cons to everything," she said. "I think that playing professional golf would be a great end goal, a great dream. But it's also like there's lots of stressors and things that come with professional golf, but ultimately, yes, that is something I'd like to pursue and could see myself doing. But it was definitely an eye-opening experience to see that."
McMyler has a busy summer ahead. She's playing in another professional event this week in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and she's hoping to qualify for the U.S. Amateur at the end of the summer.
She also hopes to receive a sponsor's exemption to play in the inaugural Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G, an LPGA event at Kenwood Country Club Sept. 5-11.
"We'll see if I get in," McMyler said. "If I do, that will be an awesome experience to play on Xavier's stomping grounds and have the support of the University."
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