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The Jerries

Meet Ireland's Olympic team: Stephanie Meadow

Our athlete-by-athlete profiles continue with the fourth and final golfer representing Ireland in Rio.

Stephanie Meadow Presseye / William Cherry/INPHO Presseye / William Cherry/INPHO / William Cherry/INPHO

Event: Women’s golf.

Who is she? 24-year-old Meadow plies her trade as a professional across the Atlantic on the LPGA Tour after rising to fame when she finished third at the US Open in 2014.

She enjoyed a whirlwind start to life on the Tour but has endured a difficult time of late following the death of her father, Robert, in May 2015.

Meadow moved to the renowned Hank Haney Academy in South Carolina at a young age and then combined her academic studies with golf at the University of Alabama before turning professional.

Her world ranking has slipped from 141st in the world to 460 in the space of 12 short months but Rio provides Meadow with an opportunity to rediscover her form and confidence on the biggest stage.

Where’s she from? Meadow was born and raised in Jordanstown, County Antrim, before moving to America with her parents.

Olympic CV: With golf making an appearance at the Games for the first time in 112 years, it’s needless to say that this will be Meadow’s first Olympics.

Road to Rio: Meadow was the most recent addition to Team Ireland as she was confirmed as the fourth golfer to compete in Rio. She joined Pádraig Harrington, Seamus Power and Leona Maguire after the Dutch Olympic Committee decided against sending their golfers due to their world rankings.

When does she start? She will begin her quest for Olympic glory on 17 August.  

Where can I follow her? You can find Meadow on Twitter here.

What she says? “I’m delighted to be going to the Olympics. It’s such an amazing opportunity to be able to represent Ireland and be part of the Olympics. I never dreamed that I would be able to be part of that stage playing golf so it was an unexpected surprise in my career. I’m so excited to meet other athletes and learn from them as well.”

Medal chances? Meadow has really struggled for consistency over the last year, missing the cut in four of her seven LGPA Tour appearances in 2016 with a 53rd place finish her best performance.

It’s a two out of five on our scientifically-developed, patented Jerry Kiernan scale…

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And here’s something you probably didn’t know: When Meadow moved to America at the age of 14, she was coached by Hank Haney — who was once part of Tiger Woods’ team.

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Read more of The42′s Team Ireland profiles here >

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