Northern Ireland’s Olivia Mehaffey has said she will step away from golf to “get the help I need and be surrounded by my family” after her father’s death.
Mehaffey, 24, lost her father to cancer in December 2021.
In a social media post on Saturday, the Belfast-born player said she had been in denial over how much the loss has affected her.
“I hid behind golf and didn’t give myself any time to heal,” she said.
“I pushed everyone who wanted to talk and help away. I constantly told myself I was fine, I was coping, life was OK.
“I’ve tried to put a smile on my face and hide behind the fact [that] I can’t make it through a day without crying, without feeling lost, without feeling broken inside and feeling so isolated from everyone.
“I feel I have lost myself and I can’t find happiness right now… it has taken me eight months to admit I need help to get through this, to learn how to move forward, to navigate through life without my dad here.
“Therefore, I have decided to take some time away to get the help I need and be surrounded by my family. I’m not sure when I will come back on tour, but I feel right now I need to focus on myself as a person ahead of an athlete.”
Mehaffey played the ISPS Handa World Invitational at Galgorm Castle this month, returning to the event in which her father watched her play for the final time in 2021.
