A few years back, I made mention on Rogers Sportsnet of "the best player you've never heard of."
At the time, my co-host, the inimitable Mike Toth, raised his not-inconsiderable eyebrows because I wasn't following the script. (So what's new?)
The year was 2001, when Lorena Ochoa of Mexico had just won her 12th collegiate victory at the University of Arizona. We all know what she has done since turning pro the next year. Some equate her to the female Tiger Woods.
Not that I am hanging that heavy mantle on Stephanie Sherlock, but—Holy crap! — she won two of her first three tournaments as a freshman at Denver University as a freshman last season, and three overall that year.
She's a fixture on our national team after having won last year's Canadian Amateur and here's what makes me think she's the real deal.
Last week in Alabama, she shot a course-record 65 at the Robert Trent Jones Trail Shoals Course, to win the Sun Belt Conference NCAA tournament by 10 shots (Let's pause for a moment to let that sink in, shall we? Ten shots. 10. OK, let's move on), setting a 54-hole conference record of 208. Seven birdies, no bogeys.
It was her second consecutive SBC title and her fifth career victory in just her sophomore year.
Five, and counting.
Ochoa credits her family as the biggest influence on her career. Stephanie is the daughter of Dave and Angela Sherlock, who own Simoro Golf Links just outside Barrie, Ont. Dave played pro hockey in Germany, where he met Angela. They both work day in, day out, at their course. I know because I play there just about every day. (Don't tell my wife.)
Simoro is a blue-collar club and Steph worked alongside her parents, and her sister Melanie, and every other employee, practicing between shifts. (She also drove the beverage cart, and I still have a problem when I see her, say, playing in the CN Canadian Women' Open, of not yelping, “Hey, Steph! Four Canadians, please.”)
And, you know what? She's a terrific person, unassuming, humble, personable…just like her parents.
Like Ochoa, come to think of it.
"Hello, Mike Toth? I've got another of the greatest players you've never heard of, but this one's from Canada."
Keep an eye on Stephanie Sherlock. She just may be the answer to Canada's paucity of players on the LPGA.
And don't forget where you heard it first.