Sophia Popov, then ranked 304th in the world, lost her playing rights on the LPGA Tour by a single blow in 2019. Before that, she had struggled with a Lyme disease infection for three years before the doctors found the fault.

- It has been weeks in recent years when I have not even gotten out of bed, she tells CNN and continues:

- It felt like I had six different diseases at the same time.

I had a stomach ache, I lost the feeling in my arms and legs.

And then there were other strange symptoms, the doctors did not know what to do.

Turning from an unexpected direction

The turning point came when the tour started a few weeks before the British Open.

The friend from the Netherlands, Anne van Dam, asked if Popov could be her caddy and the German answered yes.

The following week, Popov had to play himself because several players had dropped out of the Marathon Classic in Ohio.

Then she finished ninth, a result the 27-year-old has never been near before.

The ticket to the British Open was arranged - and the rest is, so to speak, sports history.

- It changed my life in several ways but I really hope it has not changed me, that is the biggest goal.

ARCHIVE: Sophia Popov in tears after unlikely British Open win (August 24):

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See Sophia Popov's tears after the unlikely major victory