Gerina Piller

Last updated

Gerina Piller
Gerina Piller cropped.jpg
Piller in 2013
Personal information
Full nameGerina Michelle Mendoza Piller
Born (1985-03-29) March 29, 1985 (age 40)
Roswell, New Mexico, U.S.
Height5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Sporting nationalityFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Residence Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. [1]
Spouse Martin Piller (m. 2011)
Children1
Career
College Texas-El Paso
Turned professional2007
Current tour(s) LPGA Tour (joined 2010)
Former tour(s) Futures Tour (2007–10)
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron Championship T6: 2016
Women's PGA C'ship T6: 2012
U.S. Women's Open T5: 2019
Women's British Open T36: 2013, 2015
Evian Championship T9: 2016

Gerina Michelle Mendoza Piller (born March 29, 1985) is an American professional golfer, currently playing on the LPGA Tour. She turned pro in 2007 following a decorated career as a collegiate golfer at the University of Texas El Paso. In 2009, Mendoza appeared on the Golf Channel reality television competition The Big Break . [2]

Contents

Childhood and amateur career

Born in Roswell, New Mexico, Gerina Mendoza attended Goddard High School and won the state golf championship in 2003 and also was an all-state volleyball player. [3]

She enrolled in at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in 2003 where she played all four years, winning four tournaments in her senior year. She was the 2007 Conference USA individual champion, Player of the Year and the UTEP Female Athlete of the Year. [3] [4]

Professional career

Mendoza turned pro in September 2007 and attempted to qualify that fall for the LPGA Tour. She did not succeed and played in 2008 on the Futures Tour. She attempted again to qualify for the LPGA Tour in 2008, again failing.

In an airing of 2009, filmed at an unknown time, Mendoza appeared on Big Break Prince Edward Island . Six women and six men competed for a grand prize of $100,000 in cash. Contestant Derek was the only male to reach the final four and prevailed in a 2-hole elimination match with Gerina by 1 stroke. [2]

In 2009, she earned conditional status on the LPGA Tour for 2010 and played the entire season on the Duramed Futures Tour, where she recorded seven top-10 finishes and a career-best tie for second at both the iMPACT Classic and the USI Championship. [4] She finished 5th on the Futures Tour money list in 2010, earning her full playing privileges on the LPGA Tour for 2011.

She finished 68th on the LPGA official money list in 2012, retaining her full playing card for 2012. Piller improved in 2012, with two top-ten finishes and a 48th-place finish on the year-end LPGA official money list.

Piller took a sabbatical from the LPGA Tour in 2018 due to the birth of her first child, a son, Ajeo James Piller, born April 26, 2018. [5] [6]

Personal life

Mendoza married fellow professional golfer Martin Piller in January 2011. [7] They live in Flower Mound, Texas. [8] [9] She is of Mexican American descent. [10]

Results in LPGA majors

Results not in chronological order before 2019.

Tournament201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022
Chevron Championship CUTT41T11T20T6T35CUTCUTT40
U.S. Women's Open T50T31T63T53T8T33T5CUT
Women's PGA Championship CUTT6CUTT13T9T12T14CUTCUTT40T68
The Evian Championship ^T6769T29T9T26T44NTCUT
Women's British Open CUTCUTT36CUTT36T50CUTT70CUTT48

^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013

  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
T = tied

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Chevron Championship 00001396
U.S. Women's Open 00012287
Women's PGA Championship 000025117
The Evian Championship 00001176
Women's British Open 000000105
Totals00016114531

LPGA Tour career summary

YearTournaments
played
Cuts
made*
Wins2nd3rdTop 10sBest
finish
Earnings
($)
Money
list rank
Scoring
average
Scoring
rank
2011 1490001T10103,3226872.7561
2012 24170002T6258,3954871.4164
2013 262301082572,6902671.2223
2014 26220015T3466,4973971.3826
2015 26220206T2727,6811871.2121
2016 23200129T2842,8991970.5817
2017 22210015T3541,9773470.6026
2018 Maternity leave
2019 23140002T5320,5026272.47122
2020 1480000T3337,41111572.7494
2021 21120001T9199,5948471.2662
2022 1690001T6152,17210472.28120
2023 330000T2235,86016670.10n/a

* Includes matchplay and other events without a cut.

World ranking

Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.

YearRankingSource
2008630 [12]
2009411 [13]
2010334 [14]
2011215 [15]
201295 [16]
201337 [17]
201440 [18]
201529 [19]
201619 [20]
201741 [21]
2018184 [22]
2019116 [23]
2020143 [24]
2021191 [25]
2022209 [26]
2023453 [27]
2024974 [28]

Team appearances

Professional

Solheim Cup record

YearTotal
Matches
Total
W–L–H
Singles
W–L–H
Foursomes
W–L–H
Fourballs
W–L–H
Points
Won
Points
%
Career115–4–22–0–11–2–02–2–1654.6
2013 30–2–10–0–1 halved w/ C. Matthew 0–0–00–2–0 lost w/ A. Stanford 2&1
lost w/ A. Stanford 1 dn
0.516.7
2015 43–0–11–0–0 def. C. Masson 1 up1–0–0 won w/ S. Lewis 5&41–0–1 halved w/ B.Lang
won w/ S. Lewis 1 up
3.587.5
2017 42–2–01–0–0 def. F. Parker 4&20–2–0 lost w/ S. Lewis 1 dn
lost w/ S. Lewis 2&1
1–0–0 won w/ S. Lewis 2&1250.0

References

  1. "Gerina Piller Girl's Retreat". January 27, 2015. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Big Break Prince Edward Island - Gerina Mendoza". The Golf Channel . Archived from the original on June 6, 2013. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  3. 1 2 "UTEP Athletics official biography". University of Texas El Paso. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  4. 1 2 "LPGA Profile". LPGA. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  5. DiMeglio, Steve (January 2, 2018). "Gerina Piller to play in Diamond Resorts Invitational before taking time off to have baby". USA Today.
  6. Meyer, Jennifer (May 1, 2018). "Welcome the Newest Addition to the Piller Family". LPGA.
  7. Mendoza, Gerina; Piller, Martin (May 23, 2011). "Hearts of Texas". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on July 30, 2013. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  8. "Pros Mendoza, Piller Tie the Knot in Texas". LPGA. Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  9. Nichols, Bill (April 23, 2013). "Nichols: Plano couple Martin and Gerina Piller stay on course while forging pro careers". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on August 20, 2013. Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  10. "Gerina Piller hits an ace off-camera in Malaysia". ESPN. October 27, 2016.
  11. "Gerina Mendoza – results". LPGA. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  12. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 21, 2008.
  13. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 21, 2009.
  14. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 31, 2010.
  15. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 31, 2011.
  16. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 31, 2012.
  17. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 30, 2013.
  18. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 29, 2014.
  19. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 28, 2015.
  20. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 26, 2016.
  21. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 25, 2017.
  22. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 31, 2018.
  23. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 30, 2019.
  24. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 28, 2020.
  25. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 27, 2021.
  26. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 26, 2022.
  27. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 25, 2023.
  28. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 30, 2024.