Life-changing moments are often divided into the before and the after — that’s why they’re life-changing.
For defending U.S. Open champion Maja Stark, much of the past year has been spent figuring out how to move on from her win and managing the aftermath. After all, she arrived at Erin Hills in 2025 with only one LPGA win and was mostly focused on retaining her status on tour.
Then she won.
Her status on tour was guaranteed for five years, so Stark no longer had the pressure of maintaining her card. Then her motivation tanked, resulting in her missing five of seven cuts, including two majors.
When Stark arrived at Riviera Country Club this week, she had to return her first major trophy, but the Swede was ready to let it go.
“I had it sitting in my room and I just saw it every day, and I’m like, ‘Oh, this is cool,’ but I just want to move on — like I want the challenge again. It’s kind of weird,” Stark said Tuesday ahead of the 81st U.S. Women’s Open.
“It was fun to have it, but it’s more fun to play for it than to have it, I guess.”
Stark has been forthcoming about her struggles in the past 12 months, and she has focused on building a strong team around her. She started working with a therapist, and she has a sports psychologist and a mental coach.
“It was just really nice because I didn’t feel like I was crazy because I have so many people around me saying this is okay,” Stark said. “You’re going to get through this even if you don’t feel like it, and you’re going to get back to normal. All of a sudden it happened.”
This season, Stark has made seven of eight cuts. No wins. No top 10s. But she’s trending in the right direction and has played her best golf of the year in the past month-and-a-half. She had her best finish so far this season with a T-16 at the Kroger Queen City Championship in mid-May.
“I played okay at Chevron (T-21), and then I felt like it’s just been a lot more solid, more stress free,” Stark said. “No crazy good results yet, but I feel confident that I’m working on the right stuff, and the results are going to come.”
One change that has boosted her confidence recently: switching her putter.
This is the right place, right time to feel confident about your short game, especially on unforgiving U.S. Open greens.
“It’s so fast out here that I feel like I really need something that I’m comfortable with, and I’m really happy that I have that.”
With the trophy returned, Stark has metaphorically flipped the page, freeing her up, mentally, for what is expected to be another tricky and challenging major at one of golf’s most iconic courses. She’ll be in good company, too, with every major winner since 2021 in the field.
“I feel a little bit more pressure than I usually do, I guess,” Stark said of being back on this stage. “Then I just think, ‘What are the odds of winning it again?’ So... that just kind of takes the pressure away.”