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.
Early life and amateur career In 1985, she was 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.
In 2003, she enrolled in at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). 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.
Professional career In 2007, Mendoza turned pro. She attempted to qualify that fall for the LPGA Tour. She did not succeed and played in 2008 on the Futures Tour. Mendoza 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 $100,000 in cash. Contestant Derek was the only male to reach the final four and prevailed in a 2-hole elimination match with Gerina by 1 stroke.
In 2009, she earned conditional status on the LPGA Tour for 2010 and played the entire season on the Duramed Futures Tour, where she recorded seven top-10 finishes and a career-best tie for second at both the iMPACT Classic and the USI Championship. She finished 5th on the Futures Tour money list in 2010, earning her full playing privileges on the LPGA Tour for 2011.
She finished 68th on the LPGA official money list in 2012, retaining her full playing card for 2012. Piller improved in 2012, with two top-ten finishes and a 48th-place finish on the year-end LPGA official money list.
Personal life Mendoza married fellow professional golfer Martin Piller in January 2011. They live in Flower Mound, Texas. She is of Mexican American descent.
Piller took a sabbatical from the LPGA Tour in 2018 due to the birth of her first child.
Results in LPGA majors Results not in chronological order before 2019. Tournament 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022Chevron ChampionshipCUTT41T11T20T6T35CUTCUTT40U.S. Women's OpenT50T31T63T53T8T33T5CUTWomen's PGA ChampionshipCUTT6CUTT13T9T12T14CUTCUTT40T68The Evian Championship ^ T6769T29T9T26T44NTCUTWomen's British OpenCUTCUTT36CUTT36T50CUTT70CUTT48 ^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013
CUT = missed the half-way cut NT = no tournament T = tied
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeChevron Championship 0 0 0 0 1 3 9 6U.S. Women's Open 0 0 0 1 2 2 8 7Women's PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 2 5 11 7The Evian Championship 0 0 0 0 1 1 7 6Women's British Open 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 5Totals 0 0 0 1 6 11 45 31 Most consecutive cuts made – 15 (2014 LPGA – 2017 U.S. Open) Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (six times)
LPGA Tour career summary Year Tournaments played Cuts made* Wins 2nd 3rd Top 10s Best finish Earnings($) Moneylist rank Scoring average Scoringrank20111490001T10103,3226872.7561201224170002T6258,3954871.41642013262301082572,6902671.2223201426220015T3466,4973971.3826201526220206T2727,6811871.2121201623200129T2842,8991970.5817201722210015T3541,9773470.60262018Maternity leave201923140002T5320,5026272.4712220201480000T3337,41111572.7494202121120001T9199,5948471.266220221690001T6152,17210472.281202023330000T2235,86016670.10n/a Official through 2023 season.
* Includes matchplay and other events without a cut.
World ranking Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.
Year Ranking Source2008 630 2009 411 2010 334 2011 215 2012 95 2013 37 2014 40 2015 29 2016 19 2017 41 2018 184 2019 116 2020 143 2021 191 2022 209 2023 453 2024 974
Team appearances Professional Solheim Cup (representing the United States): 2013, 2015 (winners), 2017 (winners) International Crown (representing the United States): 2016 (winners)
Solheim Cup record Year TotalMatches TotalW–L–H SinglesW–L–H FoursomesW–L–H FourballsW–L–H PointsWon Points%Career115–4–2 2–0–1 1–2–0 2–2–1 654.6201330–2–1 0–0–1 halved w/ C. Matthew0–0–0 0–2–0 lost w/ A. Stanford 2&1lost w/ A. Stanford 1 dn0.516.7201543–0–1 1–0–0 def. C. Masson 1 up1–0–0 won w/ S. Lewis 5&41–0–1 halved w/ B.Langwon w/ S. Lewis 1 up3.587.5201742–2–0 1–0–0 def. F. Parker 4&20–2–0 lost w/ S. Lewis 1 dnlost w/ S. Lewis 2&11–0–0 won w/ S. Lewis 2&1250.0
References
External links
Gerina Piller at USA Golf