'Won't lie': Scottish golfer set for 2025 comeback after tough year - but without the backflips

The three-time winner on the circuit missed the entire 2024 campaign after undergoing a reconstruction of her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) on the right knee in January then the left one in October.

Coming on the back of her needing shoulder surgery in 2020 that sidelined her for five months, it’s been a frustrating spell, especially for someone who had been used to playing competitive golf from an early age.

But, in a post on social media over the festive period, Booth revealed she is ready to start preparing for a comeback and, at 32, believes there is still plenty of time for her to add to a glittering CV.

“It’s been hard for me because I have been trying to work through some injuries,” the Comrie woman told The Scotsman. “I’ve had both my knees done within a year, which was difficult. That came on top of my shoulder injury and it’s just been a case of slowly working my way back to fitness.”

In reply to her revealing she was targeting her return, the LET posted a video clip of Booth, who was just 12 when she played with Sandy Lyle in a pro-am and 14 when she made her Ladies Scottish Open debut, showing off her backflip skills to a crowd of spectators during a past staging of the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco

“The problem with my knees were down to me doing too much stuff like that over the years,” she admitted, “though I also had a couple of freak accidents that didn’t help. One was when I was defrosting my freezer and slipped the wrong way while the other one was due to being tackled by 12-year-olds. Just stupid things, unfortunately, and they just needed to be repaired.

“It’s been a tough year, I won’t lie, as golf has been everything to me and I knew that was going to be massive when I posted about my return. I am looking for sponsors and it is great to feel that I am closer to being back playing again.”

The new LET season starts early next month in Morocco before the first Aramco Series event in 2025 takes place in Saudi Arabia. The circuit then heads to Australia before arriving in South Africa in April. The summer schedule includes a fourth staging in a row of the ISPS Handa Scottish Women’s Open at Dundonald Links in Ayrshire.

“I just wanted to be in a position where I can get back on tour, though I don’t know what events I’ll be able to play in,” said Booth, who landed her breakthrough win in the 2012 Ladies Scottish Open at Archerfield Links then adding the Ladies Swiss Open a couple of months later before returning to the winner’s circle in 2019 in the Czech Ladies Open. “I have my career money status and I am also going to look into getting some invitations.

“I look back at my three wins with great pride, but I still feel I have so much to offer in the game. It was just unfortunate that I picked up my shoulder injury and then to have two knees replaced in the one year was a big setback, so it’s been difficult.

“But I’m not done yet, though looking at the strength of the game at the moment has made me think ‘jeezy peeps!’ It’s so tough as the standard is really high, but I love a challenge.”

As for those legendary backflips, Booth admitted with a laugh that they are probably going to have to be memories from LET video clips as “I now need to try and look after my knees a bit more”.