Gerina Piller

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]

Gerina Piller
Piller in 2013
Personal information
Full nameGerina Michelle Mendoza Piller
Born (1985-03-29) March 29, 1985
Roswell, New Mexico, U.S.
Height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Nationality United States
ResidenceFort Worth, Texas[1]
SpouseMartin Piller (m. 2011)
Children1
Career
CollegeTexas-El Paso
(graduated 2007)
Turned professional2007
Current tour(s)LPGA Tour (joined 2010)
Former tour(s)Futures Tour (2007–10)
Best results in LPGA major championships
ANA InspirationT6: 2016
Women's PGA C'shipT6: 2012
U.S. Women's OpenT5: 2019
Women's British OpenT36: 2013, 2015
Evian ChampionshipT9: 2016

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 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 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.

Tournament2011201220132014201520162017201820192020
ANA Inspiration CUT T41 T11 T20 T6 T35 CUT CUT
U.S. Women's Open T50 T31 T63 T53 T8 T33 T5 CUT
Women's PGA Championship CUT T6 CUT T13 T9 T12 T14 CUT CUT
The Evian Championship ^ T67 69 T29 T9 T26 T44 NT
Women's British Open CUT CUT T36 CUT T36 T50 CUT T70 CUT

^ 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
ANA Inspiration00001385
U.S. Women's Open00012287
Women's PGA Championship00002595
The Evian Championship00001166
Women's British Open00000094
Totals00016114027
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 15 (2014 LPGA – 2017 U.S. Open)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (six times)

LPGA Tour career summary
YearTournaments
played		Cuts
made*		Wins2nd3rdTop 10sBest
finish		Earnings
($)		Money
list rank		Scoring
average		Scoring
rank
2011 14 9 0 0 0 1 T10 103,322 68 72.75 61
2012 24 17 0 0 0 2 T6 258,395 48 71.41 64
2013 26 23 0 1 0 8 2 572,690 26 71.22 23
2014 26 22 0 0 1 5 T3 466,497 39 71.38 26
2015 26 22 0 2 0 6 T2 727,681 18 71.21 21
2016 23 20 0 1 2 9 T2 842,899 19 70.58 17
2017 22 21 0 0 1 5 T3 541,977 34 70.60 26
2018 Maternity leave
2019 23 14 0 0 0 2 T5 320,502 62 72.47 122
2020 14 8 0 0 0 0 T33 37,411 115 72.74 94
  • Official through 2020 season.[11]

* 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]

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
%
Career 11 5–4–2 2–0–1 1–2–0 2–2–1 6 54.6
2013 3 0–2–1 0–0–1 halved w/ C. Matthew 0–0–0 0–2–0 lost w/ A. Stanford 2&1
lost w/ A. Stanford 1 dn		 0.5 16.7
2015 4 3–0–1 1–0–0 def. C. Masson 1 up 1–0–0 won w/ S. Lewis 5&4 1–0–1 halved w/ B.Lang
won w/ S. Lewis 1 up		 3.5 87.5
2017 4 2–2–0 1–0–0 def. F. Parker 4&2 0–2–0 lost w/ S. Lewis 1 dn
lost w/ S. Lewis 2&1		 1–0–0 won w/ S. Lewis 2&1 2 50.0

References
  1. "Gerina Piller Girl's Retreat". January 27, 2015. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016.
  2. "Big Break Prince Edward Island - Gerina Mendoza". The Golf Channel. Archived from the original on June 6, 2013. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  3. "UTEP Athletics official biography". University of Texas El Paso. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  4. "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. 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. Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  10. "Gerina Piller hits an ace off-camera in Malaysia". ESPN. October 27, 2016.
  11. "Gerina Piller stats". LPGA. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  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.
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