“I saw a door standing open in heaven… and the voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.” (Rev. 4:1).

Royal Troon… the site of so many memorable Opens, starting in 1923 when Arthur Havers holed a bunker shot on the 72nd green to shoot 295 and upset Walter Hagen by a shot. Havers won seventy-five Pounds. Poor Hagen won forty Pounds for his runner-up finish, not even enough to pay for his boat trip from the USA.

The Open returns to Troon, on the western coast of Scotland this year on July 18-21, 2024. Who can forget the Open of 2016 when Phil Mickelson played his greatest golf ever but lost to an other-worldly Henrik Stenson, playing arguably the greatest golf by any player at any time on any day. Henrik’s 68-65-68-63 (264) was an unthinkable number, beating Havers’ 1923 total by 31 shots.

Palmer, Weiskopf, and Watson also won memorable Opens at Troon.

But the most recent Major championship at Royal Troon was the AIG Women’s Open in 2020, where Sophia Popov emerged as perhaps the most unlikely champion in history. She was ranked 304th in the world with no status on any professional tour. She nearly quit in late 2019 after losing her LPGA card due to illness, injury, and too many bogeys. Her All-American college career at USC had foretold success for the young German phenom, but professional golf was having the last word with Sophia, as it does with so many.

When Covid19 slammed the door for professional golf in March 2020, all logic for the 27-year-old Sophia would say, “I tried. Now it’s time to get a ‘real job’.” Instead, she refused to quit. She played a small Arizona tour for almost no money. And when the LPGA went back into business in late July of 2020, Sophia humbled herself and caddied for her friend Anne van Dam in Ohio.

The next week, on August 6, playing on a sponsor’s exemption created because dozens of Korean LPGA members could not travel, Sophia teed it up at the Marathon LPGA Classic. Pushing her own cart with no caddie, Sophia tied for 9th, which qualified her for the British Open at Royal Troon! Check out this article by Beth Ann Nichols on Sophia Popov and her push cart!

Sophia Popov with Push Cart at Marathon Classic, August 6, 2020

Sophia arrived in Scotland on Tuesday and played one practice round on Wednesday with jet-lag. But Thursday morning, Sophia came out strong with a 70, then made the cut on Friday. She then shot 67 to propel her into a three-shot lead on Sunday morning. Golf announcers all but declared she would collapse under the pressure. But no, she waltzed into the history books with boyfriend Max Mehles on her bag. She followed an opening bogey with a barrage of birdies for a history-making 68. On August 23, 2020, she was crowned the Open champion.

Now, as Paul Harvey used to say- what’s the ‘rest of the story’? I know some of the back story because I was honored to be a Volunteer Assistant coach for the University of Kentucky golf team for many years. Sophia lived in Lexington while her boyfriend Max was a stalwart on the Kentucky team.

On August 4, as Sophia prepared to play the Marathon Classic, Max’s teammate on the Kentucky golf team, and Sophia’s dear friend, Cullan Brown, lost his year-long battle with osteosarcoma. Nineteen-year-old Cullan was sadly gone-- a passionate witness and follower of Jesus. He was from tiny Eddyville, Kentucky (population 2,378). Cullan was “like a mustard seed planted in a field. It is the smallest of seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants…” (Matthew 13:31). Thousands of people, not just Sophia, were inspired by his life and testimony. Click here for August 2020 Links Devotional about Cullan.

Sophia had massive tears in her eyes and a Kentucky Blue ribbon on her visor at the Marathon Classic. She wore the same Blue ribbon at Royal Troon in memory of her friend. She played those two weeks with tear-filled eyes and a heavy heart.

Looking back on those days, it feels like Heaven and Earth met in a glorious convergence of tragedy and triumph in one eternal breath.

Is it even possible that Sophia was getting some help from the heavenly realm through her friend Cullan? We will never know, of course, but maybe Cullan’s first request when the doors of Heaven opened was, “Jesus, could you help my friend Sophia? She is having a real tough time right now.”

Of course, that is a fictional dream from deep inside my heart. But who knows? Isn’t it possible that Cullan’s own personal and intimate relationship with his Savior can have a positive impact on earth long after he is gone? Is it not possible that Cullan, just like Jesus Himself, can “intercede” for his family and friends from his new heavenly home?

And the fairy-tale story continues. Max and Sophia married soon after the Open and now are the proud parents of the beautiful Maya Mae Mehles, born in June 2023.

And Cullan’s baby sister Cathryn, who idolized her older brother, is now a star on the Kentucky golf team. She just finished her freshman year. And of course, one of her biggest fans is Sophia Popov, who hopes to see her on the LPGA someday!

God has not finished blessing Cullan’s family and friends. I am blessed to be one of those friends.