Golfer given 1% chance of survival wins maiden titleImage source, Tristan Jones/LETImage caption, Leonie Harm turned pro in 2020ByMatt DavisBBC Sport Senior JournalistPublished9 minutes agoLeonie Harm was given less than a 1% chance of survival when she was hit by a car in 2013.Thirteen years later and the German has won her maiden Ladies European Tour title with a one-shot victory at the German Masters.It caps a remarkable back story for the 28-year-old.Harm had been out jogging when she was hit by a car travelling 70km/h (44mph)., external
It was the paramedics at the scene who gave given her a very slim chance of surviving.
She was put in a coma but despite severe brain injuries and multiple bone fractures she returned to the golf course just seven weeks later.
A year later and she won the National Women’s Amateur title, going on to win several amateur titles before she moved to the US to study biochemical and biophysical Sciences at the University of Houston.
Her passion to work in that field was personal as her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014 and died two years later., external
In 2018, Harm was the first German to win the Ladies’ British Open Amateur Championship – the world’s oldest women’s golf tournament.
Her debut major appearances followed and she turned professional in 2020.
But then came the Covid pandemic and while sport was put on hold, Harm worked as a intern at a company developing a vaccine candidate against the coronavirus.
Despite runner-up finishes on Tour in both the 2021 and 2022 seasons, she struggled with her game and considered quitting in 2024., external
On Sunday, she finally broke her professional title drought at her home tournament at Green Eagle Golf Courses, just south of Hamburg with a birdie on the last to beat South Africa’s Casandra Alexander.
Harm improved on her second place finish at the tournament in 2022 as she finished on 10-under-par having shot a course record eight-under-par 65 in the first round.
“I’m really happy I got it over the line this time after coming close in 2022 and just out here with all the German fans,” she reported.
Harm added: “Resilience is a good thing, and I have shown this at times, but I believe right now I’m in a good spot mentally and for it to then be paired with success in golf is such a great feeling because I didn’t have to be miserable.
“I could’ve been happy this whole time and it would have worked with a lot of the times where you get impatient and to be more forgiving to yourself.
“A good takeaway there is to be your own best friend eventually and hopefully then be successful in working with yourself rather than against it which I’ve done for probably most of my life.”
