SunRidge Canyon Golf Club’s Jim McLean Golf School has a new instructor on its roster, two-time LPGA Tour winner Anne Marie Palli.

Originally from France, Palli is the first European to win the LPGA and, more recently, was also part of the team that assisted the European side of the Solheim Cup in 2013. The European team won in 2013, which was their first victory on U.S. soil.

Now Palli conducts ladies clinics and private lessons at the local Jim McLean School.

“My dad is a golf professional in France, so I started when I was very young; maybe three or four years old,” Palli said.

“So I always lived on the golf course.”

Palli went on to play for the French team and won a few tournaments and, though it wasn’t popular at the time, she said she knew she wanted to become a professional.

Without a tour in Europe at the time, Palli’s choices were to try to make a run in Japan or head on over to the United States.

“I always tell my dad it was his fault that I came here, because he always made us watch these Western movies,” Palli added with a smile.

“He thinks he’s John Wayne.”

Palli’s stay in the U.S. started in Florida before moving on to California. She began working with a teacher who taught in Arizona during the winter, which is how she wound up in the Grand Canyon State.

“How can you not like it here:” she asked.

“It’s beautiful. A friend of mine introduced me to [SunRidge Canyon Director of Operations] Justin [Klemballa], and he said he was looking for a teacher here in Fountain Hills.”

Palli said she had never met Jim McLean until taking up her new position, but she was very aware of his reputation and the reputation of his golf school.

“It was exciting to become a part of that,” Palli said.

“I still love to play and enjoy teaching. I enjoy what Jim does, as far as teaching golf, too. I think he’s excellent.”

When it comes to playing the game of golf, Palli said that she loves the individuality of the sport, and that your performance is entirely your own.

“You can’t blame anybody else,” she added.

“That’s the good part and the tough part. I also love that it gives us an opportunity to learn about ourselves, our emotions and how we deal with adversity.”

Through all of her years of play, Palli said the biggest lesson she learned from the game of golf is to live in the moment.

“If you want to play good golf, you have to be aware of the moment,” she said.

“When you’re in the moment, which is basically the mind and the body in the same place, you are in the zone. When you’re there, you don’t experience fear, which is in the future, or regret, which is in the past.”

Palli said that her own struggle with her own game is what made her want to start teaching golf.

“Forever, I would just do what I was told,” she said.

“But I wanted to understand what was happening and learn the golf swing. I wanted to know more about the game.”

She turned that love of learning into a love of teaching, which she aims to apply to her sessions at the local school.

“Teaching is a lot of fun,” she said.

“Most of the players you come across aren’t going to become pros, so you want to have fun with them. That’s why most people should want to play golf, to have fun. Even tour players should be playing to have fun and, for me, it’s fun to help people get better.”

Palli said she’s interested in students at any level of play looking to learn and improve their game, as well as have fun with the game of golf.

To learn more about the SunRidge Canyon Jim McLean Golf School or schedule classes with Anne Marie Palli or any of the school’s other teachers, visit sunridgegolf.com/jim-mclean/ or call 837-5100.