KENT golfer Karen Stupples opens her US Tour season at the SBS Open in Hawaii today (Thursday) after becoming a mum for the first time in 2007.

And Deal’s former British Open champion is looking forward to returning to full-time competition both in the USA and Europe – and to proving her doubters wrong.

Stupples said: "Becoming a mum dominated last year for me and, until you do it, you don’t really realise how difficult having a baby is.

"But now, learning to be a pro golfer and a mum is just a new challenge, it’s something to get my teeth into again.

"I see myself as having more potential than I have ever had because I have learned so much from this whole experience of having a baby.".

However, the 34-year-old revealed that she had lost two of her sponsors last year, and believes that the only reason was that they felt she would not be the same player after having a baby.

She said: "It seems that the general perception about sportswomen who have babies is that, as far as sport is concerned, they are washed up.

"People seem to think you won’t win anything again but Paula Radcliffe has already proved her doubters wrong by winning the New York Marathon after having a baby and I intend to do the same."