Category Archives: Amateur Golf

2026 Augusta National Women’s Amateur Winner

Posted on by
Reply

The Winner is…..

Maria Jose Marin, from Colombia and a stand out at University of Arkansas. She is the current NCAA D1 individual champion. She really was not on my radar (probably because she missed the cut last year at ANWA); but should have been on my list given I did watch her win the NCAA D1 Championship last spring. She is not a particularly long hitter (normally a must for winners at Augusta National) but clearly her short game is elite.There were multiple times during her round where she saved par and that made the difference (and a bit of luck on the 12th hole also played a role in the overall outcome).

Her winning way was with her putter! She had some chunky approach shots but her putter was on fire. She was quoted early in the week saying “My putter is my best friend.” Marin’s Scorecard was impressive with six birdies and only two bogies. And she was the only player to score in the 60s (65, 69, and 68) for all three rounds.

When interviewed Marin said this was her fourth time playing in ANWA and her key to winning was setting a strategy with her coach; and for the final round it was a “mental strategy.” She did not elaborate but I would love to know what that “mental strategy” was for the day.

The 12th Hole at Augusta National

The 12th hole at Augusta once again was key to the tournament. For Marin, a bit of luck on 12. For Talley bad luck (see below). Marin hit her tee shot short on 12 but it stayed on the front bank instead of rolling back into the water (which is what we usually see on 12). On Golf Central recap after the round, Brandel Chamblee noted that the only other time that a ball stayed on the bank (like Marin’s) was when Freddy Couples hit the ball on the bank and it miraculously stayed up; and he won The Masters in 1992.

The fall of Asterisk Talley was hard to watch on the 12th hole. Going into Saturday, my pick (see my per-tournament blog post), Asterisk Talley, had a one shot lead at 11 under par. It looked like Talley was cruising with 3 under par in the first four holes to get to 14 under. Then, the unthinkable happened. First, Talley made her first bogey of the tournament on hole 11; and then the nightmare on the 12th hole.

Talley hit her tee shot on 12 into the back bunker and then hit her bunker shot on the green and it rolled past the hole down the bank (where Marin’s shot sat just a few minutes earlier) and dropped into the water. Then she made a crazy decision to drop in the bunker instead of going to the other side of the water. Her second bunker shot was identical to her first and ended in the water; then she went to the other side of the water to hit onto the green. Why her caddie did not stop her from dropping in the bunker is beyond me. Bottom line, Talley ended with a seven (quadruple bogey) on hole 12. Talley’s body language and play never really recovered.

Runner Up

Andrea Revuelta (from Spain and attending Stanford University). Revuelta had a great day too with a final 10 under par (4 under at Augusta National). Her big moment was on the par three 12th where she almost made a hole-in-one when it hit the hole but did not drop in to the hole.

What I noticed most when the TV was on Revuelta was her constant smile. She look like she was having the time of her life! It was very refreshing to watch.

Past Champions in the field

The two past champions did not play that well. Tsubas Kajitani missed the cutt; as she had in her two previous appearances. So she really has not played well since her surprise win in 2022.

Anna Davis, made the cut at two under par (T23). Really there was no expectation that she would be in the mix on Saturday with the leader at 11 under par. Still to have played in five ANWA events, and win ANWA at 16, is an amazing feat for any amateur golfer.

Other Golfers Mentioned in my Pre-tournament Blog

Surprisingly some of the start amateurs that I thought would be in contention really were not and some of them; well, it just wasn’t their week.

(1) Megha Ganne – this was a big shocker that she not only missed the cut but was seven over par for the first two days of competition. Shocking because last year, she had the tournament first day record at nine under par. Ganne is a senior at Stanford and I’m sure she’ll make a run at turning pro after graduation.

(2) Kirara Romero – The #1 amateur in the WAGR was five under (T8) going into Saturday. I think she will regret the first round where she played very conservatively when all the other players took advantage of the great conditions and played aggressively.

(3) Farah O’Keefe – I really thought she would be in the top four after the first two days but she started Saturday at T18 or four under par. Of course, when the leader is at 11 under, it’s an uphill grind to be in contention on championship day.

(4) Pate and Galitsky – Two Players I mentioned from Southern Schools were Macy Pate (Wake Forest) and Ella Galitsky (University of South Carolina). Pate made the weekend T30 (even) and finished the competition three over par. Unfortunately, Galitsky missed the cut; surprising given she was in the top 10 the past two years at ANWA. It was really heartbreaking because she was at even par and on the 18th hole of the 2nd round made a bogey missing the cut by one.

It is always amazing to watch these young women play Augusta National. And I mean young! Of the 32 women that made the cut, the age range 15-23 with half being under 20.

Hopefully, Asterisk Talley will not let the 12th hole define her and she will come back next year and be in contention to win the Augusta National Women’s Amateur! She has a bright future. It just reminds us that golf can be brutal even for the most talented players in the world.

Congratulations to Maria Jose Marin!

Augusta National Women’s Amateur 2026 (April 1-4)

Posted on by
Reply

The Augusta National Women’s Amateur begins on Wednesday April 1, 2026. For those that don’t follow amateur women’s golf, the weekend prior to The Masters is the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA). You can read my 2025 blog post on ANWA here.

It’s a stacked field with 48 of the top 50 players in the World Amateur Golf Rankings participating. A fun fact – Ten of the women in the field previously participated (as kids) in the Drive, Chip, and Putt competition at August National.

How to Watch: Each day you can watch the competition lived streamed on the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Website, ANWAgolf..com or you can watch on Golf Channel and NBC (the final).

The first two days at Champions Retreat (Wednesday, April 1 and Thursday, April 2) are streamed and on Golf Channel from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m (EST). The final round from Augusta National (Saturday, April 4) is streamed and on NBC from Noon to 3 p.m. Note: No coverage on Friday, April 3 because all participants are at practice rounds at Augusta National.

Past Champions in the Field:

Unlike last year, when there were three past champions in the field. This year, only two past winners are playing. The 2021 champion Tsubasa Kajitani (Japan) and the 2022 Champion, Anna Davis (American) are playing.

In 2021, Kajitani won in a playoff against popular America, Emilia Migliaccio (now working for NBC Golf). The media made a big deal about the fact that the year she won, Hideki Matsuyama won The Masters so it was a “Japan sweep.” Kajitani has missed the cut the last two years so I’m not sure how she will play this year.

Davis became a media darling in 2022 because she wore a bucket hat when she won. No one really had their eye on Davis but as the leaders fell apart; the laid back Californian played her way to the win. Davis has a current world amateur golf ranking (WAGR) of 14. She has been ranked as high as seven in the world but I don’t see her as a favorite this year.

Top 10 World Amateur Golf Rankings – as of March 30,2026

I do predict that the winner of ANWA in 2026 will be one of the top 10 women in amateur golf. Below is a screenshot of the current top 10. Many will have their money on Kiera Romero, the #1 amateur player in the world but I have my eye on three other players.

(1) Megha Ganne – She is ranked six in the world and is ranked 7 on the D1 College rankings. Ganne won the USGA U.S. Women’s Amateur last summer (so she is the current champion).

Ganne has played ANWA five times with mixed results – missing the cut twice and her highest finish was last year with a T7 finish. One note of interest, in round one of ANWA in 2025, she scored a record 9 under par at Champions Retreat Golf Course. She plays for the dominating Women’s College Golf team, Stanford. Side note: Stanford has five players in the ANWA field.

(2) Asterick Talley is seventeen years old, has been a standout amateur golfer for a number of years (as a junior) and is ranked 10 on WAGR. She was the runner up at ANWA last year closing with a final round at Augusta National of 68; just one shot behind the winner. She has won a USGA championship (U.S. Amateur 4-Ball in 2024).

She is playing great going into the 2026 ANWA. She won the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley earlier this springs and last week she played in the LPGA tournament in Arizona . On Friday she shot seven under (65) and finished T29.

(3) Farah O’Keefe is a Texas University player that has been on fire this college golf season. She has won the individual title in three events this spring; and she is a long hitter which is a big advantage once the ladies get to the final round at Augusta National. I just have a good feeling about her changes and if I was not such a big fan of Asterick Talley, I would probably go with Farah O’Keefe as my pick.

Other Players I have on my “Favorites” list on the ANWA website:

There are a number of great amateur golfers I follow and so I hope they do well at ANWA. A couple of ladies that play for southern schools are:

(1) Ella Galitsky – She has been a standout in junior golf for a number of years and this is her fourth time playing in the ANWA. She has finished in the top 10 the last two years at ANWA. She is a freshman at University of South Carolina. She has also won two events on the Thai LPGA tour (she is from Thailand). She finished T8 in 2024 and T4 in 2025 at ANWA.

(2) Macy Pate – A Wake Forest player that I have enjoyed following in college golf. She missed the cut last year at ANWA (her first time) but hopefully she can make the cut this year with having had experience. She is playing well this year in college competitions.

Predictions

It’s hard to predict especially with six of the top eight players on last year’s ANWA leader board back in the field. However I if the world number one does not win then my pick is Asterisk Talley. It may be crazy to go against the norm of picking the #1 player, Kiara Romero, in women’s amateur golf because world #1’s have a history of winning ANWA; but Asterisk Talley is playing really well (last week she was T29 at the LPGA event), was runner up last year at ANWA; and it just seems like she has good momentum going into this year.

Side Note: Lucky Standford University because Talley has committed to play golf for the Cardinals.

Of course, I will add an Update to this post with the winner after Saturday.

2025 NCAA D1 Women’s Golf – Regional Competitions May 5 – 7

Posted on by
1

The women’s golf college conference championships are completed and now the focus is on NCAA D1 Regional competitions that will set the field for the 2025 NCAA D1 Championship to be held May 16 -21 in Carlsbad, CA at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa.

Regionals are contended at six different sites with 12 teams at each regional; as well as 6 individual golfers from teams that did not qualify. The individuals are top players that qualified to compete for the Individual NCAA D1 title.

Regional qualifying is always very exciting because it seems like every year there is a team that no analyst is touting that catches fire and knocks out a top team. Only five of the 12 teams at each region will move on to Nationals. In other words, of the 72 teams competing for a spot only 30 teams will advance to the national championship. And the top individual golfer not on an advancing team will also go to the national championship.

If you want to see all the teams (and individual) seeding for the regions you can get all the details at the NCAA website. The top seed in each region are no surprise if you follow women’s college golf.

  1. Charlottesville Regional Top Seeds: #1 South Carolina, #2 Virginia, #3 Ole Miss, #4 Florida
  2. Columbus Regional Site Top Seeds: #1 Arkansas, #2 LSU, #3 Ohio State, #4 Kansas
  3. Gold Canyon Regional Top Seeds: #1 Oregon, #2 Arizona, # 3 Auburn, #4 Mississippi State
  4. Lexington Regional Top Seeds: #1 Florida State, #2 Southern California, #3 TCU, #4 Vanderbuilt
  5. Lubbock Regional Top Seeds: #1Texas, #2 Wake Forest, #3 Arizona, #4 Texas A&M
  6. Norman Regional Top Seeds: #1 Stanford University, #2 Northwestern, #3 North Carolina, #4 Michigan State

It will be interesting to see if where the teams play in regional competition impacts outcome. For example, Wake Forest plays in the Texas regional location so there will be lots of wind. Will the wind be an issue? Will teams like Texas and Texas A&M have an advantage because they are used to Texas wind?

Side Bar: Texas A&M fun fact – the coach, Gerrod Chadwell is married to LPGA star, Stacey Lewis.

Can’t wait to see who advances and what upsets may occur at the 2025 NCAA D1 Women’s Golf regional competitions.

Looking forward to the NCAA D1 Championship:

Past Winners: Stanford (2024), Wake Forest (2023), Stanford (2022), and Ole Miss (2021)

For me, one of the following teams will win the NCAA D1 Championship in 2025: Standford, Wake Forest, South Carolina or Florida State.

South Carolina won the 2025 SEC championship so are in great form for championship season. Wake Forest beat Stanford in the semi-finals of the ACC but lost to Florida State in the championship match play; but it was very close and came down to the last putt on the 18th hole of the last match. So just the fact that Wake Forest beat Stanford in match play gives them a lot of confidence going into the NCAA series. Florida state is a “no-brainer” as a pick to win it all with the #1 and #2 rank women golfers in the world on the Seminoles roster.

Unfortunately none of the regional competitions will be televised but you can keep track online and I will, of course, blog before the D1 Championships to give an overview of the teams that made it to the NCAA finals for women’s golf.

Carla Bernat Escuder Wins 2025 Augusta National Women’s Amateur

Posted on by
Reply

As I said in my preview of ANWA it could be a unknown (at least to the average golf fan) winning ANWA and that is exactly what happened. Carla Bernat Escuder of Spain wins with a score of 12 under par (204).

Who is Carla Bernat Escudar? Here are some facts:

(1) As mentioned above she is from Spain and her coach is Victor Garcia, the father of 2017 Masters winner Sergio Garcia. She has been coached by Garcia since she was 13 years old.

(2) She was not on my radar with a WAGR ranking of 29 and a DI College Rank of 24. She plays for Kansas State (transferred this year to K-State). I did know her name because her first two years of college golf was played at Tulane University.

(3) Really fun fact – Champions Gate Golf Course has their golf course dog “pick” (predict) the winner. The dog has not been accurate in previous years but this year (see Instagram post)

Congratulations to Cara Bernat Escudar!

Other Notable Players:

(1) Lottie Woad: Unfortunately for world #1, Lottie Woad, who was in first place at the start of the final round, she just did not have her game on the final day and finished solo third at 9 under par (207)

(2) Asterisk Talley – #1 Amateur in the world finished one back in second place with a final score of 11 under par (205). She played well but the highlight was when she holed her 2nd shot on #1 at August National for an opening eagle.

(3) Megha Ganne – The Stanford players from New Jersey who had a record setting first round at Champions Gate finished in seventh place with a score of 7 under par (209).

Tis’ the Season of Match Play

Posted on by
2

If you love to watch match play then this is the time for you to make excuses to watch a lot of golf on TV. However to watch live you better be an early riser since all the events are in Europe in 2023. I assume the Golf Channel will have plenty of coverage leading up to the actual match play days but below is information on how to watch the actual match days (USA information only).

September 2 & 3: The Walker Cup

The Walker Cup is the amateur match play event with the top males amateur golfers from the United States and Great Britain & Ireland. It is organized by the USGA (the governing body of golf in the United States) and the R&A (the governing body of golf for the rest of the world and headquartered in St. Andrews, Scotland).

You can view the Walker Cup on the Golf Channel. The event is being contended at The Old Course at St. Andrews so that is a treat to see as a golf fan.

Day 1: Saturday, September 2 starting at 8 am (est) Also, it will be rebroadcasted Saturday night at 9 pm est.

Day 2: Sunday, September 3, starting at 8 am (est) to 2 pm on Golf Channel.

September 22 to 24: The Solheim Cup

The ladies take the stage at Finca Cortesín in Andalucía, Spain. The USA and Europe both have stellar teams so it should be an exiting event. The Solheim cup record is 10 USA and Europe 7 but Europe has won the last two meetings (2019 at Gleneagles in Scotland and 2021 at The Inverness Club in Ohio).

When to watch the coverage live on the Golf Channel

Day 1, Friday: 2 am to 1 pm (est)

Day 2, Saturday: 2 am to 1 pm (est)

Day 3, Sunday: 5 to 11 am (est)

My bet is that there will be replays later in the day if you don’t care about seeing it live.

September 29 to October 1: Ryder Cup

The Ryder Cup is being contested at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, Rome, Italy. This will be the 44th event with the USA leading in the series (27-14-2) but Europe has won nine of the last 13 editions of the Ryder Cup. The first 39 years the matches were between the USA and GB&I (Great Britain and Ireland) but in 1979 the GB&I team was expanded to include all of Europe; thus making the matches more competitive.

It is early to confirm but here is the broadcast schedule I found online:

Friday, September 29 – USA Network, 1:30 am to Noon (est)

Saturday, September 30 – USA Network, 1:30 to 3 am (est) and NBC 3 am to Noon (est)

Sunday, October 1 – 5:30 am to 1 PM (est) on NBC

Side Bar: There is also the Junior Solheim Cup and Junior Ryder Cup but they are not televised. You can follow the scoring online at the respective websites for the events.

Rose Zhang and Sam Bennett make their Professional Debuts

Posted on by
Reply

After the completion of the NCAA D1 Championships, two notable amateur golfers turned professional. Rose Zhang the #1 female amateur golfer in the world and Sam Bennett the #5 ranked male golfer in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

Rose Zhang

You cannot call yourself a golf fan if you do not know about Rose Zhang. She won the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, she has been ranked the #1 female golfer in the world for a record 141 weeks, she has won the D1 Individual NCAA Championship title back-to-back (2022 and 2023). Other notable wins in her amateur career include the U.S. Girls Junior (2021) and the U.S. Women’s Amateur (2020). Her other amateur accomplishments are too long to list.

She had all eyes on her at the LPGA’s Mizuho American Open (at Liberty National in New Jersey where the President’s Cup was held in 2017). How did she do? She WON!!!

It’s incredible that Rose Zhang won her 1st LPGA professional event. Her scores were:

Round One: Tied 12th at 2-under par

Round Two: Tied 4th at 5-under par

Round Three: Leader at 11-under par

Round Four: Tied 1st at 9-under. Won in playoff.

It was an exciting ending for fans (probably very stressful for Zhang) because she was in a playoff against Jennifer Kupcho. Zhang won on the 2nd playoff hole.

It really is remarkable what she has accomplished. The last player to win in her debut on the LPGA was in 1951.

Sam Bennett

Although Sam Bennett was not the #1 amateur in the world; he became an amateur darling with his stellar performance at the 2023 Masters taking home the low amateur honors but more impressive was his T16 (2-under) finish. Of course, he was invited to the Masters as the reigning U.S. Amateur.

Bennett made his professional debut at the Memorial Tournament (notable for being hosted by Jack Nicklaus at his course at Muirfield Village in Ohio). So how did Bennett fare:

Round One: 1-under

Round Two: Even

Round Three: Even

Round Four: Tied 63rd, +12 (an 84 on the last day was not a great finish)

Final Thoughts

Sam Bennett had a very respectable showing for his first PGA Tour event. Just making the cut in your debut on tour would be considered a major accomplishment.

As for Rose Zhang – she has once again shown the golf world what a special golfer she truly is by winning her first professional tournament. Keep an eye on her at the U.S. Women’s Open because she holds the course record (63) at Pebble Beach. And even better is that she is now eligible for The Solheim Cup this fall. I would bet my house on Zhang being a captain’s pick by Stacey Lewis.

Great Day for Women’s Golf: Augusta National Announces a Women’s Amateur Championship

Posted on by
Reply

For years I have been wishing Augusta National would take “meaningful action” to support women’s golf. Yes, Augusta welcomed female members in 2012 when Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore were extended invitations to join the club. However like most women who love golf, and as a fan of women’s golf, I wanted to see women play Augusta National.

Today the announcement came! Perhaps this announcement was not the one that women professional golfers hoped for but the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship is monumental for women’s golf. Here is the post from Twitter:

Masters Announcement on Twitter

Augusta National Tweet – Women’s Amateur Championship

The event being conducted within the same time frame as Drive, Chip and Putt and The Masters is excellent! The event will be held right before DCP (the wonderful golf championship for young golfers). Just imagine a young girl participating in DCP, watching the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship and knowing that one day (if she works hard) she may be playing the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship!

Of course, the big question for the LPGA is what does this mean for the ANA Inspiration? Will the top female amateurs, who normally play the ANA Inspiration, now have to choose between the two events? My guess is the LPGA will move the ANA (perhaps the week before the new amateur event). After all, it would be a communications manager’s dream story line – promoting the opportunity to watch the top amateur female golfers playing in the ANA Inspiration who will be then playing in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship the following week.  And if the ANA is after the event, the LPGA promotes the winner of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur playing in the LPGA’s first major of the year. I say it’s a win/win for the LPGA (unless they do not move the date of the ANA)

I can’t wait until 2019 when I can watch the inaugural Augusta National Amateur Women’s Championship.

It’s a good day for women’s golf!

The Spirit International – Watch if You Love Amateur Golf

Posted on by
1

The Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship has been around since 2001 but many people that love golf don’t know about it.  The video below is a nice overview of the championship.

I learned about it because I follow Paige MacKenzie on Twitter and Paige is the captain of the 2013 United States team. Paige is also a former Spirit International competitor.  I watched the last hour of coverage on Thursday and Friday online and really enjoyed it. I wish I could have seen more but it is impossible to watch this type of event during a work week.  You can watch it Saturday (November 2, 2013)  via the live webcast at the Spirit International Website.

There are only four players for each country (20 Countries represented by 2 men and 2 women).  It may be a small field but the golfers are some of the best young players in the world and it is a nice preview of what we can expect to see in the coming years on the professional tours.  Past Spirit International competitors include US stars like Brandt Snedeker and Paula Creamer; as well as international stars such as Jason Day, Charl Schwatzel, Lorena Ochoa, and Ya-Ni Tseng. As they say, the list goes on and on.

The format is interesting because they have multiple competitions which include:

  • International Team- combined best ball of the men’s team and women’s team.
  • Men’s Team- Best ball of two players (four ball stroke play)
  • Women’s Team- Best ball of two players (four ball stroke play)
  • Men’s Individual- Most holes under par.
  • Women’s Individual- Most holes under par.

So you can cheer for your favorite country, men’s team, women’s team, and individuals.  I want the United States and Canada to do well because I have lived in the United States most of my life and feel an allegiance to the US; but I was born in Canada and I have a soft spot for athletes from Canada.  I hope that Brooke Henderson (a young Canadian golfer whose career I follow) does well. I am happy to report that as of the end of the second round Brooke is in first place for the Women’s Individual competition.

The United States is leading the overall competition. Check out the Leaderboard to see the other country standings. And if you can’t watch the live webcast then the next best thing is following the championship updates on twitter @thespiritgolf.

UPDATE (November 3 2013) – USA wins overall and Brooke Henderson wins Women’s Championship.  See all results at the Spirit Website.

“Lydia Ko goes Pro” video gets four stars

Posted on by
Reply

It has been many months since my last post because I have had a lot of life changes in the past nine months (no, I did not have a child).  I have moved to a new state for a dream job! As we all know with a new job and a big move other things fall to the wayside.  But now I am more settled in my job and new home; and of course fall is here (so less daylight hours to play golf), which makes it a logical time to focus on my blog.

I wanted to start with something light and fun!  And Lydia Ko’s announcement that she is turning pro is just the ticket!  I read that she decided to release a video rather than do a press conference and sure enough she tweeted out to her followers the link to the video on October 22.  Here is the video for your enjoyment:

I give the video four stars because it is entertaining (Lydia speed golfing) and shows her personality (e.g., she laughs a lot); and it certainly beats a boring press conference video.

I have said in a previous post that I am not a fan of the younger and younger players we see in professional events.  And that a player like Michele Wie is a cautionary tale because she is only 23 and struggles to find her game.  But, Lydia Ko seems to be a very poised and talented young women.  Ko has won a number of professional tournaments and made history winning the CN Canadian Women’s Open in 2012 and 2013. As the press has pointed out, Ko has left over $1 Million in money on the table as an amateur.

Now we just have to wait for the LPGA Commissioner, Mike Whan, to approve her request to waive the rule requiring LPGA professionals to be at least 18 years old.  The waiver is a  “fiat accompli” given the popularity of Ko, the fact she has already won multiple professional events as an amateur, and Whan waived the age requirement for Lexi Thompson after she won an LPGA event.

As a professional, Ko will face a new kind of scrutiny because everyone will be watching to see if she falters under the “pressure” of being a pro. Time and time again a young amateur golfer is hailed as the next “Tiger or Annika” and seems to lose their talent (or maybe free spirit) as a professional.  Only time will tell if Ko is able win as much as a professional as she did as an amateur.

Hopefully, she will have a smooth transition from the “darling of the amateur ranks” to a regular pro on tour. Bottom line, I know I will be watching to see how she plays in her first tournament as a professional.

Earl Woods gets my vote for founder of “the youth movement” in golf

Posted on by
Reply

The Golf Channel Morning Drive Show has a daily poll question and one question was on a topic I have written about often — young golfers.  The question was posed because a 14-year-old amateur golfer from China, Guan Tianlang, won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship and a spot in the 2013 Masters.

Here is the Morning Drive poll question tweeted by Lauren Thompson Twitter coversatin with Lauren Thompson on Morning Drive Poll QuestionI was pleased to get a direct message back from Lauren ThompsonImage of Twitter DM from Lauren Thompson

As you can see from my response to Lauren Thompson I did not select any of the four options.  Yes, I think all (coaching, equipment, global exposure and technology) are important factors but that does not speak to the underlying support system that allows kids to pursue a sport with such intensity at such young ages.

The only way a child can achieve such great success at such a young age is because the parents support it.  There will always be the debate as to whether or not the child truly “wanted” to “live and breathe” golf or if the parents really wanted it for the child.  But either way, the steps the parents must take to create the opportunity is the basis for it all.

Tiger Woods is the most famous child prodigy that ever played the game.  Yes, Tiger has proven his place in history as one of the best golfers ever.  However, I truly believe Earl Woods, Tiger’s father, was the mastermind behind the Tiger brand that exists today.  After all, Earl Woods not only taught his son golf at a young age but also was savvy enough to get his son “exposure” at a very young age.  If you have not seen it, below is the video of 2-year-old Tiger on the Mike Douglas show.

After Tiger, the next young phenom to come along was in women’s golf – Michelle Wie.  At the age of eleven Wei was the youngest player to qualify for a USGA amateur championship.  Wie’s career has not been as stellar as predicted; although she has reaped the financial benefit and fame sponsors like Nike deliver.  In recent years Wie’s poor play has been blamed on her focus on college but now that she is out of school she is still struggling to find her game.  Only time will tell if Wie will become a truly great golfer.  If she does not become a champion golfer then Wei’s rise and fall may become a cautionary tale of burnout or peaking too soon.

In 2012, we have seen a flurry of young golfers making news:

  1. Andy Zhang, a 14-year-old amateur golfer (also Chinese but living in Florida) made history as the youngest player in the US Open.
  2. Lydia Ko, a 15-year-old from New Zealand (originally from South Korea) made history winning the Canadian Open.  Ko is the youngest player to win a LPGA event.
  3. Beau Hossler, a 17-year-old Californian, became a sensation at the 2012 US Open when he took the lead (over Tiger) for a short period of time.
  4. Lexi Thompson won the Navistar LPGA Classic in 2011 at age 16 which triggered Mike Whan, LPGA Commissioner, to waive the 18-year-old age requirement for turning pro and gave Thompson (age 17) her PGA tour card for 2012.
  5. Guan Tianlang, 14-year-old amateur golfer from China, made history as the youngest winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship and will make history in 2013 as the youngest golfer to ever play in the Masters.

So is this a good thing for the sport or not?  Some will say “yes” because it will bring a younger audience to the game and hopefully grow the game for the future.  Some will say “no” for reasons such as it is not good for the child (i.e. the pressure, the travel, the risk of injuries at a young age).  Whatever your opinion there is one thing that is hard to argue and that is “the cat — or should I say, Tiger — is out of the bag” and there is no turning back now.