Melanie Green’s tee shot at El Camaleon Golf Course on the 15th was so shocking that she grabbed her putter from her caddy and walked to the green. Green couldn’t find the ball the first time he got there.
“I’m like, ‘Shane, get your putter. This is embarrassing. You’re going to get a chip,'” Green said.
advertisement
As Green corrected his divot, caddy Shane Meehan walked over to the hole and found Green’s ball.
“I was like, ‘Shane, that’s not good. You’re not in the hole. That’s not good,'” Green recalled. “I walked up there and all I could see was the cross. I was so excited. I thought, yeah, it went to the left, but whatever. It was a good bounce.”
The lack of fans to alert him to the LPGA’s first ace came as a late surprise for the tour rookie. At the Riviera Maya Open in Mayakoba, with an ace sandwiched between four straight birdies in six holes, Green shot 30 on the back nine and ended up with a tournament-leading 6-under 66. Spain’s Carlota Ciganda follows with a one-stroke lead.
advertisement
Green, the 2025 Epson Tour Player of the Year, made his sixth start of the season this week in Mexico. She finished a share ninth at the JM Eagle LA Championship, qualifying her for the Chevron Championship, her first major of the year.
In the summer of 2024, the small-town New Yorker became the first American in 28 years to win the Women’s British Amateur and earn a spot on the Curtis Cup team.
“The way she carried herself on the golf course was definitely different than other competitors,” former University of South Florida coach Erica Brennan said of Green’s hiring. “She had an advantage, but it was missing. I saw the fire.”
Ms. Green found the Lord while in college. The cross on her golf ball is a symbol of her faith. There was a time when the 24-year-old gave it up to attend Bible school because she thought she might not be able to become a professional. But after a call from the church’s senior pastor, she decided to do both.
advertisement
“You don’t have to be a pastor to go out and tell someone, ‘Hey, God loves you and He has a plan for your life,'” Green said. golf week last year.
“Right now, golf is my calling.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: LPGA rookie Melanie Green takes lead in Mexico after ace
