CHASKA, Minn. — A funny thing happened Thursday. is not like Hahaha It’s interesting or tap your foot Bakusho is kind of funny, but it’s kind of sarcastic.
I arrived at the KPMG Women’s Professional Golf Championship at Hazeltine National on Thursday morning with a loose plan to write down a few names. But golf is rarely predictable. (See Keith Mitchell’s 41-29 record at last week’s U.S. Open.)
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One thing I did But I was planning on seeing Alexa Pano. She is 21 years old and already in her fourth full season on the LPGA Tour. She hits the distance (averaging 273.4 yards) and has already won once, at the ISPS Handa World Invitational in August 2023 (she won on the same day she turned 19).
But what I wanted most was to see Alexa and catch up. Because seven years ago, in advance of the first Augusta U.S. Women’s Amateur, I spent a significant amount of time doing a 2,000-word profile with her, her father, her swing coach, and others. She was just 14 years old at the time and was trying to become the event’s youngest contestant. When Alexa was playing a casual round with her friend Tommy Morrison, I also spent some time with them on the golf course. (Tommy, who just finished his senior year on the Texas men’s golf team, has since grown to 6 feet 9 inches tall. Well, time passes quickly.) I asked a million questions, including whether the then-new Amazon Alexa didn’t like the fact that it had stolen my name. I think that person, Alexa, thought the question was weird.
Since then, I have never seen Pano play golf, at least not in person. That was the plan for Thursday. Look around a few holes, maybe say hello, and then carry on with your day.
But when I first got a chance to talk to Alexa, I found her behind the podium answering questions from the media (including myself) as Golf Channel cameras rolled and photographers took pictures.
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She had just shot a 5-under 67 and took the lead in the clubhouse in her third LPGA major of the season. That lead didn’t hold, and Ina Yoon dove in and shot a 63 about an hour later, but Pano heads into Friday in first place.
“Hitting it straight is the most important thing on this golf course,” she said. “This makes it much easier to approach from the fairway. The rough is very patchy, with some very thick spots. The more you put the ball in the fairway, the better.”
Everyone has become an adult!
An award-winning junior player, Pano came to the attention of golf fans after appearing in a 2013 Netflix documentary. short gamechronicled the 2012 U.S. Kids Golf World Championship in Pinehurst, North Carolina, where Pano was 7 years old at the time. Since then, Alexa and her father, Rick, have traveled tens of thousands of miles a year to compete in high-level junior tournaments.
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She has competed in the Drive, Chip and Putt at Augusta National three times and was the youngest participant in the 2019 U.S. Women’s Open. She played in the Junior Solheim Cup and Junior Ryder Cup before turning professional in 2022 at the age of 17.
After playing on the Epson Tour for one year, she earned her LPGA card through the LPGA Q Series and earned LPGA membership for the 2023 season. She has since gone on an extensive tour, but had to learn some lessons along the way. Something like patience.
“You lose a lot more than you win here. It’s kind of a change from something like junior golf or amateur golf,” Pano said Thursday. “You’re not at the top of the leaderboard as much as you think you are. You have to really believe in the process and just keep working. But on days like today and weeks where you see results, it’s all worth it.”
Pano teed up early Thursday and was at even par, but holed out from 69 yards on the 11th for an eagle and moved to 2 under. Pano yelled as the ball landed and rolled. go Her caddy, Kyle Alexander, said: sit. Pano usually walks with her father, but for the past few weeks his father has been out sick. He watched from outside the ropes Thursday.
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“Do you know who Wally Pip is?” he asked me, smiling. (yes i will.)
From there, she raced down the back nine, making birdies on the 14th, 16th and 17th, and easily two-putting par on the 18th after hitting her driver into a fairway bunker.
“I felt like I was able to put myself in really good positions and hit all my goals, whether it was off the tee or just playing a little bit safer on the green,” she said. “Overall it was a really fulfilling day.”
This will be her 13th major debut as a professional, with her only top-10 finish coming at the 2024 Women’s British Open. But now comes the difficult part. That means continuing to compete. Golf tournaments, especially major championships, are all about staying competitive through the 72 holes. Thursday I often try not to push myself out. So far, so good.
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“I think the more experience you get, the better you get,” she said. “I think the more you play in these events, the more comfortable you get. But I distinctly remember when I was a junior golfer, qualifying for things like the U.S. Open, and the tournaments felt so much bigger than me. Now I feel like I understand it a little better and feel much more comfortable.”
The author can be contacted at joshua.berhow@golf.com.
The post Former junior golf prodigy Alexa Pano’s patience is paying off. appeared first on Golf.
