‘It’s neat being able to grab a club and not as a crutch’
Gemma Dryburgh, the sole Scot among 166 hopefuls, is feeling quietly confident heading into today’s opening round of the LPGA Qualifying School in Florida.
Only the top 20 after six rounds earn full LPGA status but Aberdeen-born Dryburgh is relishing the test at LPGA International in Daytona Beach.
The 24-year-old comfortably passed the second stage in joint 15th spot and has since recorded a top10 finish in the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open, an LET event in Abu Dhabi.
“It would mean the world to me to qualify for the LPGA,” said Dryburgh, who tees off in the company of Kim Welch and Klara Spilkova for her opening round on the Jones Course. “It has been a goal of mine since I was about 16 years old, so to see the hard work pay off would be amazing.”
The SSE Team Scottish Hydro member added: “Going to university and high school in the US will help me with the test of final stage as I feel very comfortable in the US. I am also very familiar with the type of golf you need to play to do well on those courses.
“We used to play very similar courses day-to-day and in tournaments when I went to Tulane and during the time I spent at IMG Academy.”
Other hopefuls include Georgia Hall, who shone on her Solheim Cup debut in Des Moines earlier this year, and fellow English player Meghan Maclaren, a member of the winning Curtis Cup team in Ireland last season.
Meanwhile, next year’s Open Championship at Carnoustie has become one of the first sporting events to have tickets sold on Amazon through a new partnership struck by the R&A. As well as being available from Theopen. com, both tickets and hospitality packages can now be bought through Amazon Tickets.
“The Open is one of the world’s most prominent sporting events and we are excited by the prospect of partnering with a leading global retailer,” said Neil Armit, the R&A’S chief commercial officer.