Cheyenne Woods, has August 8-August 14 circled on her calendar. That’s when Tiger Woods’ niece hopes to compete in the 2011 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Rhode Island Country Club.
Indeed, the Wake Forest University junior told ESPN.com Wednesday that she planned to make the New England event one of her final non-college tourneys before taking her game to the professional level.
“I guess I’m not trying to rush anything because I know this is my last summer of being an amateur,” Woods said, “so I’m trying to play in the top amateur events like the Am and the [U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links].”
Woods, who hoped to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open and debuted on the LPGA in 2009, planned to finish college before turning pro. That’s a different path from the one her famous uncle took; Tiger left Stanford after his sophomore year to join the PGA Tour.
Not a Tiger clone. But Cheyenne Woods, whose father is Tiger’s half-brother Earl Woods Jr., is nothing if not her own person. She determined from an early age not to let her name define her, although she attracted more attention on the pre-teen golf circuit than your average 10-year-old. Golf watchers were comparing Cheyenne to Tiger back in 2001, when she regularly waxed the competition in junior contests.
Since then, the 20-year-old Woods has had a solid college career. She captured the individual-scoring title at last month’s ACC Championship and helped her team take home the gold at the Bryan National Collegiate event in March. The 20-year-old leads her team in almost every category and hoped to help the Demon Deacons hold their own in this week’s NCAA national tourney.
Just don’t anoint Woods the savior of the LPGA just yet. A sponsor’s exemption got her into the 2009 Wegmans LPGA Championship but she missed the cut and has not requested more invitations. Her coach believes Woods has what it takes to compete with the best but noted that her student wanted to prove she belonged in The Show.
“I think she’s just trying to be as low-key about everything as she can,” Dailey said to ESPN. “I don’t think she’s trying to get any extra privileges. She wants to earn her way there and not parlay her name to get anything extra.”
While Cheyenne, who jokingly suggested last month that Uncle Tiger could learn a thing or two from her, remains intent on carving her own niche, golf fans swarm to the course to cheer on the only Woods who’s actually winning tourneys these days.
“When we went to Japan last year, there must have been 150 photographers following her around,” Dailey said. “Her whole round was on TV that night. They weren’t following the Japanese; they were following her.”
Expect a similar reaction in the sleepy town of Barrington, R.I., if Woods qualifies for the USGA event. No worries, though; officials at the century-old Donald Ross course are used to large crowds that flock to see stars like Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, and Morgan Pressel tilt in the annual CVS Charity Classic.
Nice problem to have. “At the CVS, we get 8,000 people per day and the course holds it very well,” David Piccerelli, club manager and vice-chair of the U.S. Women’s Am event, told us Thursday. “We may consider different roping [configurations] but I can’t imagine not being able to withstand the crowds.
Still, having a “Woods” in the field may present RICC with unprecedented crowd-control issues.
“It would be an awfully nice problem to have,” Piccerelli acknowledged.
(Emily Kay is a regular contributor to New England Golf Monthly. Check her out on the Waggle Room, Boston Golf Examiner, National Golf Examiner, and GottaGoGolf websites. You may also follow Kay on Twitter @golfexaminer.)
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