A girl just wants to have fun – which seems pretty straightforward when you’re a kid winning junior golf tournaments: Hit it as straight as you can, get it in the hole in as few strokes as possible, show off your new trophy to your proud grandpa. Of course, anyone who’s kept at it can tell you golf is not nearly so simple. That you’ll have to deal with the elements, with rough stuff and sneaky undulation, with bad breaks and busted lip-outs.
That you might find yourself spending hours and hours on the road in your Honda Accord, driving toward an uncertain future, finding it tough to keep it at the speed limit, because you want to arrive sooner than later, maybe to make up for lost time. Covina’s Alexa Melton is on that journey, and she’s making a pit stop this week – not entirely expected but wholly welcome – at the U.S.
Women’s Open in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It will be Melton, a 23-year-old who had never before qualified for any USGA event, against nine of the top 10 golfers in the world, headlined by world No. 1 Nelly Korda, a six-time winner this season.
Melton, who has earned $11,531 and made the seven cuts in 15 Epson Tour events since joining the LPGA’s developmental tour last year, vs. a high-powered field of 156 vying for a share of a $12 million purse. Melton vs.
The World. Daunting, no? That’s why her goal this week is: Laugh. Shrug.
Go out and play like she’s a kid. “I know it’s going to be challenging, this is the biggest stage I’ve.
