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Pressel asks LPGA for age-limit exemption

3 min read

SYLVANIA, Ohio (AP) – U.S. Women’s Open runner-up Morgan Pressel has asked the LPGA to waive its age minimum and allow the 17-year-old amateur to turn pro. LPGA rules prohibit players from turning pro and making money on the tour until after their 18th birthday, unless a special exemption is granted.

Pressel will be a senior this fall at St. Andrew’s School in Boca Raton, Fla. She turns 18 next May.

After shooting a 1-under 70 in Thursday’s opening round of the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic – which she entered on a sponsor’s exemption – Pressel said she and her family had deliberated for a long time before deciding to give up her amateur status.

“A lot of thought went into that. I think it’s the right thing for me to do and I feel that I’m ready,” Pressel said Thursday.

Pressel said she anticipated hearing back from the LPGA within the next two weeks.

“I think that I belong and that I can play, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see,” she said.

If she were granted the exemption, she could play as a pro under a sponsor’s exemption this year before going to qualifying school. The LPGA confirmed Thursday that it had received Pressel’s request.

Pressel, who has verbally committed to attend Duke in 2006, is the nation’s top-ranked female amateur and junior.

She was tied for the lead in the final round of the Open as she prepared to hit her second shot on the par-4 closing hole at Cherry Hills Country Club. Birdie Kim, playing in the group immediately ahead of her, rolled in an improbable sand shot for a birdie to capture the championship.

Pressel said she was uncertain of when she would turn pro, but would still like to play in several prominent amateur tournaments this year.

Meg Mallon, the Jamie Farr defending champion and a two-time Open winner, said she was convinced that the existing LPGA age rule protected young players.

“There are about 50 examples. Almost every player that’s come out here at 18, that’s been out here at least 10 years, wish they hadn’t. Most wish they would have gone to a little bit of college,” Mallon said. “It’s not a game like football where your career is over at 25. You actually start getting better in your 30s.”

Mallon said it’s a question of maturity, more than talent.

“It’s not about whether your golf game’s ready,” she said. “This is not five hours a day, this is a 24-hour-a-day lifestyle. And that’s a whole different story when you’re very young.”

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