Seeing is believing. It’s a phrase that drives members of the LPGA Tour to showcase their talents to young girls around the world with the hope they will inspire them to pick up a golf club knowing that they, too, can accomplish great things.
Nancy Lopez was inspired by watching Joanne Carner. Inbee Park studied Se Ri Pak. And Patty Tavatanakit witnessed history being made by Ariya Jutanugarn.
South Africa’s Paula Reto spent nearly a decade chasing her maiden win on the LPGA Tour. Nine years into that journey, she earned her breakthrough win on the LPGA Tour on Sunday at the CP Women’s Open. Her win came just two weeks after she was encouraged by watching her fellow countrywoman, Ashleigh Buhai, earn her first win on Tour in more than 200 starts, at the AIG Women’s Open.
“I told myself, you know what? I can also do it. I also want to do it,” Reto said about how Buhai’s victory inspired her own win in Canada. “And being able to win on the LPGA Tour is such a dream.”
Reto and Buhai are two of eight Rolex First-Time Winners so far in 2022. These first timers have shown young girls from countries all over the world that they too can win on golf’s grandest stage. Other breakthrough winners this season include Ireland’s Leona Maguire, Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen, Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul, Japan’s Ayaka Furue, Sweden’s Maja Stark, and the United States’ Jennifer Kupch
That illustrious list could see another name added as soon as Sunday as the Tour heads to Sylvania, Ohio and Highland Meadows Country Club for the Dana Open presented by Marathon.
The Tour’s annual stop outside Toledo is one of the longest-running traditions on the LPGA Tour. And in its 37-year history the event has seen eight players earn their first title at the Dana Open. In just the last decade both Jasmine Suwannapura in 2018 and Chella Choi in 2015 became Rolex First-Time Winners in the Buckeye State.
In 2022, the Dana Open takes over as the title of the tournament which has held a number of names throughout the years. But the name fans will likely remember most is the one it held first - the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic. Created in the mid-80s by former PGA Tour caddie Judd Silverman, the Toledo resident recruited fellow native Jamie Farr, who lent not just his name and support, but also brought his celebrity friends and influence to the tournament. They would come to attract the biggest names in the women’s game, many of whom became winners including Laura Davies (1988), Se Ri Pak (1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2007), and Annika Sorenstam (2000).
Again this year, the best in the game return to Toledo, including defending champion Nasa Hataoka, two-time winner Lydia Ko, 2020 champion Danielle Kang, and major winners Minjee Lee, Brooke Henderson, Lexi Thompson, Sei Young Kim, and Ariya Jutanugarn.
Just as these young women grew up watching the game’s greats compete and win at Highland Meadows, so will the juniors who line the ropes come Thursday clamoring for a glimpse of or even a selfie with one of their favorites.
Seeing is believing for these young girls, who could one day, too, become a first-time winner on the LPGA Tour.
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