Alexa Pano (born August 20, 2004) is an American professional golfer. She was featured in the 2013 documentary film '' The Short Game''.

Early life

Pano was born in

Westborough, Massachusetts Westborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,567 at the 2020 Census, in over 7,000 households. Incorporated in 1717, the town is governed under the New England open town meeting system, headed ...

, and her parents divorced when she was a baby. She has since lived with her father, Rick, in

Lake Worth Beach, Florida Lake Worth Beach, previously named Lake Worth, is a city in east-central Palm Beach County, Florida, United States, located about north of Miami. The city's name is derived from the body of water along its eastern border known as the Lake Worth ...

. She began playing golf at the age of 5. At the 2012 U.S. Kids Golf World Championship, then-7-year-old Pano and a group of her fellow competitors, including Allan Kournikova and Sky Sudberry, were filmed for '' The Short Game''. At that point, she was only spending mornings at Citrus Cove Elementary School and taking the remainder of her classes through

Florida Virtual School Florida Virtual School (FLVS) was founded in 1997 as the first statewide Internet-based public high school in the United States. In 2000, FLVS was established as an independent educational entity by the Florida Legislature. Recognized as its own ...

so that she could focus on golf. In the film, she said that she wanted to be the first woman to play in a tournament at Augusta, a feat that she accomplished seven years later when she competed in the inaugural Augusta National Women's Amateur.

Amateur career

Pano was the first three-time national finalist in the Drive, Chip and Putt competition. She is tied for most U.S. Kids Golf World Championships with five in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2016. Pano was the youngest golfer to play a

LPGA of Japan Tour The LPGA of Japan Tour is a professional golf tour for women organised by the Japan Ladies Professional Golfers' Association. It is the second richest women's golf tour in the world. The U.S.-based LPGA Tour is the most important women's tour, but ...

event when she played the 2016 Yonex Ladies Open at the age of 11. At 13, Pano played in her first

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...

event, the 2018

Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic The Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic was a women's professional golf tournament in Wisconsin on the LPGA Tour. It debuted in 2017 and was played at Thornberry Creek at Oneida, just northwest of Green Bay. Opened in 1994, the course is owned by th ...

. The same year, she represented the United States for a win in the

Junior Ryder Cup The Junior Ryder Cup is a team golf competition between Europe and the United States for junior golfers aged 18 and under. It is based on the men's Ryder Cup and is run by the same organisations, the PGA of America and Ryder Cup Europe. The 2018 ...

. In 2019, she became the youngest player in the inaugural Augusta National Women's Amateur. She also qualified for the

U.S. Women's Open The U.S. Women's Open, one of 15 national golf championships conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA), is the oldest of the LPGA Tour's five major championships, which includes the Chevron Championship, Women's PGA Championship, W ...

, the youngest golfer that year. She played for the winning team in the 2019

Junior Solheim Cup The Junior Solheim Cup is a version of the Solheim Cup for girls aged 12 to 18. It was inaugurated in 2002. It is currently officially called the PING Junior Solheim Cup. The Junior Solheim Cup follows a similar format to The Solheim Cup and featu ...

Professional career

Pano turned professional in April 2022. She earned status on the

Epson Tour The Epson Tour, previously known as the LPGA Futures Tour, and known for sponsorship reasons between 2006 and 2010 as the Duramed Futures Tour and between 2012 and 2021 as the Symetra Tour, is the official developmental golf tour of the LPGA Tour ...

by finishing T-10th at Stage II of the 2021

LPGA Qualifying Tournament In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

. She earned her

card for 2023 via

Q-School In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

Amateur wins

*2016 PDQ - Philadelphia Runner Junior *2017 Ione D Jones-Doherty Amateur *2018 Dustin Johnson World Junior Championship, Dixie Amateur *2019 Dustin Johnson World Junior Championship, Scott Robertson Memorial, Rolex Girls Junior Championship, Ione D Jones-Doherty Amateur *2020 Ione D Jones-Doherty Amateur Source:

U.S. national team appearances

: 2018 (winners), 2021 (qualified, Cup not played due to COVID-19) *

: 2019 (winners), 2021

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pano, Alexa American female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Golfers from Massachusetts Golfers from Florida People from Westborough, Massachusetts People from Lake Worth Beach, Florida 2004 births Living people 21st-century American women