Mhairi McKay (born 18 April 1975) is a Scottish professional golfer who played mainly on the U.S.-based

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 week ...

and was also a member of the Ladies European Tour.

Amateur career

McKay was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. She is a former pupil of Fernhill School and was introduced to golf by her parents. They moved from Glasgow to

Girvan Girvan ( gd, Inbhir Gharbhain, "mouth of the River Girvan") is a burgh and harbour town in Carrick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Girvan is situated on the east coast of the Firth of Clyde, with a population of about 6,450. It lies south of Ay ...

, close to the famous Turnberry golf links where she learned to play and is still a club member. She had a successful amateur career and was the Golf Foundation Under 13 girls’ champion in 1987 and Under 14 champion in 1988. She also won the Daily Telegraph Junior Golf Championship in 1991 and won the Girls Amateur Championship in 1992 and 1993. She represented Great Britain & Ireland in the

Curtis Cup The Curtis Cup is the best known team trophy for women amateur golfers, awarded in the biennial Curtis Cup Match. It is co-organised by the United States Golf Association and The R&A and is contested by teams representing the United States and ...

matches of 1994 and 1996 and played in the 1996

Espirito Santo Trophy The Espirito Santo Trophy (World Women's Amateur Team Championships) is a biennial world amateur team golf championship for women organised by the International Golf Federation. The inaugural event was held in 1964. It was instituted by the Fre ...

World Amateur Team Championship. McKay was the first international female player to be offered a golf scholarship at Stanford University in California where she was a classmate of Tiger Woods (she took a Portuguese literature class with him). She graduated in 1997 with a B.A. in Public Policy having been Pac-10 champion in 1997, Pac-10 All Conference from 1994 to 1997) and Pac-10 All Academic 1st Team in 1997. She also earned All-American honours from 1994 through to 1997.

Professional career

McKay turned professional after graduating from college and qualified for the LPGA Tour on her first attempt, finishing joint 56th at LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament earning non-exempt status for the 1998 LPGA season. She was an

rookie in 1998. She has yet to win on the LPGA Tour, but she had second-place finishes in 2001, 2002 and 2003 and claimed her first professional win in 2003 at the

AAMI Women's Australian Open The Women's Australian Open is a women's professional golf tournament played in Australia, operated by Golf Australia and the WPGA Tour of Australasia, long co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour (LET). Beginning with the 2012 event, it i ...

. She represented Europe in the

Solheim Cup The Solheim Cup is a biennial golf tournament for professional women golfers contested by teams representing Europe and the United States. It is named after the Norwegian- American golf club manufacturer Karsten Solheim, who was a driving force b ...

in 2002 and 2003 and represented

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in the 2007

Women's World Cup of Golf The Women's World Cup of Golf was a professional golf tournament contested by teams of two female golfers representing their respective countries. The tournament was played in two incarnations, first in 2000 at Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort, Co ...

where she and her partner

Janice Moodie Janice C. Moodie (born 31 May 1973) is a Scottish professional golfer who plays mainly on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour but is also a member of the Ladies European Tour. Amateur career Moodie was born in Glasgow. At age 11, she was taught to play ...

finished fourth. She is one of three women to hold the professional course record of 67 at the Old Course of St. Andrews.

Professional wins (1)

ALPG Tour wins (1)

*2003 (1)

Team appearances

Amateur *

European Ladies' Team Championship The European Ladies' Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for women organised by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1959. It was played in odd-numbered years from 1959 to 2007 and has been pla ...

(representing Scotland):

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

Vagliano Trophy The Vagliano Trophy is a biennial women's amateur golf tournament. It is co-organised by The R&A and the European Golf Association and is contested by teams representing "Great Britain and Ireland" and the "Continent of Europe". It is played in ...

(representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1993 (winners), 1995, 1997 *

(representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1994 (tie, Cup retained), 1996 (winners) *

(representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1996 * Commonwealth Trophy (representing Great Britain): 1995 Professional *

(representing Europe): 2002, 2003 (winners) *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

(representing Scotland): 2007, 2008

Solheim Cup record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKay, Mhairi Scottish female golfers Stanford Cardinal women's golfers LPGA Tour golfers Ladies European Tour golfers Solheim Cup competitors for Europe People educated at Fernhill School Golfers from Glasgow People from Los Alamos, New Mexico 1975 births Living people