Player Profile - Lee-Anne Pace

Relative newcomer to the LPGA Tour, Lee-Anne Pace of South Africa has been causing a stir in women's golf this year. Born in 1981 in the town of Mossel Bay in South Africa's Western Cape Province, Pace showed an aptitude for golf from a relatively young age.

Growing up in South Africa, which produces a large number of high-quality golfers relative to its size and geographical location, Pace relocated to the United States after completing her schooling and studied at Murray State University and at the University of Tulsa, where she earned a degree in psychology while playing US college golf before going professional in 2009. Her amateur career included wins in eight out of twelve events she took part in at Murray State, followed by a successful 2003 season during which she transferred to the University of Tulsa. In the 2004-05 season at Tulsa, Pace was selected for the NCAA Championships and ranked 18th in the USA. At the end of this season she was awarded the WAC Player of the Year prize.

Following her graduation from college, Pace played in championships in the US, before gaining exemption to the LPGA Tour this year. Her year has been very successful, yielding two wins on the tour, the Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open in June, and the S4C Ladies Championship in Wales at the weekend. Pace is known for her precision golf and nerves of steel, as well as her patience and good humour on the course. Playing against seasoned professionals, the twenty-nine year old has shown that she can hold her own against the fiercest of rivals, weathering difficult playing conditions and stiff competition to claim victory twice in her maiden year on the Tour.

Pace still remembers her roots in her home town of Mossel Bay, South Africa. She frequently returns home for visits and is planning to purchase a home in the town following her win in Wales. Lee-Anne Pace is a dynamic young figure in women’s golf, and a golfer whose potential for winning championships should pose a challenge for the established players on the LPGA Tour.