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Niece touch: Ms Woods on course
Cheyenne Woods's is taking baby steps toward her dream of following her famous uncle into professional golf. Woods, who will be a sophomore at Wake Forest, received a sponsor's exemption into the LPGA event this week in suburban Rochester.
Cheyenne Woods's recollection of her first professional golf tournament is understandably fuzzy. She was 19 months old and strapped into a stroller that her mother, Susan, pushed around the grounds of Riviera Country Club during the 1992 Nissan Los Angeles Open.
They were there to watch the PGA Tour debut of Woods's uncle, Tiger, who was 16 years old and the reigning United States Junior Amateur champion. Against a backdrop of spectators shouting, "You the kid!" Tiger shot five over par in his first two rounds and missed the cut. Susan recalls steering the stroller into the eucalyptus trees so that Tiger would not be distracted by Cheyenne's fussing. According to family lore, that was the week the toddler picked up a golf club in the garage of her grandfather's house in Orange County and made her first swing.
Seventeen years later, she is taking baby steps toward her dream of following her famous uncle into professional golf. Woods, who will be a sophomore at Wake Forest, received a sponsor's exemption into the LPGA event this week in suburban Rochester.
It will be her first tour event, and although she is older than Tiger was when he made his PGA debut as an amateur, she said she never thought she would be testing herself against professionals this young.
Name: Cheyenne Nicole Woods
Parents: Earl Woods, Jr. and Susan Woods
Date of Birth: 25 July 1990
Height: 5 foot 6 inches
Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona
High School: Xavier College Preparatory
Achievements:
1. Won back-to-back Arizona 5A State Championships in 2006 and 2007.
2. Was a two-time regional champion in Arizona, was named the 2007 Arizona High School Golfer of the Year by the Arizona Republic
3. Has won more than 30 amateur titles including the Big I Junior Classic and the American Junior Golf Association's Nike Golf Junior.
