Morgan Pressel

Morgan Pressel
Pressel in May 2013
Personal information
Full nameMorgan Lee Pressel
Born (1988-05-23) May 23, 1988 (age 35)
Tampa, Florida, U.S.
Height5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceBoca Raton, Florida
SpouseAndrew Bush (m. 2013)
Career
Turned professional2005
Current tour(s)LPGA Tour (joined 2006)
Professional wins4
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour2
LPGA of Japan Tour1
Other1
Best results in LPGA major championships
(wins: 1)
Chevron ChampionshipWon: 2007
Women's PGA C'ship2nd: 2011
U.S. Women's OpenT2: 2005
Women's British OpenT4/4th: 2013, 2019
Evian ChampionshipT11: 2015
Achievements and awards
AJGA Player of the Year2005
AJGA Nancy Lopez Award2006

Morgan Pressel (born May 23, 1988) is an American professional golfer and golf commentator who played on the LPGA Tour. In 2001, as a 12-year-old, she became the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open. She was the 2005 American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Player of the Year, and won the 2006 AJGA Nancy Lopez Award. She turned pro at age 17, and is the youngest-ever winner of a modern LPGA major championship, when at age 18 she won the 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship (now known as the ANA Inspiration) and vaulted to a career-high fourth in the world rankings.[1] In early March 2021, she announced she had joined the Golf Channel and NBC Sports to be an analyst and on-course reporter in the 2021 season, while continuing to compete.[2]

Childhood and family life

Born in Tampa, Florida, to Mike Pressel and Kathy Krickstein Pressel, she attended Banyan Creek Elementary School, Omni Middle School, and graduated in 2006 from the Saint Andrew's School in Boca Raton, a private school affiliated with the Episcopal Church.[3] She has stated that her Jewish faith plays a large role in her life.[4]

Following her mother's death from breast cancer in September 2003, 15-year-old Pressel moved in with her maternal grandparents, Evelyn and Herb Krickstein, at St. Andrews Country Club in Boca Raton, Florida. Her two younger siblings stayed with their father. Her grandfather, a retired physician and pathologist, is also her coach. The Kricksteins' son and Pressel's uncle is former professional tennis player Aaron Krickstein.[5]

Pressel's younger sister Madison played collegiate golf for the University of Texas[6] and won on the Symetra Tour in 2014.

In January 2013, Pressel married Andy Bush, a senior vice president at Octagon Global Events. The two met at a pro-am event in 2007.[7][8]

Amateur career

In 2001, as a 12-year-old, she became the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open. This record stood until 2007, when Lexi Thompson beat the record by several months.

At the age of 17, she was one of three co-leaders starting the final round of the 2005 U.S. Women's Open at Cherry Hills in suburban Denver. Pressel was tied for first on the 18th fairway when Birdie Kim holed out from the bunker just ahead to secure a one-stroke lead. Pressel then needed a birdie to tie, but made a bogey on the 18th to lose by two strokes. Her second-place finish gave her a share of the low amateur honors with Brittany Lang. Pressel played in a total of seven LPGA events in 2005 and made the cut in all of them, with a scoring average of 70.96 in 28 rounds.[9]

In 2005, Pressel lost to Yani Tseng at 39th hole during the North and South Women's Amateur at Pinehurst, but won the most important amateur event, the U.S. Women's Amateur. Pressel also finished her amateur career as 2005 Girls Rolex Junior Player of the Year.

During her amateur career, she won 10 AJGA titles, including all five AJGA Invitationals: the "AJGA Slam".[10]

Professional career

Pressel in June 2009

Pressel finished sixth in the first stage of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament in September 2005 and advanced to the final stage in December.[11] She turned professional in November, after appealing to the LPGA to become a member as a 17-year-old. LPGA rules state that members must be 18 years old.[3] At the five-round Final Qualifying Tournament in Daytona Beach, she finished tied for sixth to earn her tour card for 2006.[12] She played part-time on the tour until her high school graduation in May 2006.

Pressel earned her first victory in 2007 at the Kraft Nabisco Championship and became the youngest-ever winner of a modern LPGA major at 18 years, 313 days,[13] a record that would stand until Lydia Ko won the 2015 Evian Championship at the age of 18 years, 4 months and 20 days. On her flight home to Florida after her win, Pressel had her golf clubs stolen.[14] The win moved her from 17th in the world rankings to fourth.[1]

Pressel made her first hole-in-one as a professional golfer on July 15, 2007, at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio. It was a 148-yard (135 m) par 3 – hole 6 for the tournament. It was not enough to win, though; Se Ri Pak won the event for the fifth time.[15]

Pressel in 2009

Pressel qualified for the 2007, 2009 and 2011 Solheim Cup teams; earning a spot on the 2007 team in her second full-year on the LPGA Tour as a 19-year-old. Through 2011, she was undefeated (3–0–0) in Solheim Cup singles play.

In the 2012 Sybase Match Play Championship, Pressel was in contention for her third LPGA Tour victory in the semi-finals when she was 2 up after 11 holes to opponent Azahara Muñoz. Pressel won the 12th hole but a slow play penalty resulted in the loss of the hole instead. She would lose the match and Muñoz went on to win the tournament.[16]

On April 26, 2015, Pressel came in second at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic in San Francisco. She and Lydia Ko finished at 8-under-par 280 with Ko making a birdie on the par-5 closing hole while Pressel missed a birdie effort to end the tournament. Ko won on the second playoff hole. Pressel's last victory was in 2008 at the Kapalua LPGA Classic.[17]

She is represented by Wasserman Media Group and has endorsement deals with Callaway Golf, Polo Ralph Lauren, Royal Bank of Canada, and Audemars Piguet.

Professional wins (4)

Pressel in 2009

LPGA Tour wins (2)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other LPGA Tour (1)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin
of victory 		Runner(s)-up Winner's
share ($)
1 Apr 1, 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship 74-72-70-69=285 −3 1 stroke United States Brittany Lincicome
Scotland Catriona Matthew
Norway Suzann Pettersen 		300,000
2 Oct 19, 2008 Kapalua LPGA Classic 72-72-67-69=280 −8 1 stroke Norway Suzann Pettersen 225,000

LPGA Tour playoff record (0–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2009 Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic South Korea Eunjung Yi Lost to birdie on first extra hole
2 2015 Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic New Zealand Lydia Ko Lost to birdie on second extra hole

LPGA of Japan Tour wins (1)

Other wins (1)

Major championships

Wins (1)

No. Year Championship Winning score Margin
of victory		 Runners-up
1 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship −3 (74-72-70-69=285) 1 stroke United States Brittany Lincicome, Scotland Catriona Matthew,
Norway Suzann Pettersen

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order before 2019.

Tournament 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
ANA Inspiration T19 T13 1 T38 T40 T19
U.S. Women's Open CUT 52 T2TLA T28 T10 T17 T13 T34
Women's PGA Championship 69 14 T6 CUT T7
Women's British Open T56 CUT CUT T42 8
Tournament 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
ANA Inspiration T3 T46 T52 T11 3 CUT T42 T72 T44 CUT
U.S. Women's Open T21 WD T20 CUT T5 71 CUT T50 CUT
Women's PGA Championship 2 T45 T3 CUT T5 CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT
The Evian Championship ^ T31 T41 T11 CUT T18 T26 CUT NT
Women's British Open T49 T43 T4 T21 CUT CUT T49 4 T59
Tournament 2021
ANA Inspiration CUT
U.S. Women's Open
Women's PGA Championship
The Evian Championship ^
Women's British Open

^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013

  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

LA = Low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
NT = no tournament
T = tied

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
ANA Inspiration 1 0 2 3 3 7 17 14
U.S. Women's Open 0 1 0 2 3 7 17 12
Women's PGA Championship 0 1 1 3 5 6 15 8
The Evian Championship 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 5
Women's British Open 0 0 0 2 3 4 14 10
Totals 1 2 3 10 14 26 70 49
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 12 (2009 U.S. Open – 2012 LPGA)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (2015 ANA – 2015 U.S. Open)

LPGA Tour career summary

Year Tournaments
played		 Cuts
made*		 Wins 2nd 3rd Top 10s Best
finish		 Earnings
($)		 Money
list rank		 Scoring
average		 Scoring
rank
2001 1 0 0 0 0 0 CUT n/a 77.00
2003 1 1 0 0 0 0 52 76.00
2005 7 7 0 1 0 2 T2 70.96
2006 23 21 0 0 1 9 3 465,685 24 71.51 20
2007 25 23 1 1 3 8 1 972,452 9 71.34 6
2008 26 21 1 1 0 5 1 711,261 24 72.04 42
2009 24 21 0 2 0 5 2 630,313 22 71.38 29
2010 23 22 0 1 0 7 T2 767,455 13 71.05 11
2011 22 20 0 1 1 7 2 845,466 13 71.34 14
2012 23 15 0 0 1 1 3 271,548 45 73.65 98
2013 24 18 0 0 1 3 T3 504,188 28 71.70 33
2014 29 24 0 0 0 4 4 508,534 35 71.31 22
2015 27 22 0 1 2 6 2 962,794 11 71.42 30
2016 24 18 0 2 0 2 T2 386,672 48 72.21 77
2017 26 17 0 0 0 0 T15 195,000 78 72.32 113
2018 21 14 0 0 0 1 T7 137,346 90 71.92 75
2019 26 18 0 0 1 6 T3 610,872 36 71.37 57
2020 15 8 0 0 0 0 T15 77,513 93 72.96 104
2021 4 2 0 0 0 1 T8 49,271 136 72.00 n/a
Totals^ 361 292 2 10 10 66^ 1 8,096,370 35

^ Official through 2021 season.[18][19][20]
*Includes matchplay and other tournaments without a cut.

World ranking

Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.

Year World
ranking		 Source
2006 25 [21]
2007 12 [22]
2008 19 [23]
2009 23 [24]
2010 17 [25]
2011 16 [26]
2012 38 [27]
2013 47 [28]
2014 52 [29]
2015 24 [30]
2016 55 [31]
2017 127 [32]
2018 180 [33]
2019 53 [34]
2020 90 [35]
2021 179 [36]

Pressel's career-high in the world rankings is fourth, in the spring of 2007.[1]

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

Solheim Cup record

Year Total
matches		 Total
W–L–H		 Singles
W–L–H		 Foursomes
W–L–H		 Fourballs
W–L–H		 Points
won		 Points
%
Career 22 11–8–3 4–2–0 5–3–1 2–3–2 12.5 56.8
2007 4 1–2–1 1–0–0 def. A. Sörenstam 2&1 0–1–0 lost w/ N. Gulbis 3&2 0–1–1 halved w/ P. Creamer,
lost w/ C. Kerr 3&2 		1.5 37.5
2009 3 2–0–1 1–0–0 def. A. Nordqvist 3&2 1–0–0 won w/ K. McPherson 2 up 0–0–1 halved w/ M. Wie 2.5 83.3
2011 4 4–0–0 1–0–0 def. A. Nordqvist 2&1 1–0–0 won w/ R. O'Toole 3&2 2–0–0 won w/ P. Creamer 1 up,
won w/ C. Kerr 1 up 		4.0 100.
2013 4 1–3–0 0–1–0 lost to C. Ciganda 4&2 1–1–0 won w/ J. Korda 3&2,
lost w/ J. Korda 2&1 		0–1–0 lost w/ C. Kerr 2 dn 1.0 25.0
2015 4 2–2–0 1–0–0 def. C. Matthew 2 up 1–1–0 won w/ P. Creamer 3&2,
lost w/ P. Creamer 1 dn 		0–1–0 lost w/ P. Creamer 4&3 2.0 50.0
2019 3 1–1–1 0–1–0 lost to A. Nordqvist 4&3 1–0–1 halved w/ M. Alex
won w/ M. Alex 2&1 		1.5 50.0

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Women's World Golf Rankings". April 5, 2007. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
  2. ^ Nichols, Beth Ann (March 3, 2021). "Morgan Pressel joins Golf Channel, NBC Sports broadcast team but isn't leaving LPGA". Golfweek. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Rosaforte, Tim (February 13, 2006). "Pressel continues her education". ESPN. Retrieved October 21, 2008.
  4. ^ Pessah, Jon (March 16, 2007). "They Punch, Putt, Dribble, Tackle and Skate And They're ll Jewish". Baltimore Jewish Times. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
  5. ^ Minor, Emily (August 14, 2005). "Her mother's daughter". Palm Beach Post. Archived from the original on December 23, 2006. Retrieved April 2, 2007.
  6. ^ "Women's golf, Madison Pressel". TexasSports.com. Archived from the original on June 12, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2012.
  7. ^ "Wedding keeps Pressel busy during injury-riddled season". Golfweek. October 4, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  8. ^ "Andy Bush Bio". Octagon Sports. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  9. ^ "Morgan Pressel – 2005 season results". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
  10. ^ "Morgan Pressel Named Girls Rolex Junior Player of the Year". American Junior Golf Association. October 26, 2005. Retrieved April 2, 2007.
  11. ^ "2005 Sectional Qualifying Tournament – results". LPGA. September 23, 2005.
  12. ^ "2005 Final Qualifying Tournament – results". LPGA. December 4, 2005.
  13. ^ "LPGA All-Time Scoring Records" (PDF). LPGA. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 2, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2008.
  14. ^ "Pressel learns to deal with LPGA success". Oxford Press. Cox News Services. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
  15. ^ Junga, Steve (July 16, 2007). "Pak trumps Pressel's ace to capture her fifth title in 10 years". Toledo Blade. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
  16. ^ Morgan Pressel's semifinal slow-play penalty provides boost for Azahara Munoz to win Sybase Match Play Championship
  17. ^ Ferguson, Doug (April 26, 2015). "Ko beats Pressel in playoff to defend in San Fran". Golf Channel.
  18. ^ "Morgan Pressel stats". LPGA. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  19. ^ "Morgan Pressel results". LPGA. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  20. ^ "Career Money". LPGA. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  21. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 26, 2006.
  22. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 25, 2007.
  23. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 30, 2008.
  24. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 29, 2009.
  25. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 28, 2010.
  26. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 27, 2011.
  27. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 31, 2012.
  28. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 30, 2013.
  29. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 29, 2014.
  30. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 28, 2015.
  31. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 26, 2016.
  32. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 25, 2017.
  33. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 31, 2018.
  34. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 30, 2019.
  35. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 28, 2020.
  36. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 27, 2021.

External links

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