Clifton - 15-year-old amateur golfer, Ashley Shaw, will make her LPGA Tour debut later this week after winning THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup on Monday, May 6, and earning an exemption.
Shaw will tee it up alongside the world’s best female golfers in the LPGA Tour’s Cognizant Founders Cup at Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, N.J. starting Thursday, May 9, after shooting 1-over par 73 on the same course Monday to earn a two-stroke victory in the SHIPPEN event.
THE JOHN SHIPPEN National Invitational is a series of competitions created to provide playing opportunities on the LPGA Tour and PGA TOUR for the nation’s top Black amateur and professional women and men golfers. The series includes THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup, THE JOHN SHIPPEN Women’s Invitational and THE JOHN SHIPPEN Men’s Invitational. The events are named after John Shippen, Jr., who was both the first American-born golf professional and the country’s first Black golf professional.
“I’m extremely grateful for this opportunity that THE JOHN SHIPPEN, Intersport and Sommer Woods has given me to play in this event,” Shaw said. “To have the opportunity to play in an LPGA event is amazing. To be just 15 and to be able to have that experience of playing in a tournament with professionals at such a young age ... I’m extremely grateful.”
Shaw’s mother, Slyvia, is serving as her caddie this week and said she was thrilled to have a front-row seat as her daughter achieved one of her dreams.
“I’m blessed,” she said. “I’m excited and am a very proud mom. Ashley works very hard, and to see her experience the hard work coming to fruition is remarkable.”
Shaw came out on top of an elite eight-player field in which she was the only amateur by playing her best golf on the back nine. After a bogey on the eighth hole and a double on the ninth left her three over par at the turn, she birdied the 10th and 11th holes, then parred her way in while the players chasing her failed to make ground. Atlanta native Mariah Stackhouse and Manchester, England native Georgia Oboh tied for second, shooting 75, and Royal Palm Beach, Florida native Janelle Johnson (77) was fourth. Defending champion Paige Crawford (78) finished fifth.
For the first time since its debut in 2021, THE JOHN SHIPPEN National Invitational features prize purses for all three of its events this season. A total purse of $60,000 will be distributed across three events: THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup, THE JOHN SHIPPEN Women’s Invitational and THE JOHN SHIPPEN Men’s Invitational.
Because Shaw is an amateur, she is not eligible for the purse. Stackhouse and Oboh split the first- and second-place awards to take home $7,250 each. Johnson will take home the third-place award of $1,500. Since the events began in 2021, THE JOHN SHIPPEN has covered travel costs for participating players to help minimize financial barriers.
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