Alexa Pano was a prodigy and world champion at 7 years old. Now she’s a tour winner. Yet that hardly tells the entire story

You might recognise me from “The Short Game”, the Netflix documentary about the US Kids World Championships. I was 7 years old, and in it, I said I wanted to be the first woman to play in a tournament at Augusta National. Seven-year-old me was pretty close to predicting the future.  

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My dad, a former collegiate football player and coach, will tell you softball was my best sport, but I loved golf from the start. We lived on Sherbrooke Country Club in Florida, the same course the Koepka brothers played. Brooks was already in college, but his brother, Chase, played in the high school matches that my dad took me to when I was 5. Watching him hit it far and compete hard made me want to be a competitive golfer, too. 

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I started playing tournaments when I was 5. US Kids Golf approached my dad about the documentary and asked if I’d be in it. Filming gave me a lot of confidence. Before, I was so shy. When greeting people at golf courses, I’d turn my head away as I said hello. The attention afterwards was kind of crazy. I was on Jimmy Fallon’s and Katie Couric’s shows. When I was 11, I received a sponsor’s exemption to a Japan LPGA Tour event. 

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When the Drive, Chip & Putt was announced, I was excited. I qualified and played in the inaugural event at Augusta National in 2014. At Augusta, I was shaking over the ball, but in 2016 and 2017, I won my age group. Although we didn’t actually play the course, that dream came true five years later when I competed in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Seven-year-old Alexa would have been proud. 

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I went to middle school in the morning, got out at noon and went to the range. There were these massive buckets that were so big I could barely carry them. For hours I hit wedges at a target green 100 yards away. Then I’d go home and do the rest of my school virtually. I switched to home-schooling for high school. I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything. 

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Colleges started recruiting me when I was 11, which was flattering, but I focused on playing well in junior tournaments. I won five US Kids Golf World Championships, was on winning Junior Ryder Cup and Junior Solheim Cup teams, finished runner-up at the US Girls Junior and was co-medallist at the US Women’s Amateur. I realised I wouldn’t go to college. I wanted to turn pro. 

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During mid-2021, I was 16 years old and planned on turning pro the next spring. Then, I got the driver yips. I had always been a strong driver, but suddenly I couldn’t control it. My coach, Chris O’Connell, helped me build a repeatable swing. It’s not glamorous, but I hit thousands of balls to drill that motion. It took almost a year, but now my driver is the club that I’m most confident with. Conquering the driver yips is the thing I’m most proud of. 

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The transition to pro golf was hard. It helped that my dad was caddieing for me on the Epson Tour, but having your dad on the bag is not for the weak. He knows my game better than anyone, but because we’re so close, it’s easy to argue, and emotions can run hot. Once in 2022, I had essentially won an Epson tournament in Kinston, North Carolina, until I hit a bad drive and went for the green on a hole that I didn’t need to. I did it because my dad encouraged me to. That mistake sent the tournament to a playoff, and I lost. I was mad about that for a long time.  

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I played well that season and earned my LPGA Tour card for 2023 at Q-Series. I struggled at first on tour. The hardest thing was managing my time. How can I get all the work done while still being rested? I missed a bunch of cuts early in the season. To get through that rough patch, I needed to manage expectations, stay patient and realise an adjustment period was normal.

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Later that season, at the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Ireland,
I needed birdie to tie the lead on the final hole. I was in the rough, a long way to the green. I asked my dad 15 times: “Are you sure going for it is the shot? Don’t just tell me it’s the shot. You have to really mean it because I’m going to be pissed [off] if this doesn’t work this time.” I hit a great shot and made birdie to force a playoff, which I won for my first LPGA Tour victory. My dad looked at me and said, “I don’t ever want to hear about Kinston, North Carolina, ever again!”

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I’ve grown up in golf with a lot of expectations on me, but I wouldn’t have done it any other way. I’m still addicted to the intensity of competition that only golf can provide. Each week, I’m going to keep doing the same thing: fight to get back in the winner’s circle.