NAPLES, Fla. — Like any 19-year-old, Alexa Pano is still learning. And as she caps a successful rookie season on the LPGA Tour, she’ll take all the lessons about the physical and mental grind of playing professional golf at the highest level and apply them to a career that continues to trend in the right direction.
Pano is at Tiburon Golf Club this weekend after qualifying for the CME Group Tour Championship. Pano was No. 42 in the Rolex Rankings, comfortably inside the top 60 cutline to play in the event where the winner receives $2 million.
But this is just the beginning for a woman who at 5-years-old was on the range at Sherbrooke Country Club in her hometown, the start of a passion that led to her turning professional at 17.
“I think it puts things in a really good perspective,” Pano said about being just one of six rookies in the LPGA Tour’s season-ending event. “Every time I’m struggling, I can appreciate I’m here and I’m able to do this every week because this is everything I’ve wanted to do my whole life.”
Not much struggling in Thursday’s opening round. Pano carded a 2-under 70 on the Gold Course. She was 2-over after seven holes, and after getting back to par with birdies on Nos. 9 and 10, she finished with consecutive birdies. She ended the day with an 8-iron from 159-yards on No. 18 that stopped four feet from the hole.
The peak was her first LPGA win at the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland. The low point came early in the season when she missed five straight cuts.
“Everyone kind of warns you that rookie year is a struggle, and learning everything for the first time is difficult,” she said. “And I kind of brushed that off and said, ‘not for me.’ Like it wouldn’t be (difficult).
“It definitely was.”
Rick Pano, Alexa’s dad and caddie, said the biggest thing for any rookie is learning how to adjust every week.
“LPGA is about details and every week you got to work on different details. If you can do that and you can do that with success, you got a shot,” Rick said after Alexa’s round, in which he said she played even better than the score.
“The adjustment is difficult. I’m glad the rookie year is over.”
One of five rookies to win on tour
Pano turned professional 19 months ago. After making 18 starts on the Epson Tour in 2023, she joined the LPGA this year. Now, she is one of five rookies to win this season and one of six rookies in the Tour Championship.
This is her 21st event, and every one has been a learning experience.
“Everything is new,” she said. “But it’s been a fun learning experience, for sure.”
Pano found support and someone to share experiences in fellow rookie Rose Zhang, who made a grand entrance onto the tour by winning her first event after turning professional in May. That came right after winning her second NCAA individual title while at Stanford.
Zhang and Pano are close, having grown up together in junior golf. And after Pano’s win in August they shared another bond – LPGA champions.
“She turned pro earlier than me,” Zhang said. “She’s been out here grinding and I’ve seen how dedicated and driven she was. It really inspired everyone around me, including myself, to push ourselves harder to that tour level.”
The win earned each of them a Rolex watch, which they will receive while being recognized at the LPGA Awards banquet Thursday.
“Now that she’s got a professional win, I’ve got a professional win, it’s kind of weird to think that we were kids and now we’re on tour,” Zhang said. “Pretty similar, same age and being able to have success out here it’s really, really just cool to see this dynamic.”
‘It’s not a job, I want to get back at it’
The LPGA offseason is short. The ladies will tee it up in two months at Lake Nona in Orlando to start a 2024 season, where they will compete for a record total prize fund of more than $118 million.
Pano will take a break between now and then. Well, sort of. She plans to kick back for a whole week. After that, she’ll be on the course and range at Lost City Golf Club in Atlantis preparing for Year 2 on the LPGA Tour.
“After a week, you kind of want to get back to it,” she said. “It’s not a job. I really enjoy doing it. So I think I would want to get back to it.”
