Perth’s Hira Naveed will step up to the big time in 2024 after earning her playing rights on the LPGA Tour at Qualifying School.
Naveed, a past WA state player and member at Mount Lawley GC, fired a seven-under-par 65 in the sixth and final round of Q-School in Alabama to comfortably qualify for the world’s leading women’s golf tour.
After starting the day in T43rd, the 25-year-old raced up the standings to finish up in 15th place overall, with the top 45 and ties from the field of more than 100 players earning exempt status.
Naveed’s bogey-free final round will have a significant impact on her opportunities in 2024, as the top 20 in the final standings secured a higher level of exemption.
“I cannot even begin to describe how I’m feeling,” said Naveed via her Instagram account. “Sixteen years of hard work, blood, sweat, and tears has all led to this moment. There are so many people to thank that I don’t even know where to begin.”
Hira Naveed will be rubbing shoulders with former WA team-mates Hannah Green and Minjee Lee in 2024
A contemporary of Hannah Green and Minjee Lee in her amateur days, Naveed moved stateside in 2018 to play college golf at Pepperdine University, where she excelled.
She has played on the Epson Tour since 2020, enjoying her best finish of 30th position on the 2023 Money List, which earned her a place in the field for LPGA Final Qualifying.
Naveed will be joined on tour in 2024 by fellow Australian Robyn Choi, who topped the Q-School leaderboard by three strokes after firing six rounds in the 60s. The 25-year-old from Hornsby, NSW, is returning to the LPGA circuit after a five-year absence.
Image credits: Getty Images
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