Cheyenne Nicole Woods (born July 25, 1990) is an American professional golfer.
Early life
Woods was born in Phoenix, Arizona. She is a daughter of Susan Woods and Earl Dennison Woods Jr., who is golfer Tiger Woods' half-brother, making her Tiger's half-niece.[1] Her paternal grandfather Earl Woods (Tiger's father) was her first coach and inspiration.[2][3]
In an interview with Golf Digest, Woods stated that her mother was white and her father black with some Native American and Asian.[4]
Golf career
Amateur
Woods played for the Xavier College Preparatory golf team and won back-to-back Arizona 5A State Championships in 2006 and 2007.[4] She graduated from Wake Forest University in 2012 where she played golf for the Demon Deacons. She won more than 30 amateur tournaments.[5]
In 2009, she received a sponsor's exemption to play in an LPGA tournament, the Wegmans LPGA. She missed the cut by four strokes.[6]
In 2012, Woods turned professional after graduating from Wake Forest.[8] She qualified for the 2012 U.S. Women's Open by finishing as co-medalist at her qualifier and made her professional debut at the 2012 LPGA Championship.[8] She had her first professional win on the SunCoast Ladies Series in late August 2012.[9][10]
In 2013, Woods became a member of the Ladies European Tour and finished 78th on the Order of Merit. In 2014, Woods had her second professional win (and first on a major tour) at the Volvik RACV Ladies Masters.[11]
In December 2014, Woods finished T-11th in the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, thereby earning Category 12 membership, which entitled her to entry in most full-field events apart from the more prestigious events.[12] In the 2015 season, she made only eight cuts and had to go through qualifying again. By finishing T-13th in the Final Qualifying Tournament, she earned her LPGA tour card for 2016.
As of 2023, Woods lacks a LPGA Tour card to play as a full-time member. Her most recent LPGA appearance was at the Cambia Portland Classic in September 2021.
Personal
On October 27, 2021, Woods got engaged to professional baseball player Aaron Hicks.[13] They married in February 2022,[14] and their son was born in April 2022.[15] They reside in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Woods is the sixth African American to play on the LPGA Tour.[16] In a 2013 interview, Woods said "An African American woman has never won on the LPGA, so in general I just feel that golf needs to be more accessible and more inclusive."[17]
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