Cheyenne Nicole Woods (born July 25, 1990) is an American professional golfer.

Cheyenne Woods
Woods at the 2016 Kingsmill Championship
Personal information
Full nameCheyenne Nicole Woods
Born (1990-07-25) July 25, 1990 (age 33)
Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidencePhoenix, Arizona, U.S.
PartnerAaron Hicks
Career
CollegeWake Forest University
Turned professional2012
Former tour(s)Ladies European Tour
LPGA Tour
Symetra Tour
Professional wins2
Number of wins by tour
Ladies European Tour1
ALPG Tour1
Other1
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron ChampionshipDNP
Women's PGA C'shipT43: 2016
U.S. Women's OpenCUT: 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2021
Women's British OpenCUT: 2014, 2016, 2018
Evian ChampionshipT43: 2016

Early life edit

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 edit

Amateur edit

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 April 2011, she won the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championship.[7]

Professional edit

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 edit

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]

Professional wins (2) edit

Ladies European Tour wins (1) edit

No. Date Tournament Winning
score
To par Margin
of victory
Runner-up Winner's
share ()
1 Feb 9, 2014 Volvik RACV Ladies Masters* 69-67-71-69=276 −16 2 strokes   Minjee Lee (a) 37,500

* Co-sanctioned with ALPG Tour

Other wins (1) edit

  • 2012 SunCoast Ladies Series LPGA International

Results in LPGA majors edit

Results not in chronological order before 2018.

Tournament 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
ANA Inspiration
U.S. Women's Open CUT CUT CUT CUT
Women's PGA Championship CUT CUT T43 CUT T68
Women's British Open CUT CUT CUT
The Evian Championship ^ CUT CUT T43 NT
Tournament 2021
ANA Inspiration
U.S. Women's Open CUT
Women's PGA Championship
The Evian Championship
Women's British Open

^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013.

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
T = tied

References edit

  1. ^ Brady, Erik (May 17, 2011). "Tiger Woods' niece Cheyenne creating golf identity of her own". USA Today. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
  2. ^ "Player Bio: Cheyenne Woods – Wake Forest". Retrieved June 28, 2009.
  3. ^ Lewis, Aimee (September 11, 2018). "Cheyenne Woods: "When you find something you can relate to, that's a step forward"". CNN.
  4. ^ a b "Think Young, Play Hard: Cheyenne Woods". Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  5. ^ Crouse, Karen (June 24, 2009). "Following a Famous Uncle and Also Her Ambition". The New York Times. Retrieved June 28, 2009.
  6. ^ "Woods misses cut; Shin extends lead". ESPN. Associated Press. June 27, 2009. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  7. ^ Kelley, Brent (April 17, 2011). "Cheyenne Woods Wins ACC Championship". About.com. Retrieved June 5, 2012.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ a b Wall, Jonathan (May 31, 2012). "Cheyenne Woods, Tiger's niece, qualifies for U.S. Women's Open". Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  9. ^ "SunCoast Ladies Series – LPGA Int'l Champions Course – Final Round Results" (PDF). SunCoast Ladies Series. August 29, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 6, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
  10. ^ "Cheyenne Woods, Tiger's niece, wins event at LPGA International". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. August 31, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2012.[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ McEwan, Michael (February 10, 2014). "Woods wins – no, not that Woods!". Bunkered. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  12. ^ "Final Round Results – LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament". LPGA. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  13. ^ Kimble, Lindsay (October 29, 2021). "Golfer Cheyenne Woods Engaged to New York Yankees Player Aaron Hicks: Forever with My Best Friend'". People.
  14. ^ "Cheyenne Woods marries Aaron Hicks". Women & Golf. February 10, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  15. ^ Ackert, Kristie (April 29, 2022). "Aaron Hicks back with team after birth of his son". New York Daily News.
  16. ^ "Parks and Woods Become First African American Duo on Tour Since 1971". LPGA. January 26, 2015.
  17. ^ Kessel, Anna (July 26, 2013). "Cheyenne Woods: 'I want to be an established golfer, not just Tiger's niece'". The Guardian. Retrieved September 2, 2015.

External links edit