South African golf prodigy Simon turns 18 and then turns pro  LONDON -- South African teen golf star Ashleigh Simon turned professional Saturday and signed a management deal with IMG. Simon, the three-time South African Open winner who turned 18 on Friday, also announced an endorsement deal with Nike and received an invitation to the HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship on July 19-22 at Wykagyl in New Rochelle, N.Y. "I can't wait to get out on the tour," Simon said. "I have thoroughly enjoyed my amateur career and feel I am absolutely ready for the next stage." Simon has played at an elite level since the age of 12, when she won the Ladies Club Championship at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club in her native South Africa. In 2004, she became the first female to play on the men's Southern Africa Tour as well as the youngest winner (at age 14) of the South African Ladies Amateur Strokeplay and Matchplay titles. The week after that, she became the youngest winner of a WPGA Tour event, as she won the Women's South Africa Open. She has been a regular presence on the South Africa team in the Women's World Cup of Golf, and in 2006 won the Nedbank Women's Masters, South African Amateur Strokeplay & Matchplay and the Rolex Tournament of Champions, and qualified for the Women's British Open. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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