Gabi Ruffels played her first 18 holes in December of 2014. By April, she was down to a five handicap.
Gabi Ruffels played her first 18 holes with her dad’s clubs in December of 2014 after a career as a tennis phenom. By April, she was down to a five handicap. The Aussie native landed a scholarship to USC, her mother’s alma mater, won the 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur and notched a pair of top-15 finishes in LPGA majors before turning pro in 2021.
Coming to the game so late means golf still feels fresh to Ruffels, who loves to play more than practice. All signs pointed to her being on the LPGA earlier than this, but on her way to play a practice round for 2022 LPGA Q-School, it dawned on Ruffels that she never signed up.
A paperwork error sent her back to the Epson Tour for the 2023 season, where she won three times and topped the money list. Ruffels handled the mistake with great grace and called it a big year of learning.
Ruffels relies heavily on her brother and pro golfer Ryan, often sending him questions about how to play certain shots or advice on course management. While mom caddied for her on the Epson Tour, she’s had veteran LPGA caddie John Killeen on the bag to start the 2024 season.
Gabi Ruffels’ game is rounding into form in her 26th start in the big leagues.
GILBERT, Ariz. — She missed out on a playoff five days ago by a stroke. She posted her career-low round on the LPGA on Thursday.
Gabi Ruffels’ game is rounding into form in her 26th start in the big leagues.
Ruffels shot an 8-under 64 at Seville Golf and Country Club, host venue for the inaugural Ford Championship, and was tied for the lead for most of the day in the first round on a sunny day in the Phoenix suburbs. She was in a three-way tie for the lead till some in the afternoon wave went low, making it a five-way tie, but then Pajaree Anannarukarn, who finished on No. 9 buy making four-footer for birdie and the day’s lone 63.
Her bogey-free round featured a first-round high of nine birdies, including fives straight on Nos. 5 through 9 to cap her round. She hit 12 of 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens.
As for Ruffels, she rebounded nicely from her lone bogey on No. 7 with three straight birdies on Nos. 8 through 10. Her eagle came on the par-5 fifth hole.
“I wish I knew, because I would want to take it every week with me,” the Aussie said when asked about how she’s maintaining momentum. “Just having that confidence knowing that I played well last week and everything in my game felt really well and then just doing the same things, not thinking too much about it and riding with the confidence.”
The 2019 U.S. Amateur champ shot a 65 last Saturday near Los Angeles but a closing 70 kept her one shot shy of a playoff with Nelly Korda and Ryann O’Toole. Korda, in the field this week and back in the No. 1 spot in the world rankings, won the event on the first playoff hole.
The West Coast swing seems to be suiting Ruffels just fine this season.
“My parents live in Palm Springs and I spend a lot of time there. It’s very similar climate-wise and the feel, that dry weather,” she said. “I’ve played probably a lot of my golf in the past five or six years in Palm Springs, so, yeah, I love Phoenix. Kind of the same feel and feels like home I guess.”
Ruffels has another professional win in Arizona. It came 11 months ago on the Epson Tour at Longbow Golf Club in neighboring Mesa.
Azahara Munoz of Spain, who played collegiately at nearby Arizona State, was the first in with a 64. She also eagled the fifth hole.
“It’s been a while,” she said of her low round. “I’ve had a few 5, 6 under, but not 8 under, which is really, really nice. Yeah, makes me happy to know that I can still do it.”
Germany’s Isi Gabsa later made it a three-way tie for the lead when she posted 64, including four straight birdies on Nos.14-18.
The afternoon wave produced two more 64s from another former Sun Devil, Carlota Ciganda, as well as world No. 2 Lilia Vu, who also had a nine-birdie, bogey-free round.
There are two golfers tied for seventh at 7 under – Celine Boutier and Hyo Joo Kim – and then swath of 11 golfers tied for ninth at 6 under. Add ’em up and that’s 19 golfers within two shots of the lead after 18 holes.
The path from the amateur ranks to professional golf can be a long, winding path filled with bumps and potholes to maneuver.
After switching from tennis to golf in 2015, Gabriela Ruffels had a stellar amateur career at the University of Southern California that included a win at the 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur and runner-up showing the following year. As a rookie on the Epson Tour in 2022, the Aussie earned five top-10 finishes and ultimately finished five spots shy of an LPGA card. The 23-year-old then missed the deadline to register for LPGA Q-Series and returned to the Epson Tour for the 2023 season.
Nine months later and with seven tournaments to go on the season, Ruffels can officially call herself an LPGA member after earning the first of 10 available tour cards via the Epson Tour’s Race for the Card.
“I’m so excited to officially say that I will be on the LPGA Tour next year. It has been my goal since I turned pro at the start of 2021, and I’m so proud to have earned it through the Epson Tour,” said Ruffels via a release. “It means the world and is something that every little girl playing golf strives to do, so to be able to have status for next year and play in the tournaments that I grew up watching on TV is such a great feeling. I’m super excited for 2024.”
Ruffels earned her first professional win at the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Championship in March and then won the Garden City Charity Classic in May after tying the Epson Tour’s all-time 54-hole scoring record (-19). Her third win at last week’s Four Winds Invitational sealed the deal. She’s also made the cut in three LPGA events this season, including two majors at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and U.S. Women’s Open.
“Gabi’s success this year is a testament to not only her world-class talent but also to her resilience, positive attitude and hard work.” said LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. “Gabi is ready to compete at the very highest level of the game and we look to seeing her shine on the LPGA next year.”
On Sunday, the former USC standout and U.S. Women’s Amateur champion took a big step towards securing her LPGA card after earning her first professional victory.
Ruffels led by two shots after 54 holes at the Epson Tour’s Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic at Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, Arizona. During Sunday’s final round, back-to-back birdies on Nos. 8 and 9 stretched that lead to five.
She would have four birdies in all during a bogey-free final round to go 68-67-67-68 for the week to win by two shots over Kathleen Scavo, who eagled the last to get to 16 under.
“It feels so good,” Ruffels said. “I’ve wanted this all week, especially after the first round when I kind of got into the tournament. I just had to stay patient all day, and I can finally relax knowing that I won. It’s a really cool feeling.”
After that Q-Series goof, Ruffels finished eighth at LET Q-School. She also has full status on the Epson Tour in 2023. The top-10 finishers on the Epson Tour will earn their LPGA cards for 2024.
The Carlisle event is one of two Epson tournaments in 2023 with a total purse of $335,000, the most in tour history. Ruffels’ first-place share was $50,250. Her career earnings heading into the event were $74,858.
The LPGA and its developmental tour are going back-to-back in Arizona this week and next. Maude-Aimee LeBlanc and Karen Chung are two of the 13 who made the cut at the Epson event who will next tee it up on the LPGA later this week.
Practice rounds begin Monday 21 miles away at Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club for the LPGA Drive On Championship, the first LPGA stop in Arizona since 2019 and the first at Superstition since the 2008 Safeway International.
In five starts on the LPGA, Ruffels has made three cuts and earned $63,176.
Gabi Ruffels made her professional debut at the Gainbridge LPGA in February on a sponsor exemption. The bright Aussie star left USC early to pursue a professional career with no status on any tour. She’d have to rely on sponsor exemptions and Monday qualifiers to make her way.
This week’s Meijer LPGA Classic is Ruffels’ fifth exemption of the season. Her final exemption – the LPGA allows up to six for non-members – comes next week at the KPMG Women’s PGA.
It’s not lost on Ruffels that a non-member, Yuka Saso, won the tour’s most recent major.
“If I could do that,” said Ruffels, “that would be pretty awesome.”
Ruffels opened with a 5-under 67 at the Meijer with her coach, Grant Waite, on the bag. Waite, a PGA Tour winner from New Zealand, looped for Patty Tavatanakit for her first two events of the season. She tied for fifth at the Gainbridge and finished T-14 at the Drive On in Ocala with Waite inside the ropes. In April, the LPGA rookie went wire-to-wire to win the ANA Inspiration.
Patty Tavatanakit talks with her caddie on the ninth tee during the first round of the Gainnbridge LPGA at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club on February 25, 2021 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
Tavatanakit, Ruffels and Waite are all members of Isleworth in Windermere, Florida. Waite also works with Jennifer Song, who like Ruffels, is a past U.S. Women’s Amateur champ. Ruffels began working with Waite earlier this year.
“He’s played on the PGA Tour I think for 10 years,” said Ruffels, “so it’s really cool to get some of his knowledge and insight and have him on my bag. It’s been awesome.”
Ruffels, who is currently two strokes behind a foursome of players at 7 under, could earn her card and avoid Q-School by either winning an LPGA event or earning the equivalent of the top 40 on the points list by season’s end. She’s currently the equivalent of 83rd.
Gabriela Ruffels reads a putt on the 15th green during the first round of the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give at Blythefield Country Club on June 17, 2021 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Photo: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
In her five starts on the LPGA, Ruffels has made three cuts and earned $63,176. She’d be exempt into the second stage of Q-School based on her Rolex Ranking of 136th. Players inside the top 400 are exempt into Stage II. Players within the top 75 as of Aug. 9 are exempt into the final stage, now known as Q-Series.
Ruffels has also made appearances in two Symetra Tour events, finishing fourth and 17th.
Maria Fassi and Gabi Ruffels, two young LPGA stars, are into the LPGA’s next major, next week’s KPMG Women’s PGA.
Maria Fassi and Gabi Ruffels have received sponsor invitations into next week’s KPMG Women’s PGA.
Fassi missed several weeks of competition after undergoing surgery last April to repair a tear in her left knee. She returned to action last week at the LPGA Mediheal, where she missed the cut.
“I actually wrote an email and like a letter to Shawn Quill requesting an invite,” said Fassi. “I mean, I talked with Suzy Whaley like if she could do something. I talked to Stacy (Lewis) as her being sponsored by KPMG, if like she could put in a word.
“So I talked to everybody to see if they could help in any way to get a good word for me and I could get the exemption. Stacy actually texted me and she was like, ‘Hey, you should be expecting a good call sometime soon.’ And within an hour or so I got an email, and, I mean, I couldn’t stop beaming for the rest of afternoon.”
Fassi said she played Atlanta Athletic Club back in April with a friend and loved the course. The former Arkansas star had extra time to work on her short game as she recovered from surgery and expects that extra focus to pay off soon.
Gabriela Ruffels holds the Robert Cox Trophy after winning the 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Miss. on Sunday, Aug. 11, 2019. Photo: USGA/Steven Gibbons
Ruffels, the 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, made her professional debut at the Gainbridge LPGA in February and is competing in this week’s Meijer LPGA Classic in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The former USC standout has three top-20 finishes in major championships in the past two years: 2020 ANA, T-15; 2020 U.S. Women’s Open, T-13; 2021 ANA, T-19.
“I’m excited,” said Ruffels. “I’ve never played in KPMG. I’m pretty sure as an amateur in 2020 I played in all the other majors, so I’ve never played in that one. Really looking forward to it.”
Ruffels left college without any tour status of any kind. She could earn her LPGA card and avoid Q-School by either winning an LPGA event or earning the equivalent of the top 40 on the points list by season’s end.
Stacy Lewis rallied to make the ANA Inspiration cut Friday at the Dinah Shore Course and then kept the momentum going on Saturday.
Stacy Lewis rallied to make the ANA Inspiration cut Friday when she shot 5-under 31 on the front nine at the Dinah Shore Course, her closing nine of the day. That allowed her to make the cut on the number of 1-over 145.
Lewis then opened her third round on the front nine and rolled out a 6-under 30, just the fourth nine-hole score of 30 in the history of the tournament.
That means Lewis had played her last 18 holes in 61. She added birdies on the 12th and 13th holes to reach 8-under for the day and had Lorena Ochoa’s course record of 62 in her sights.
But Lewis, who won the ANA Inspiration in 2011, triple-bogeyed the par 3 14th and finished with a 67.
“I don’t know. I hit a lot of fairways I think is the key, but just hit a lot of really good iron shots, and I really didn’t miss a golf shot until 14,” Lewis said. “So just hit it really solid and got the putter going late yesterday, so kind of found something there. But pretty crazy. I mean, you add those two nines I shoot 61, so pretty sweet.”
She is tied for 17th at 4-under heading into Sunday.
Gabriela Ruffels tees off on the 7th hole during the ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, April 1, 2021.
Ana Thursday 13
Ruffels using ‘home’ course edge
Gabriela Ruffels battled for low amateur at the 2020 ANA Inspiration, finishing second to Rose Zhang. Zhang played in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur this week, missing a playoff for the title by one shot, but Ruffels is back in the ANA Inspiration as a professional because of her 15th-place finish last September.
She credits some home connections for a good week. She is tied for 11th at 5-under entering Sunday.
“It’s really cool firstly staying at home, especially for a major,” said Ruffels, whose parents live at Toscana Country Club in Indian Wells. “I feel like you don’t get that that much, sleeping in your own bed and going home and seeing my dog. It just makes it that much more relaxing and comfortable.”
The desert connections mean Ruffels is not thrown off by desert conditions.
“I practice at Toscana Country Club and playing out here and playing in these conditions I don’t think it can hurt you,” she said. “So, yeah, definitely feeling more comfortable.”
Gabriela Ruffels wrapped up her first LPGA start as a pro at the Gainbridge LPGA with an even-par 72 to finish T-37 and collect $11,197.
ORLANDO, Florida – Gabriela Ruffels wrapped up her first LPGA start as a professional at the Gainbridge LPGA with an even-par 72 to finish T-37. She collected an $11,197 paycheck for her efforts.
“I thought I hit it went really well,” said Ruffels, who called Lake Nona one of the most challenging courses she has played. “A little bit disappointed at the moment because I never really got anything going.”
Ruffels, who turned professional two weeks ago, forgoing her final semester at USC, competed in the Gainbridge on a sponsor exemption. She currently does not have status on any tour as Q-Series was canceled last year.
Both non-members and members are allowed up to six sponsor exemptions each year on the LPGA. Her upcoming spot in the ANA Inspiration, however, does not count against the six as she earned her way in via a top-15 finish in 2021.
Ruffels, 21, might also get into some Monday qualifying fields later in the year. Brooke Henderson secured her LPGA card in 2015 by Monday-qualifying for the Portland Classic and then winning the tournament by eight strokes.
Ruffels was recently offered a spot in the Symetra Tour’s IOA Championship in Beaumont, California, March 26-28. She’ll play in the IOA if she doesn’t get into the LPGA’s Kia Classic, held the same week (she’s still waiting to hear about the exemptions for that event). The Beaumont event is about 30 miles from where Ruffels’ family has a place at Toscana Country Club in Indian Wells.
She also has a start in the Symetra Tour’s inaugural Copper Rock Championship in Hurricane, Utah, in late April.
To earn her LPGA card and avoid Q-School, Ruffels would have to either win an LPGA event or earn the equivalent of the top 40 on the CME points list by season’s end. (In that past, it was the equivalent of the top 40 on the money list.)
Last year Ruffels, the 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur winner, posted top-15 finishes in both the ANA and U.S. Women’s Open.
She’ll have to go through qualifying to get into this year’s U.S. Women’s Open at Olympic Club in San Francisco. Points from that event will count toward her earning her LPGA card, a rule that was changed after Stacy Lewis finished third at the U.S. Women’s Open in 2008 and got nothing for it.
Gabi Ruffels gets starstruck sometimes, but the 20-year-old seems to be taking in stride the next chapter in her golf career: a pro debut.
ORLANDO, Florida – Gabriela Ruffels gets starstruck from time to time, whether it’s meeting tennis icon Billie Jean King for the first time (as she did a few weeks ago), playing golf with fellow Aussie Jason Day (as she did last month) or warming up on the range alongside Annika Sorenstam (as she did this week at the Gainbridge LPGA). The latter encounter resulted from Ruffels making her LPGA debut as a pro as Sorenstam makes her return to the tour for the first time since 2008.
“I think everyone wants to play with (Annika) this week,” said Ruffels. “She’s the greatest of all time, and it’s really cool to see her walking around.”
For all those starry moments, 20-year-old Ruffels seems to be taking this next chapter in her short but highly-decorated golf career in stride. Ruffels plays under the Australian flag but was actually born in Orlando, though she never considered the Sunshine State home as her parents moved shortly thereafter.
It is somewhat of a home now, as she has joined Isleworth Golf and Country Club in nearby Windermere. She’s staying with her brother Ryan, a Korn Ferry Tour player, but plans to get her own place soon. This is the first time she’s seen Nona.
Gabriela Ruffels waits to tee off on the 18th hole during the second round of the 2020 ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club on September 11, 2020 in Rancho Mirage, California. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Ruffels doesn’t have a home tour as of yet. She left college without status of any kind and played last week on the Cactus Tour and finished eighth. A top-15 finish at the ANA Inspiration last year as an amateur earned her a spot in this year’s field. She also has an exemption into the Symetra Tour’s inaugural Copper Rock Championship in Hurricane, Utah, in late April.
Other than that, Ruffels is feverishly writing tournaments hoping to get whatever sponsor exemptions she can. She can also try to Monday qualify.
“I just wanted to start playing these pro events as a pro,” Ruffels said of her decision to leave USC one semester early. “I was also able to finish my degree online, which was big. I didn’t have to be on campus.”
Ruffels could earn her card and avoid Q-School by either winning an LPGA event or earning the equivalent of the top 40 on the points list by season’s end. Last year Ruffels, the 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur, posted top-15 finishes in two majors.
She tees off at 8:22 a.m. on Thursday alongside Lindsey Weaver and Gerina Piller.
Like the LPGA’s Korda sisters, both of Ruffels’ parents, Anna-Maria Fernandez and Ray Ruffels, were elite-level tennis players. Ruffels signed with Nike and now shares the same agent as the Kordas.
Ruffels, who first gained fame in Australia as an elite tennis player before switching to golf at age 15, has been surrounded by professionals and has been on a path to becoming a professional athlete for most of her life.
Sorenstam, who left the tour in 2008 with 72 victories, advised her to “look and learn” in the first year.
“It’s a lot of responsibility,” Sorenstam said of the professional life. “It’s week after week, so you got to learn how to pace yourself. Early on it’s so easy to want to be part of everything that you’re out there Monday through Sunday and you’re exhausted. You have to be out there and make sure it’s quality over quantity.
“I’m sure she’s going to be very, very successful. I like the way she plays and the way she approaches the game. She has a very strong mind, and that’s something you’re going to need out here.”
