2005 U.S. Women's Open is Morgan Pressel's Coming Out Party

A miracle shot is likely all that stood between 17-year-old amateur Morgan Pressel and the U.S. Women's Open championship. When Birdie Kim holed a bunker shot on the treacherous No. 18 at Cherry Hills, while Pressel watched in disbelief from back in the fairway, Pressel's chance to become the first amateur since Catherine Lacoste in 1967 to win this championship ended.

Still, Pressel finished tied for second place. While she was disappointed with that finish - coming so close to victory - the rest of us can focus on something else: the 2005 U.S. Women's Open was Morgan Pressel's coming out party.

And she'll be doing plenty of partying for years to come on the LPGA Tour.

Consider Pressel the under-the-radar member of the group of "dream teens" who are emerging in women's golf. At least, until now.

Pressel has never been as famous as Michelle Wie or Paula Creamer, and she hasn't won an adult USGA championship like Jane Park. While she was well-known to hardcore fans of women's golf and junior golf, most casual golf fans may have never heard of her prior to the '05 Open. But her game is every bit as good and her future every bit as bright as those of Creamer, Wie and Park.

Pressel is a native of Boca Raton, Fla., and was born into a family of athletes. Her father was a hockey player and her mother (who died of breast cancer in 2003) won the Big 10 tennis championship while at the University of Michigan in 1978. Her uncle is Aaron Krickstein, one of the tennis phenoms of the 1980s. He burst onto the scene at age 16 when he pulled off several upsets at the 1983 U.S. Open tennis championship.

Pressel's first sports interest was tennis, but her grandfather quickly got her into golf. She first broke 80 at age 6. In 2001, Pressel made it through qualifying to earn a spot in the 2001 U.S. Women's Open. She was 12 years old at the time of qualifying, making her the youngest-ever qualifier. She was 13 at the time she played the tournament, missing the cut.

Two years later she did it again, qualifying and then playing (at age 15) the U.S. Women's Open. This time she made the cut.

Along the way, Pressel was playing and winning junior tournaments on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) circuit, and by 2005 had become the No. 1-ranked girl in the U.S. All the while, she maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average at St. Andrews High School in Boca Raton.

Pressel has played in a handful of events on the LPGA Tour. In 2005, she finished 19th at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, a major. She also finished tied for 19th at the Michelob Ultra Open and tied for 23rd at the Chik-fil-A Charity Championship this year.

She has been writing to tournament directors seeking sponsors' exemptions into summer LPGA events. After the Women's Open, it's a sure bet she'll be able to fill up her competition calendar.

But Pressel says she isn't in a hurry to join the LPGA Tour. She plans to attend Duke University on a golf scholarship beginning in the fall. (UPDATE: Pressel changes mind, seeks waiver to join LPGA Tour.)

But like Creamer before her, Pressel is a sure bet to be a force on the LPGA Tour as soon as she does turn pro. And now that she's had her coming out party at the U.S. Women's Open, Pressel is sure to start getting more of the attention that previously has been focused on Creamer and Wie.