Lauren Walsh – just the third Irish player to earn an LPGA Tour card – completed a homeward journey that started in Mobile, Alabama, took her onwards to Atlanta, then overnight to Paris and finally Dublin, although, even on touchdown, the 25-year-old Kildare woman was understandably still on a high in graduating on to the main women’s golf circuit.
“Honestly, it is a dream come true. I don’t think it has fully sunk in yet. I am absolutely over the moon, it has been a goal of mine for a very, very long time,” said Walsh, who performed brilliantly in the LPGA Tour Q-Series finals to earn a place on the LPGA Tour for 2026 where she will have Leona Maguire – both coached by Shane O’Grady – for company.
Walsh has spent the past two seasons playing on the Ladies European Tour (LET), which has proven invaluable in shaping her for the next phase of life on tour. Her LPGA Tour season is set to start with the Blue Bay LPGA tournament in Hainan Island, China in March. Before that, she will kick-start her season’s work back on the LET, in the Saudi Open in February.
Walsh’s elevation to the LPGA Tour – a circuit which next year features 33 events with prize money of $132 million – has come in just over two years as a professional, having joined the paid ranks after a stellar amateur career, which included two Curtis Cup appearances and a strong collegiate career at Wake Forest University.
Those two seasons on the LET proved beneficial, not only earning the pathway to the LPGA Tour school for finishing in the top-10 – in 10th – off this season’s order of merit, but also in preparing her for the next phase of life on tour.
Lauren Walsh at the Irish Open this year at Carton House. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho
“It was really important for me,” explained Walsh of her LET experience, adding: “The last two years I have learned so much, not just about my golf game but also how to manage life as a professional golfer. There is a lot more than goes into it. You jump from college and amateur golf where a lot of the stuff is organised for you and you are out on your own; you’ve to plan your own travel, book your own flights, organise all of that yourself.
“It was a great two years’ experience. I got to travel the world and figure out how to work on jet lag and figure out the different style golf courses and that can only benefit me moving forward. I got to play against great players in Europe and around the world, and seeing five of us [from the LET] get our cards this week in Q-school just shows how deep the tour is and how it has progressed, which is really positive. Lots of positive things have come from the LET so very grateful.”
Although there are a number off co-sanctioned events and also that start in Saudi Arabia, as well as a prospect of playing in the KPMG Women’s Irish Open at The K Club to look forward to next summer, Walsh’s primary work in the year ahead will be on the LPGA Tour where, she feels, the courses will suit her game.
“I think even this week [in Alabama] was a good example. The courses are probably a bit longer and firmer, faster greens that suits my ball flight. Each year, different aspects of my game have gotten better and I think overall my game has improved year-on-year which can only mean good things going back to compete more full-time in the States. It is an exciting schedule and I am excited to sit down the next couple of weeks with Shane and my team and make a plan.”
For the player who cut her teeth at Castlewarden Golf Club in Co Kildare, the journey to the LPGA Tour – through amateur and collegiate golf and the LET – has been one of seemingly seamless progression. This next stage is, as she puts it, “exciting … it has been a big team effort from everyone over the last couple of years but it is brilliant to see it all come together.”
