LPGA rookie, who almost quit golf to pursue ministry, leads in Mexico

Melanie Green's tee shot on the 15th at El Camaleón Golf Course was a stunner, and she grabbed the putter from her caddie and walked up to the green. Only when she got there, Green couldn't find her ball.

"I'm like, 'Shane, take the putter. This is embarrassing. I'm going to have chip,' " said Green.

As Green fixed her divot, her caddie Shane Meehan walked up to the hole and found her ball.

"I'm like, 'Shane, that's not nice. It's not in the hole. That's not nice,' " recalled Green. "I walk up there and all I could see was the cross. I was so excited. Yeah, thought I just went way left. But whatever. Good bounce."

The absence of fans to let her know about her first ace on the LPGA made for a late surprise for the tour rookie. With the ace sandwiched in between a stretch of four birdies in six holes, Green's opening 30 on the back nine ultimately led to a tournament-leading 6-under 66 at the Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba. Spain's Carlota Ciganda sits one shot back.

The 2025 Epson Tour Player of the Year, Green made her sixth start to the season this week in Mexico. She qualified for the year's first major, the Chevron Championship, after finishing in a share of ninth at the JM Eagle LA Championship.

In the summer of 2024, the small-town New Yorker became the first American in 28 years to win the Women’s British Amateur, playing her way onto the Curtis Cup team.

“The way she carried herself on the golf course, it was palpably different than her fellow competitors,” said former University of South Florida coach Erika Brennan on recruiting Green. “There was an edge to her; there was a want. You could see the fire.”

Green found the Lord while she was in college, and that cross on her golf ball is a testament to her faith. There was a time when the 24-year-old thought she might not turn professional, giving it up to attend Bible school. After a call from the church's head pastor, however, she decided to do both.

“I don’t need to be a pastor to go out and tell someone ‘Hey God loves you, and has a plan for your life,” Green told Golfweek last year.

“As of right now, golf is my ministry.”

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: LPGA rookie Melanie Green leads in Mexico after ace