Dwyer Gets Spot in LPGA Season Opener

By Lisa D. Mickey

The LPGA kicks off its 2008 season in Hawaii Feb. 14-16, at the SBS Open at Turtle Bay. And while graduates from the 2007 Duramed FUTURES Tour will be taking their first swings on LPGA tournament turf, so will current member Bridget Dwyer – a native of Hawaii – who nabbed a sponsor’s exemption into the event.

Growing up in nearby Kailua, Hawaii, Dwyer played Turtle Bay often as a high school amateur and wrote to the LPGA event’s tournament director last December to request a spot in the field. The third-year Duramed FUTURES Tour member got the best gift she could imagine when she was granted a sponsor’s exemption before Christmas.

“I’ll be getting my feet wet at this event because it will be my first LPGA tournament,” said Dwyer, 27, a member of the 2004 NCAA Championship team while playing collegiately for UCLA. “Hopefully, it will get me inspired and set the tone for the rest of this season.”

And while Dwyer has shown steady improvement in her young professional career, posting a career-best tie for sixth at the Tour’s event in El Paso, Texas, she has garnered the most fan and media attention for reaching the finals of The Golf Channel’s Big Break VI: Trump National television series in 2006, when she finished as runner-up to winner Briana Vega. Like BB6, Dwyer is likely to draw considerable media and fan interest as the local favorite at Turtle Bay.

“I can’t really imagine what it’s going to be like, but maybe it will be similar to Big Break with the cameras and all the people,” she said. “Fortunately, I like that. And fortunately through the Big Break, I learned to just acknowledge them and to let it go.”

Dwyer admits that she has “so many memories” at Turtle Bay. She also will be sleeping in her own bed, as her family’s beach house is about two minutes from the tournament course.

“I’ll feel comfortable because I will be playing at home,” said Dwyer, who was a three-time NCAA All-Scholar athlete at UCLA as an economics and Japanese major. “But when I step on the driving range next to players like Annika [Sorenstam], I’ll probably feel some nerves. Still, I hope I get to play with her.”

Dwyer plans to play a practice round with former UCLA teammate Charlotte Mayorkas, now a second-year LPGA Tour member who earned her LPGA status by finishing second on the 2006 Duramed FUTURES Tour Money List. Dwyer also will “get her feet wet” with a professional tour caddie, as required by the LPGA Tour.

“I’ve never had a caddie during a professional tournament because we don’t have to have them on the [Duramed] FUTURES Tour,” said Dwyer. “I’ll still read my own putts and pick my own clubs in the tournament, but it will be good for me to learn what it’s like to work with a real tour caddie. I’m a little nervous about it. Let’s just say that I’ve had some caddie dreams all week.”

To learn more about Dwyer, visit her web site at www.bridgetdwyer.com.