Australian Karrie Webb became the first alumna of the FUTURES Golf Tour to enter the LPGA and World Golf Hall of Fame. Webb, 30, of Queensland, became the youngest member of the World Golf Hall of Fame when she was inducted Nov. 14, in St. Augustine, Fla.

"My achievements on the golf course have surpassed my own expectations and even my wildest dreams," said Webb, who played on the FUTURES Tour in 1995, winning the 1995 Golden Flake Golden Ocala FUTURES Classic in Ocala, Fla. "The ride has been so unbelievable."

Growing up in the sugar cane town of rural Ayr, Australia, Webb was introduced to golf at age 4 by her late grandfather, Mick Collinson. She was nurtured by longtime coach Kelvin Haller, coaxed by Australian compatriot and PGA Tour star Greg Norman, and by age 25, had earned enough points in 2000 to qualify for the Hall of Fame. Webb met the required 10-year time period for Hall of Fame eligibility during this year's McDonald's LPGA Championship.

"On one hand, it seems like I've waited a long time for this," she said during the induction ceremony. "But on the other hand, I look back at my career sometimes and can't believe how fast everything has gone and how much I've been able to accomplish. I feel very fortunate to be able to play the game I love for a living, and now to be an official Hall of Fame member is like a dream come true."

Owner of 30 career victories, including six major championships, three Vare Trophy Awards and two Rolex Player of the Year Awards, Webb was inducted alongside Japan's Ayako Okamoto, who won 17 LPGA Tour titles; golf course designer Alister MacKenzie; golf writer Bernard Darwin of the United Kingdom; and Scottish player Willie Park, who won the first British Open Championship.

Webb burst into women's golf when she won the 1995 Weetabix Women's British Open (before it was deemed a major championship) and was later named as the Women's Professional Golfer's European Tour Rookie of the Year. She won four times in 1996, during her rookie LPGA season, was named as the LPGA's top rookie and became the first rookie on either the LPGA or PGA Tour to reach the $1 million mark in single-season earnings.

In 2002, she became the first woman in LPGA Tour history to win the Super Career Grand Slam -- winning all five major championships available during her career. Webb has won the U.S. Women's Open twice (2000, 2001), the 2000 Kraft Nabisco Championship, 1999 du Maurier Classic (formerly a major), the 2002 Weetabix Women's British Open and the 2001 McDonald's LPGA Championship.

"The beauty about golf is one day I love it, the next day I hate it," said Webb during her acceptance speech at World Golf Village. "It is a constant challenge of working toward perfection, although I'll never get there."

But Webb, who was called "a kind heart and a gentle champion" by former LPGA Tour commissioner Ty Votaw, laughed as she described herself as "just a little girl from Ayr with big dreams."

With her induction alongside the greatest names in the game, this Australian proved that sometimes big dreams really do come true -- starting with a plastic club playing with her grandparents on Sunday mornings, and then moving on to amateur golf, the FUTURES Golf Tour, the European Tour and finally, to the highest rungs of the LPGA Tour.

Contact: Lisa D. Mickey, FUTURES Golf Tour, 863-255-3033 or lisa@futurestour.com.