Just days after Minjee Lee’s four-stroke victory at the US Women’s Open, Webb and Mahar will tee it up in New Jersey and North Carolina respectively but at vastly different stages of their careers.

Webb is playing in her second LPGA Tour event of the year at this week’s ShopRite LPGA Classic after making the cut in her return to competition at the Gainbridge LPGA in Florida in January.

A college star with Virginia Tech the past five years, Mahar has played in professional events previously but never with the prospect of cashing a cheque at week’s end.

She announced via Instagram on the weekend after finishing 63rd at the NCAA Women’s Golf National Championship that she would be making her debut as a professional at this week’s Carolina Golf Classic on the secondary Epson Tour, news that was well received by the Hall of Famer whose scholarship she won two years ago.

“Super excited to see what this next step brings for you!” Webb wrote on Mahar’s post, Mahar and Gabi Ruffels spending a week at Webb’s house in December 2020.

“All the best mate!”

In a press conference ahead of return to the LPGA Tour this week, Webb spoke of the pride she has felt in seeing the likes of Mahar, Lee and 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA champion Hannah Green transition into the pro ranks and enjoy such success.

“A lot of them have been a part of my scholarship series back in Australia and come over here and they’ve gone to US Opens,” Webb said.

“Minjee, the first US Open she attended was at Sebonack when Inbee won. The following year she was my scholarship winner again and actually qualified to play at Pinehurst.

“Same with ‘Greeny’. Her first US Open experience was coming over to stay with me at Lancaster Country Club in 2015.

“Those were the experiences that I wanted. I wanted the girls to aim to play in those events some day and aim to win them.

“For Hannah and Minjee both to have gone on and win the events they attended it’s really, really cool for me.”

Mahar concluded her college career by earning an All-American Honorable Mention by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association, the first member of the Virginia Tech program to be awarded All-American honours.

Virginia Tech’s all-time career scoring average leader (73.25), it further cemented Mahar’s status as one of the college’s greatest players and the grounding by which she believes she can enter the pro ranks.

“Throughout my life, I have lived by one quote: ‘Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the number of moments that take your breath away’,” Mahar said.

“I am beyond grateful for the opportunities this game and school have given me and I am so proud to call myself a Hokie for life.

“The highs, lows, and everything in between have taught me so much that I will carry into my next chapter!”

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A quarter-finalist at the 2021 US Women’s Amateur, Mahar played in the 2021 US Women’s Open and makes it eight Aussies in action on the Epson Tour this week.

World No.4 Cameron Smith headlines the Aussies teeing it up at the RBC Canadian Open on the PGA TOUR, Whitney Hillier, Scott Hend, Maverick Antcliff, Zach Murray and Jason Scrivener will contest the Scandinavian Mixed on the DP World Tour and seven Aussies will appear at the Japan Golf Tour’s ASO Iizuka Challenge.  

Round 1 tee times AEST

PGA TOUR
RBC Canadian Open
St George’s G&CC, Toronto, Ontario
9.46pm*             Cameron Percy, Jhonattan Vegas, Johnson Wagner
10.06pm             Greg Chalmers, Henrik Norlander, Doug Ghim
10.17pm             Danny Lee, Chris Kirk, Bo Van Pelt
2.22am*             Mark Hensby, Ben Crane, John Huh
2.53am Cameron Smith, Sam Burns, Scottie Scheffler
4.21am Brett Drewitt, Austin Smotherman, Dean Burmester

Defending champion: Rory McIlroy (2019)
Past Aussie winners: Joe Kirkwood Snr (1933), Jim Ferrier (1950, 1951), Kel Nagle (1964), Greg Norman (1984, 1992), Nathan Green (2009), Jason Day (2015
Top Aussie prediction: Cameron Smith
TV coverage: Live 5am-8am Friday, Saturday; Live 3am-8am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503

DP World Tour
Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed Hosted by Henrik & Annika
Halmstad GC, Tylösand, Sweden
5.05pm Scott Hend, Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez, Marianne Skarpnord
5.15pm Maverick Antcliff, Liz Young, Michele Thomson
7.55pm Zach Murray, Espen Kofstad, Rachael Goodall
8.35pm Jason Scrivener, Ana Pelaez, Lee-Anne Pace
10.20pm             Whitney Hillier, Jack Senior, Nicole Garcia

Defending champion: Jonathan Caldwell
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Jason Scrivener
TV coverage: Live 9pm-2am Thursday, Friday; Live 9.30pm-2am Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503

Japan Golf Tour
ASO Iizuka Challenge
Asoi Iizuka Golf Club, Fukuoka
8.30am*             Anthony Quayle, Song Young-han, Miraiya Akutsu
8.40am Matthew Griffin, Hiroyo Ikemura, Tomohiro Kondo
8.50am Dylan Perry, Ryutaro Nagano, Yoshitaka Takeya
8.50am*             Brendan Jones, Ryo Kujo, Yusaku Miyazato
9am      Michael Hendry, Katsumasa Miyamoto, Shota Akiyoshi
9.10am Adam Bland, Jay Choi, Kunihiro Uei
12.40pm             Andrew Evans, Onishi Kaito, Hiroyuki Fujita
1pm*    Brad Kennedy, Daihei Sato, Koumei Oda

Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Anthony Quayle

LPGA Tour
ShopRite LPGA Classic
Seaview (Bay Cse), Galloway, New Jersey
Australasians in the field: Lydia Ko, Su Oh, Sarah Kemp, Katherine Kirk, Stephanie Kyriacou, Sarah Jane Smith, Karrie Webb, Karis Davidson

Defending champion: Celine Boutier
Past Aussie winners: Karrie Webb (2013)
Top Aussie prediction: Katherine Kirk
TV coverage: Live 2am-5am Saturday on Fox Sports 503; Live 4am-7am Sunday on Fox Sports 505; Live 2am-5am Monday on Fox Sports 506

Korn Ferry Tour
BMW Charity Pro-Am
Thornblade Club, Greer, South Carolina
Thornblade Club
9.29pm Aaron Baddeley, Tom Lewis
9.51pm*             Nick Voke, MJ Maguire
2.06am Curtis Luck, Kevin Chappell

The Carolina CC
9.18pm Rhein Gibson, Alexandre Rocha
2.17am Harrison Endycott, Fabián Gómez
3.23am*             Ryan Ruffels, Corey Shaun

Defending champion: Mito Pereira (2020)
Past Aussie winners: Nick Flanagan (2007, 2012), Michael Sim (2009), Rod Pampling (2015), Rhein Gibson (2019)
Top Aussie prediction: Aaron Baddeley
TV coverage: Live 2am-4am Friday; 11.30am-1pm Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503; 12pm Monday on Fox Sports +

Challenge Tour
Empordà Challenge
Empordà Golf, Girona, Spain
9.50pm*             Dimitrios Papadatos, Adam Blomme, Jérôme Lando Casanova
10pm*  Jarryd Felton, Aron Zemmer, Jordan Wrisdale
10.20pm             Daniel Hillier, Javier Sainz, Oliver Hundeboll
11.30pm             Deyen Lawson, Jonathan Thomson, David Borda

Defending champion: Julien Brun
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Deyen Lawson

Epson Tour
Carolina Golf Classic
Kinston Country Club, Kinston, North Carolina
9.30pm Soo Jin Lee, Selena Costabile, Lucia Polo
10.14pm*           Hira Naveed, Becca Huffer, Maddi Caldwell-Young
10.58pm             Stephanie Na, Siyun Liu, Moeka Nishihata
3.04am Gabriela Ruffels, Daniela Iacobelli, Gabriella Then
3.04am*             Grace Kim, Daniela Darquea, Samantha Wagner
3.15am*             Robyn Choi, Katelyn Sisk, Karen Chung
3.37am*             Amelia Garvey, Yan Liu, Sofia Garcia
3.48am*             Emily Mahar, Alyaa Abdulghany, Binny Lee
3.59am*             Julienne Soo, Sarah White, Megan Osland

Defending champion: Sophia Schubert
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Grace Kim

PGA TOUR Latinoamerica
Fortox Colombia Classic
Ruitoque Golf Country Club, Bucaramanga, Colombia
9.25pm Louis Dobbelaar, Rafael Echenique, Ryan Cole
10.05pm             Tim Stewart, Alejandro Tosti, Josh Goldenberg
2.45am Charlie Hillier, Kevin Velo, Brendon Doyle

Defending champion: Samuel Stevens (2020)
Past Aussie winners:  Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Tim Stewart

Champions Tour
American Family Insurance Championship
University Ridge GC, Madison, Wisconsin
Aussies in the field: Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, John Senden

Defending champion: Jerry Kelly (2020)
Past Aussie winners:  Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Stuart Appleby
TV coverage: 9am-10.30am Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503; 2pm Monday on Fox Sports +