Leján Lewthwaite (born 12 February 1991) is a South African

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who plays on the

Ladies European Tour The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1978. Most of the players on the tour are European, with members from more than 40 countries internationally. Despite its name, the tour also has tournaments in A ...

Amateur career

Lewthwaite was born in

Benoni, Gauteng Benoni is a town on the East Rand, Gauteng, South Africa, some east of Johannesburg, within the City of Ekurhuleni municipality. Benoni was also the setting for the MTV-inspired movie ''Crazy Monkey: Straight Outta Benoni'', released internat ...

and was 9 years old when she picked up her first club, but only started focusing on golf after she turned 17 and attended the Gavin Levenson Golf Academy. In 2011 she was offered a full golf scholarship to

Texas State University Texas State University (TXST) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in San Marcos, Texas, United States, and another campus in Round Rock, Texas, Round Rock. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has ...

, where she won her first NCAA division 1 collegiate tournament in just her second start. She graduated with a BSc degree (cum laude) in 2015 and returned to South Africa.

Professional career

Lewthwaite turned professional at the start of 2016. She competed in eight tournaments in the 2017 LET Access Series with a best finish being T10 at the Foxconn Czech Ladies Challenge. In 2018 she played in four LET events and then earned her

card for 2019 by finishing T10 at

qualifying school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

. In 2019 she played in 12 events and made seven cuts, recording two top-10 finishes including a season-best finish of ninth at the Jabra Ladies Open, to retained her card. Lewthwaite also played on the Sunshine Ladies Tour where she secured her first professional title at the 2019 South African Women's Masters. In 2020 she claimed back-to-back victories at the SuperSport Ladies Challenge, held at Gary Player Country Club, and the Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am, held at

Fancourt Hotel and Country Club Fancourt Hotel and Country Club is a South African golf estate in George, Western Cape (Garden Route District Municipality). It is rated among the top 10 lifestyle estates in the world. The Links Course at Fancourt is rated as the number 1 golf c ...

. In 2020 she recorded a season-best finish of T16 at the Investec South African Women's Open, held at Westlake Golf Club, and in 2021 she was T7 at the Ladies Italian Open, three strokes off the lead. Lewthwaite is supported by Investec, the title sponsor of the South African Women's Open, along with compatriots

Nicole Garcia Nicole Garcia (born 22 April 1946) is a French actress, film director and screenwriter. Her film '' Charlie Says'' was entered into the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Her film '' Going Away'' was screened in the Special Presentation section at the ...

and Stacy Bregman.

Amateur wins (1)

*2011 Johnny Imes Invitational

Professional wins (5)

Sunshine Ladies Tour wins (4)

LET Access Series wins (1)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewthwaite, Lejan South African female golfers Texas State Bobcats women's golfers Ladies European Tour golfers Golfers from Johannesburg Sportspeople from Benoni Golfers from Gauteng 1991 births Living people 21st-century South African sportswomen