Melissa Linda "Mo" Martin (born October 8, 1982) is an American

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 ...

playing on the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly ...

. Her sole win on the tour was a major championship, the

Women's British Open The Women's Open (originally known as the Women's British Open, and still widely referred to by that name outside the UK) is a major championship in women's professional golf. It is recognised by both the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tou ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

College career

Martin played college golf all four years at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, walking-on as a freshman. She was the Bruins' Most Valuable Player in 2002, earned UCLA academic honors, and was also a three-time

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

Academic Honorable Mention selection. She graduated in 2005 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in psychology.

Professional career

Martin turned professional in 2005, and joined the

Futures Tour The Epson Tour, previously known as the LPGA Futures Tour, and known for sponsorship reasons between 2006 and 2010 as the Duramed Futures Tour and between 2012 and 2021 as the Symetra Tour, is the official developmental golf tour of the LPGA Tour ...

on January 23,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. She played in the 2007 U.S. Women's Open and missed the cut. Martin was the 2010 recipient of the Futures Tour's Heather Wilbur Spirit Award, presented annually to the player who "best exemplifies dedication, courage, perseverance, love of the game and spirit toward achieving goals as a professional golfer." The annual recipient is nominated by her peers on the tour. In 2011, with 11 top-10 finishes and 1 victory, she earned full playing privileges on the

for the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

season. Martin won the

, her first major championship and also her first LPGA Tour title. She led after 36 holes, but a 77 (+5) on Saturday dropped her three strokes back. An

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

at the final hole on Sunday gave her the victory, one stroke ahead of runners-up

Shanshan Feng Shanshan Feng (, ; born 5 August 1989) is a Chinese former professional golfer who previously played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She was the first player from China to become a member of the LPGA Tour, which she joined in 2008. Feng had 10 vic ...

and

Suzann Pettersen Suzann Pettersen (born 7 April 1981) is a retired Norwegian professional golfer. She played mainly on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour, and was also a member of the Ladies European Tour. Her career-best world ranking was second and she held that positio ...

. It was Martin's first eagle of the

season and the win moved her from 99 to 26 in the women's world rankings. Her previous best finish in a major was a tie for 29th at the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Personal

Born in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

, Martin attended Chandler School. Her father, Allen Martin, was a defense attorney and taught her to play golf as a child, using

Ben Hogan William Ben Hogan (August 13, 1912 – July 25, 1997) was an American professional golfer who is generally considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is notable for his profound influence on golf swing theory, hi ...

's ''Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf''. Allen died of a heart attack when Mo was in college at age 20, and she then established a relationship with her paternal grandfather, Lincoln Martin, who was over 90 years old. Before Allen's death, Mo and Lincoln had minimal interaction, due to a strained father-son relationship. During her early years as a professional on the Futures Tour, Lincoln was her chief supporter and mentor. He died in March 2014 at age 102, about four months before she won her major title in England. Her nickname "Mo" was given to her by her father, in reference to the '' U.S.S. Missouri'', a famous

battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

that served the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

into the 1990s. She currently resides in

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,115, down from 19,539 at the 2010 census. Naples is a principal city of the Collier County, Florida, Naples–Marc ...

Professional wins (4)

LPGA Tour wins (1)

Futures Tour wins (3)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

''Results not in chronological order before 2019.'' ^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013 CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (three times) *Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (three times)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Mo American female golfers UCLA Bruins women's golfers LPGA Tour golfers Winners of LPGA major golf championships Golfers from Pasadena, California 1982 births Living people