MALAYSIA’S rising young star Natasha Andrea Oon attributes her recent run of impressive performances on the Epson Tour to a growing acclimatisation to life as a professional golfer.
The 21-year-old has chalked up three top-10 finishes in four starts this year, coming close to winning her first pro title in the last two events with consecutive runner-up finishes. In her most recent tournament, the Casino Del Sol Golf Classic in early April, Oon shot a superb closing 66 to finish one shot behind winner Gigi Stoll of the United States.
“I think it’s just getting used to things; you don’t really know professional life until you’re out there.
I’ve been trying to prioritize having a routine, because everything’s always changing – the environments, the people around you, everything is changing, so something must be stable,” said Oon, who turned professional in June last year after a standout collegiate golf career with San Jose State University.
“I think what’s going well for me is just being able to learn. And honestly, those good results have just been a product of every experience I’ve ever had with golf.
It’s just been a great learning experience out there,” she added.
The Epson Tour is the official qualifying circuit for the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour.
Oon’s fine form and strong results have vaulted her up to second place on the tour’s Race For The Card season rankings with US$46,077 in prizemoney, giving her a solid start in her quest to end the year as one of the 10 players to earn LPGA cards for 2024.
Since the start of the year, Oon has climbed more than 400 rungs up the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings into 407th position in the latest standings.
Current Malaysian number one Kelly Tan is in 236th spot.
However, Oon stressed that her main aim this year is to get fully in sync with life on tour.
“For me, it’s just a product of everything, just learning and working hard.
And if it doesn’t happen, I’m going to be fine. As I’ve always said, my goal this year is to just get it down, get the professional life down, and how I manage myself out there.
“If I feel like I’ve been fully committed and done a good job of handling myself out there, then that’s all I’ve ever wanted,” she shared.
While her college golf schedule was hectic, Oon noted that there is much more stress playing as a professional. Her next tournament is the Epson Tour’s US$230,000 Copper Rock Championship in Hurricane, Utah, which starts on Thursday.