Earned exemption to compete in this week’s LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup
DETROIT and CLIFTON, N.J. – Ashley Shaw, a 15-year-old amateur golfer from Litchfield Park, Arizona, will make her LPGA Tour debut later this week after winning THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup on Monday, May 6, and earning an exemption.
Shaw will tee it up alongside the world’s best female golfers in the LPGA Tour’s Cognizant Founders Cup at Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, N.J. starting Thursday, May 9, after shooting 1-over par 73 on the same course Monday to earn a two-stroke victory in the SHIPPEN event.
THE JOHN SHIPPEN National Invitational is a series of competitions created to provide playing opportunities on the LPGA Tour and PGA TOUR for the nation’s top Black amateur and professional women and men golfers. The series includes THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup, THE JOHN SHIPPEN Women’s Invitational and THE JOHN SHIPPEN Men’s Invitational.
The events are named after John Shippen Jr., who was both the first American-born golf professional and the country’s first Black golf professional.
“I’m extremely grateful for this opportunity that THE JOHN SHIPPEN, Intersport and Sommer Woods has given me to play in this event,” Shaw said. “To have the opportunity to play in an LPGA event is amazing. To be just 15 and to be able to have that experience of playing in a tournament with professionals at such a young age … I’m extremely grateful.”
Shaw’s mother, Slyvia, is serving as her caddie this week and said she was thrilled to have a front-row seat as her daughter achieved one of her dreams.
“I’m blessed,” she said. “I’m excited and am a very proud mom. Ashley works very hard, and to see her experience the hard work coming to fruition is remarkable.”
Shaw came out on top of an elite eight-player field in which she was the only amateur by playing her best golf on the back nine. After a bogey on the eighth hole and a double on the ninth left her three over par at the turn, she birdied the 10th and 11th holes, then parred her way in while the players chasing her failed to make ground.
Atlanta native Mariah Stackhouse and Manchester, England native Georgia Oboh tied for second, shooting 75, and Royal Palm Beach, Florida native Janelle Johnson (77) was fourth. Defending champion Paige Crawford (78) finished fifth.
For the first time since its debut in 2021, THE JOHN SHIPPEN National Invitational features prize purses for all three of its events this season. A total purse of $60,000 will be distributed across three events: THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup, THE JOHN SHIPPEN Women’s Invitational and THE JOHN SHIPPEN Men’s Invitational.
Because Shaw is an amateur, she is not eligible for the purse. Stackhouse and Oboh split the first- and second-place awards to take home $7,250 each. Johnson will take home the third-place award of $1,500.
Since the events began in 2021, THE JOHN SHIPPEN has covered travel costs for participating players to help minimize financial barriers Intersport, a leading Chicago-based sports marketing and media agency, partnered with Woods & Watts Effect in 2021 to create THE JOHN SHIPPEN – a series of competitions created to provide playing opportunities on the LPGA Tour and PGA TOUR for the nation’s top Black women and men golfers.
THE JOHN SHIPPEN Sports Business Summit will also be held for the fourth year to create awareness about employment opportunities within the business of sports. THE JOHN SHIPPEN was created to identify historical barriers, expand Black representation in golf, and address the lack of Black representation in business and leadership roles within the golf and larger sports industry for people of color.
Since 2021, 90 of the nation’s best Black men and women golfers have competed in THE JOHN SHIPPEN. THE JOHN SHIPPEN has awarded sixteen playing opportunities on the PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour and donated $340,000 to local charities, scholarships and fellowships. SHIPPEN alumni continue to see success beyond the National Invitational through player-earned memberships on the PGA TOUR Champions, PGA TOUR Americas and Ladies European Tours.
Following THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup, the 36-hole women’s competition in THE JOHN SHIPPEN National Invitational will be held June 4–5 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the 36-hole men’s tournament will be June 22-23 at Detroit Golf Club.
For updated information on THE JOHN SHIPPEN, please visit www.TheJohnShippen.com
