In some ways, Cheyenne Woods is no different than most other young

In some ways, Cheyenne Woods is no different than most other young female golfers in their early 20s, working hard to make it on the LPGA Tour and trying to earn as many sponsors’ exemptions into tour events as she can.

For this 22-year-old, however, her family name makes a world of difference.

Woods is a niece of Tiger Woods, the world’s most recognizable golfer and arguably the greatest ever to play the game. Though Cheyenne enjoyed a solid collegiate career and already has a professional victory to her credit, she has found herself constantly in the shadow of her famous uncle.

Not that she minds it — the junior Woods said she sees her family connection with Tiger “as a blessing.”

“It’s opened a lot of opportunities for me,” Cheyenne said Sunday after completing the LPGA KEB-HanaBank Championship in Incheon, west of Seoul. It is the only LPGA Tour event in South Korea each fall, and Woods played here on a sponsor’s exemption.

“He’s a great person to look up to,” she added. “Having the last name kind of draws the attention to me a lot of the time, so there’s added pressure. But for the most part, I would say it’s a good thing, and it’s done a lot of good for me.”

Cheyenne Woods played in South Korea for the first time. The Wake Forest graduate, who won the 2011 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championship as a junior, turned professional in June this year. She played in two of the four LPGA majors in 2012, earning a sponsor’s exemption for the Wegmans LPGA Championship and qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Open.

She missed cuts in both events but got her first professional win in August. She claimed a 54-hole event on a minor tour called the SunCoast Ladies Series, prompting her famous uncle to tweet: “Congrats to my niece Cheyenne on winning her first professional event. Won by 4. Very proud.”

Her first trip to Korea, however, gave her little cause for celebration. Woods shot seven-over for the three-round event, going 73-75-75 on the par-72 Ocean Course at the Sky72 Golf Club to end in 60th place in the field of 68.

“It’s my first time to Korea, and it’s been awesome,” Woods said. “I’ve really enjoyed it, trying all of the food and meeting everybody out here. The course is beautiful, and it’s a really fun course to play.”

After the Korean stop, it’s back to the grind for Woods. She was knocked out of the first round at the LPGA Tour qualifying tournament, better known as Q-School, last month, and will only have limited opportunities to play on the biggest women’s tour in 2013. She said she will enter the qualifying tournament for the Ladies European Tour (LET) in December.

Along the way, she can always rely on Tiger for help.

“He has always been so supportive of my career,” Cheyenne said. “He’s always there if I have questions or if I need advice.”
And the best advice from Tiger?

“I guess it would be just to trust my abilities and have confidence in myself,” the niece said. (Yonhap)