Young Australian tour pro Cassie Porter is set to launch onto the world stage for her LPGA debut in 2025. The 22-year-old talks about her journey to this point, the struggles to date and how far she still has to go to reach the top.
Golf is a gruelling game, especially for young professionals on a development tour for the big league. Week after week since her rookie year in 2023, Cassie Porter has turned up on the Epson Tour in the United States with unwavering determination but joyful to be doing what she loves. She admits her first season on the circuit was a struggle, bringing huge changes by being away from home. Going into 2024 knowing what was to come, she had all the tools needed to dial in her best golf and be crowned one of the 15 graduates securing a spot on the LPGA Tour.
Pegged for the big leagues at a young age, the Sunshine Coast-based Queenslander turned pro at 18 in 2021. This season was her biggest yet on the ”road to the LPGA”. In June, she won the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship along with three more top-10 finishes, culminating in a remarkable 10th-place ranking on tour.
Riding the wave of triumph and heartbreaks, Porter explains the moment her world shattered after being told she had reached her goal.
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Australian Golf Digest Women: When was the moment you got the official word that you’d made it onto the LPGA Tour?
Cassie Porter: Oh my gosh, it’s a whole story. So, three weeks before I was on the verge of securing my card, I was just top 15, but it was pretty big to secure a card before the end of the season. I got a call from our Epson Tour commissioner Jody Brothers and him calling me was really strange. I thought, Do I pick up? I’m pretty sure it’s a pocket call, because why would Jody be calling me? I picked up and he’s on FaceTime and he says, “Hey Cass, how are you?” And he says, “Oh, I just called to let you know that you’ve secured your [LPGA Tour] card.” He was crying and was so happy. It was the best moment ever.
Anyway, it turns out the maths people got it wrong, so he called me back the next day and said, “Cass, I’m really sorry, we made a mistake. You haven’t secured your card.”
It wasn’t going to change how I looked at the next few weeks, but obviously it was not awesome.
So when my sister, Ash, said to me, “I think you’re in,” I didn’t get excited because I’d been through that three weeks beforehand and I didn’t want to go through that again.
Then the Epson staff came up to me and said, “Our first team has confirmed that you’re No.10 but we’re just waiting for a second team.” So I still didn’t really get excited; I was just waiting for someone to pinch me and say it’s not real. They came back and said, “We’re confirmed. You’re No.10.”
It changed my whole year. It was unbelievable, really, that feeling. I can’t explain it. My dad was sobbing, I was sobbing. I didn’t really let it sink in until I was on the stage and they were presenting it to me, but I still had this feeling that they’re going to call me and tell me it’s not real. I was like, This is really cool, I’m so happy, but don’t you dare take it off me.
It was really cool to have my dad there when I got the news. He’s so involved but hasn’t been able to come out all year, so having him there to experience that with me and ride that wave with me was a special moment. I don’t think I’ll forget that for a very long time.
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When did you realise turning pro was a realistic and attainable goal?
I really don’t think that was a definitive moment. I’ve always been really competitive. My dad is a tennis professional and I think we were playing competitive tennis by the time I could hold a tennis racquet. I’ve always been really competitive and I’ve never done things in halves. Whatever I do, I want to be good at, I want to be the best at it. Spending more time on the golf course and getting better, I think that really drove me to constantly reach the next level.
Coming from a competitive sporting background and being competitive is kind of a must. You don’t survive in a sporting family if you’re not.
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What was the biggest challenge you faced this past season and how did you overcome it?
What we do is so mentally taxing because it’s so volatile. I made it into a top-10 spot by two points. That’s like half a shot over the whole season. That’s mentally hard to get over when you’re not yet at the finish line, because you know that it’s going to be close, and you want to really force it, but you just can’t. The last half of the season after I won, I really found it quite difficult because of that little voice saying, You’re slipping, you’re letting it slip. You’re not performing as well as you need to. That little voice is like, You’re not ready for the LPGA. And those thoughts happen, because it’s so volatile out there.
I really did lean on my team in the second half of the season and I was really struggling, but we got through it and I’m really happy we did. Mental toughness is such a crucial part to golf. It’s what is so incredibly unique about it.
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How do you stay focused in those high-pressure moments and manage your nerves?
It’s really funny, this whole situation. When I’m off the course, it’s much harder to deal with it than when I’m on the course. I’m mostly in complete control when I’m on the golf course and it’s totally fine. I understand that all I can do is do my best and commit to everything I’m trying to do. But off the course, that’s the hardest thing because you overthink.
I see a sports psych, and he’s helped me a lot. Just being able to sit with it and be like, Hey, it’s totally normal to feel all these things. It’s just part of the job; you just have to learn to sit with it.
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How will you transition to the step up to the LPGA Tour?
It’s a good question. I think obviously it’s just going to be different. The prize purses are different, the situation is different. You’re no longer playing for $US200,000 a week. I know the situation and the environment’s going to be different because people are going to be turning up and playing for a substantial amount of cash, so players are going to take it a lot more seriously. I feel like it’s not going to be as open and a family environment, but it is what you make it.
I’m really excited with the team I’ve put together and being able to lean on them and face all the challenges.
It’s going to be different, so I’m not expecting too much. I’m just going to go and do my best because that’s all you can do. It’s a promotion. It’s like a new job or role – I’m not really sure what I’m doing.
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Who are the LPGA players you’re going to be leaning on and seeking advice from?
We have a really good network of Aussies out there. We’ve got Hannah Green, Minjee Lee, Grace Kim, Stephanie Kyriacou and Gabriela Ruffels. There’s so many Aussies out there and most of the physios out there are Australian. Golf Australia also has a really good network of people who can help us and we’re able to lean on them, especially in terms of visas, travel insurance – just all those little things that you forget. They’ve been a really big thing that’s really helped me the past two years overseas.
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Which courses or events are you most excited to play next year?
All of them, literally all of them. I’ve seen some of these courses on TV and have only seen them on TV. I’ve been to one LPGA event in person and it’s just so exciting – the atmosphere, the players just have an aura around them. You can see the kids that go and watch them are just so in awe of what we do. I love the platform that we get to be on to give that goal and that feeling of wanting to aspire to be the best they can be. I think that’s more something that I’m excited about.
We get to travel to some amazing locations. The Evian Championship is probably the one I’m most excited about, being able to play in France. It just looks gorgeous. It’s really cool being able to travel outside the US. That’s a big thing.
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Who are you most excited to see and play alongside on tour in 2025?
We see all these girls play on TV. I’ve only ever seen Nelly Korda play on TV, and Lilia Vu. She’s amazing too. I predict in my first week it’s just going to be me ‘fangirling’ the whole time because you’ve seen all these girls play on TV for years and you think, That would be really cool to be there one day. But January is the month that is going to happen. It’s hard because you want to go and speak to them, but also, we’re all on the same level now.
It’ll be nice to create some friendships out there and talk to some of the girls that have been doing it for ages and see how they do it.
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Do you have any goals for your rookie LPGA season?
I think it’s good to have goals. By the end of next year, I want to be top-80. That’s a realistic goal. Obviously, I want to be top-50 by the end of next year, but top-80 will get me to where I need. The top 100 keep their LPGA card and get a full card for the next season. So I’ve pushed that goal a little further to be top-80.
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What else are you excited about?
I’m really excited for the Australian Open this year. It’s going to be a cracker. Obviously, you want your name on that trophy. A national Open, I think that’s the biggest honour you can have as an athlete. My goal is just to do my best, go out and have fun.
After acquiring an LPGA card, you can look at it in a sense of now I’ve got a lot of pressure on myself to play well in Australia, in my home country. But I’m excited to be playing on some home turf; I haven’t done it in a while. I’m happy to be home. I love playing in Australia, it’s the best ever. I’ve told everyone on the Epson Tour to “come and play in Australia – you won’t regret it”. I’m Australia’s biggest advocate overseas.
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What is your favourite course to play at home?
The Australian Golf Club, by far. Having the Australian Open there last year was unbelievable. It was a dream. I would love to be able to play there more often.
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What are your quirky habits before you tee off?
Oh my gosh, so many. I’m so superstitious. Being on time is a really big thing for me, like, to the minute. If nobody’s in the car the minute I’m leaving, I’m still leaving. You can get an Uber to the course.
I can be pretty flexible, but little things… like, if I lose my marker, it’s the end of the world. I’ve been using this marker for years. My sister got it for me – it’s a $2 Olympic coin from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. I’ve been using that forever and if that goes missing, I’ll tell you what, the world’s going to turn upside down to find that thing.
I can’t have dirty hair. I have to wash my hair the night before I tee off. The second round, it can be greasy with sunscreen or whatever, I don’t care. But for the first round, it has to feel fresh.
I don’t do this anymore – I probably should get back into it, but playing in summer is hard – but we used to do a thing “all black for the comeback”, so I’d always wear all black on Sunday.
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What has been the highlight during your career to date?
It’s really easy to say my win at the FireKeepers or acquiring my LPGA card. Looking back on them, they are really great moments. And yes, they’re huge highlights, but it’s the little things.
My sister came and travelled with me for a couple of weeks on the Epson Tour and the first week she was there, we went to a place that no one likes. I’m really sorry Garden City, but we went to Garden City, Kansas. It’s terrible. The course is nice, but it’s five hours from any other civilisation. You’re staying in a little motel, but having my sister there that week was so good. I played and then in the afternoon we read our books. It was really wholesome because no one wanted to be there, but it was really nice being together.
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What does your preparation look like now ahead of the LPGA Tour next year?
I’ll go back to the Sunshine Coast, spend a bit of time with my coach, Dan Morrison, and get in the gym and get strong for next year. It’s going to be pretty hectic, but I’m loving it. I have the whole of December, pretty much, before Christmas in Melbourne playing some events.
But I’ve got my dream job now, so it’s not a chore to go and work for it. I’m excited.
