England's Kelly Tidy picked for Junior Ryder Cup team
England’s Kelly Tidy has been selected for Europe’s Junior Ryder Cup team for the two-day match against the USA in Kentucky in September
The 16-year-old England girl international from Lancashire won a captain s pick after she finished fifth in the European Young Masters at Chantilly, France.
The top four girls were automatically selected for the team and Kelly faced an anxious wait before team captain Gary Stengl announced his wild-card selections.
"I was biting my fingernails!" said Kelly, who plays at Royal Birkdale. "It s just great to be selected - a real opportunity.
"I missed out on a place in last year s junior Solheim Cup by one point so I was very determined. I felt I played well but I left some shots out there. In the third round I was three-under through 15 and then made a triple bogey; in the last round I had a double. If I had parred those holes I would have got in the team without a pick."
Kelly made a quiet start to the season while she concentrated on her GCSEs. Now, with her exams behind her, she s firmly focussed on her golf.
She s already helped England to win a silver medal in the European girls team championship, next she s playing in the Girls International Matches and the British girls championship - and then the Junior Ryder Cup.
The two-day match will be played at The Club at Olde Stone Golf Club, Bowling Green, Kentucky on September 15 and 16. The following day, the teams will play a nine-hole exhibition match over the Valhalla course, Kentucky, where the Ryder Cup will be played later in the week.
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The European team will also include England s Chris Lloyd, who finished fifth in the boys section at the European Young Masters and also received a captain s pick.
The England team, of two girls and two boys, was fourth in the Nations Cup in the European Young Masters. The side also included Alex Peters (Notts Ladies ) and Oscar Sharpe.
Leading girls results:
Par 219 (3 x 73)
214 Lisa Maguire (Ire) 74 71 69.
218 Leona Maguire (Ire) 78 70 70,
Anna Arrese (Spa) 73 72 73.
219 Carly Booth (Sco) 72 72 75.
223 Kelly Tidy (Eng) 77 74 72,
Laetitia Beck (Isr) 74 72 77,
Jessica Korda (Cze) 77 78 79
The European Junior Ryder Cup team is:
Lisa Maguire (Ireland)
Leona Maguire (Ireland)
Anna Arrese (Spain)
Carly Booth (Scotland)
Stanislas Gautier (France)
Julien Brun (France)
Moritz Lampert (Germany)
Adrian Oategui (Spain)
Captain Picks:
Kelly Tidy (England)
Daisy Nielsen (Swede)
Chris Lloyd (England)
Matteo Manassero (Italy)
For more information visit www.englishwomensgolf.org.