The Blue Devils already have plenty of firepower on their roster with the No. 1 amateur player in the world, the reigning individual NCAA champion and several other heralded international golfers.
But head coach Dan Brooks' embarrassment of riches will only grow in 2017-18.
The six-time national champion officially announced Monday that Hannah O'Sullivan, the No. 2 amateur player in the world behind Duke junior Leona Maguire, will join the Blue Devils next fall and have three years of eligibility. One of the sport's top young players, O'Sullivan won the 2015 U.S. Women's Amateur, in addition to the LPGA Symetra Tour Gateway Classic in 2015.
She will only have three years of eligibility because she previously signed a letter of intent to play at Southern California before decommitting.
“Hannah really appreciates and wants the team experience,” Brooks said in a release. “She knows how special it can be. She will bring great energy to our team, along with her very impressive golf skills, dedication, and experience. She also has strong interest in academics. It will be fun to see her grow in all parts of her life.”
No. 8 Duke is fresh off its 20th ACC championship and after contending for a national title next month will be one of the favorites again in 2017-18 with Maguire, O'Sullivan and NCAA individual champion Virginia Elena Carta—the No. 13 amateur in the world—in its starting lineup. Carta will be a junior next year.
O'Sullivan has been one of the sport's prodigious talents for several years and like Maguire had been going through LPGA Tour Qualifying School last fall in a bid to turn professional. However, as was the case with the Blue Devils' National Player of the Year, O'Sullivan elected to pull out of Q-School and give college a shot.
In a sport that has seen several teenagers rise to the top in the professional ranks, Maguire and O'Sullivan will be at Duke honing their skills while getting an education instead of playing full-time professionally.
“There’s so many people out on tour right now who are obviously doing super well at 17 or 18 years old,” O’Sullivan told The New York Times in a recent profile. “But I realized for me a college experience is really important, and I didn’t really see the reason to push past that.”
The 18-year old made history as the youngest winner of the California Junior Girls state championship when she was 12 and advanced to the match-play portion of the U.S. Women's Amateur that same year as the tournament's youngest participant. O'Sullivan first qualified for the U.S. Women's Open at age 14 in 2012 and also made appearances at the event in 2015 and 2016.
After informally committing to Southern California when she was 15 —O'Sullivan went on to sign a national letter of intent to join the Trojans in 2015—she made headlines for her performance at the LPGA Symetra Tour event in her home state. The Symetra Tour is a level below the LPGA Tour.
At the event in February 2015, O'Sullivan blitzed the field, winning by four strokes to become the youngest winner ever on the tour and breaking the tournament's scoring record by three shots. After making the semifinals at the U.S. Women's Amateur the year prior, the 2015 Rolex Junior Player of the Year finished the job that year by winning the title.
She has already played in 11 LPGA events, including last year's U.S. Women's Open and Women's British Open. Per The New York Times story, O'Sullivan decommitted from Southern California in April 2016 before telling Golfweek Dec. 31, 2016, that she had settled on Duke.
"All aspects of Duke, from the people—coaches, team members, administrators, and student body—to the elite academics, golf program excellence, location, traditions and values made Duke the perfect fit for me as a student-athlete and overall person,” she said at the time.
With the Blue Devils also adding heralded recruits Jaravee Boonchant and Miranda Wang and only expected to lose senior Sandy Choi, Duke should have one of the best teams in program history next season with Maguire and O'Sullivan leading the way.
“I realized I have these two passions—learning and golf,” O'Sullivan told The New York Times. “Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always had a really good balance between academics and golf, and I didn’t want to miss the amazing opportunity to be able to play college golf and sit in a classroom with people that they all have something that they’re great at.”
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