England’s Melissa Reid has revealed that she is eyeing the 2011 Henderson Money List title this year and also hoping to tee up in Ireland as part of Europe’s Solheim Cup team.
The 23-year-old Derbyshire player leads the Ladies European Tour’s official ranking at present after a fast start to the season in Australasia. She finished second, 15th and fourth in the three tournaments she played in Melbourne, on the Australian Gold Coast and in Christchurch, New Zealand, respectively. However she admitted that its early days with 24 events still to be played on the Ladies European Tour schedule.
“I’m certainly not feeling complacent, but it’s a nice position in which to go into the main part of the season,” Reid said. “Before resuming play on the LET, I travel to Palm Springs for the Kraft Nabisco Championship, which I’m really excited about. I love playing against as strong a field as possible. I love to test myself against the best and having played well in strong fields in Australia I can’t wait to take them on again.”
Reid finished third on the 2010 Henderson Money List after claiming her maiden professional victory at the Turkish Airlines Ladies Open at National Golf Club in Belek, Antalya. She has improved on the LET rankings each season, from 12th, to seventh, to third, since being named the Ryder Cup Wales Rookie of the Year in 2008.
“My aim this year is to keep improving as a player. I want to put myself in a position to win as many tournaments as I can and therefore have a good chance at winning the Henderson Money List,” she said. “I also want to be a member of The Solheim Cup team which is something I’ve always wanted to be part of since I first picked up a club.”
Aside from the golf, Reid has been relaxing with her chocolate Labrador retriever puppy. “Away from the course I’ve been spending as much time as possible with Freddie (my dog) when I’m at home as I miss him so much when I’m away (and I think he misses me). He goes and stays with my Mum and Dad which is his second home really, but I make sure that when he's back at my house I treat him to a nice fillet steak or something just so he knows who his mum is.
“I really missed not skiing this winter and I definitely missed the buzz. That was part of the reason that I decided to do a sky-dive in Australia. It was an amazing experience; I nearly bottled it at the last minute but the guy pushed me out before I could argue and once I was down I wanted to go up and do it again. I tried to do it early in the week but it kept being put off by the weather, so I did it after the first round which didn’t go down to well with my family, coach or manager! Luckily none of them were there to stop me.”
Reid is currently in Dubai on holiday as well as for some practice thanks to her main sponsor, the Rotana Hotel group. She then travels to Abu Dhabi ahead of the first major championship of the season, the Kraft Nabisco Championship, which gets underway at Mission Hills Country Club in California from March 31-April 3.
