By Tony Webeck

Keperra Country Golf Club member Emily Mahar will make her professional debut with the backing of none other than seven-time major champion Karrie Webb.

Just days after Minjee Lee’s four-stroke victory at the US Women’s Open, Webb and Mahar will tee it up in New Jersey and North Carolina respectively but at vastly different stages of their careers.

Webb is playing in her second LPGA Tour event of the year at this week’s ShopRite LPGA Classic after making the cut in her return to competition at the Gainbridge LPGA in Florida in January.

A college star with Virginia Tech the past five years, Mahar has played in professional events previously but never with the prospect of cashing a cheque at week’s end.

She announced via Instagram on the weekend after finishing 63rd at the NCAA Women’s Golf National Championship that she would be making her debut as a professional at this week’s Carolina Golf Classic on the secondary Epson Tour, news that was well received by the Hall of Famer whose scholarship she won two years ago.

“Super excited to see what this next step brings for you!” Webb wrote on Mahar’s post, Mahar and Gabi Ruffels spending a week at Webb’s house in December 2020.

“All the best mate!”

Mahar concluded her college career by earning an All-American Honourable Mention by the Women's Golf Coaches Association, the first member of the Virginia Tech program to be awarded All-American honours.

Virginia Tech’s all-time career scoring average leader (73.25), it further cemented Mahar’s status as one of the college’s greatest players and the grounding by which she believes she can enter the pro ranks.

“Throughout my life, I have lived by one quote: ‘Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the number of moments that take your breath away’,” Mahar said.

“I am beyond grateful for the opportunities this game and school have given me and I am so proud to call myself a Hokie for life.

“The highs, lows, and everything in between have taught me so much that I will carry into my next chapter!”

A quarter-finalist at the 2021 US Women’s Amateur, Mahar played in the 2021 US Women’s Open and makes it eight Aussies in action on the Epson Tour this week.

World No.4 Cameron Smith headlines the Aussies teeing it up at the RBC Canadian Open on the PGA TOUR, Whitney Hillier, Scott Hend, Maverick Antcliff, Zach Murray and Jason Scrivener will contest the Scandinavian Mixed on the DP World Tour and seven Aussies will appear at the Japan Golf Tour’s ASO Iizuka Challenge. Round 1 tee times AEST

PGA TOUR RBC Canadian Open St George's G&CC, Toronto, Ontario 9.46pm* Cameron Percy, Jhonattan Vegas, Johnson Wagner 10.06pm Greg Chalmers, Henrik Norlander, Doug Ghim 10.17pm Danny Lee, Chris Kirk, Bo Van Pelt 2.22am* Mark Hensby, Ben Crane, John Huh 2.53am Cameron Smith, Sam Burns, Scottie Scheffler 4.21am Brett Drewitt, Austin Smotherman, Dean Burmester Defending champion: Rory McIlroy (2019) Past Aussie winners: Joe Kirkwood Snr (1933), Jim Ferrier (1950, 1951), Kel Nagle (1964), Greg Norman (1984, 1992), Nathan Green (2009), Jason Day (2015) Top Aussie prediction: Cameron Smith TV coverage: Live 5am-8am Friday, Saturday; Live 3am-8am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503 DP World Tour Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed Hosted by Henrik & Annika Halmstad GC, Tylösand, Sweden 5.05pm Scott Hend, Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez, Marianne Skarpnord 5.15pm Maverick Antcliff, Liz Young, Michele Thomson 7.55pm Zach Murray, Espen Kofstad, Rachael Goodall 8.35pm Jason Scrivener, Ana Pelaez, Lee-Anne Pace 10.20pm Whitney Hillier, Jack Senior, Nicole Garcia Defending champion: Jonathan Caldwell Past Aussie winners: Nil Top Aussie prediction: Jason Scrivener TV coverage: Live 9pm-2am Thursday, Friday; Live 9.30pm-2am Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503 Japan Golf Tour ASO Iizuka Challenge Asoi Iizuka Golf Club, Fukuoka 8.30am* Anthony Quayle, Song Young-han, Miraiya Akutsu 8.40am Matthew Griffin, Hiroyo Ikemura, Tomohiro Kondo 8.50am Dylan Perry, Ryutaro Nagano, Yoshitaka Takeya 8.50am* Brendan Jones, Ryo Kujo, Yusaku Miyazato 9am Michael Hendry, Katsumasa Miyamoto, Shota Akiyoshi 9.10am Adam Bland, Jay Choi, Kunihiro Uei 12.40pm Andrew Evans, Onishi Kaito, Hiroyuki Fujita 1pm* Brad Kennedy, Daihei Sato, Koumei Oda Defending champion: Inaugural event Past Aussie winners: Nil Top Aussie prediction: Anthony Quayle LPGA Tour ShopRite LPGA Classic Seaview (Bay Cse), Galloway, New Jersey Australasians in the field: Lydia Ko, Su Oh, Sarah Kemp, Katherine Kirk, Stephanie Kyriacou, Sarah Jane Smith, Karrie Webb, Karis Davidson Defending champion: Celine Boutier Past Aussie winners: Karrie Webb (2013) Top Aussie prediction: Katherine Kirk TV coverage: Live 2am-5am Saturday on Fox Sports 503; Live 4am-7am Sunday on Fox Sports 505; Live 2am-5am Monday on Fox Sports 506 Korn Ferry Tour BMW Charity Pro-Am Thornblade Club, Greer, South Carolina Thornblade Club 9.29pm Aaron Baddeley, Tom Lewis 9.51pm* Nick Voke, MJ Maguire 2.06am Curtis Luck, Kevin Chappell The Carolina CC 9.18pm Rhein Gibson, Alexandre Rocha 2.17am Harrison Endycott, Fabián Gómez 3.23am* Ryan Ruffels, Corey Shaun Defending champion: Mito Pereira (2020) Past Aussie winners: Nick Flanagan (2007, 2012), Michael Sim (2009), Rod Pampling (2015), Rhein Gibson (2019) Top Aussie prediction: Aaron Baddeley TV coverage: Live 2am-4am Friday; 11.30am-1pm Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503; 12pm Monday on Fox Sports + Challenge Tour Empordà Challenge Empordà Golf, Girona, Spain 9.50pm* Dimitrios Papadatos, Adam Blomme, Jérôme Lando Casanova 10pm* Jarryd Felton, Aron Zemmer, Jordan Wrisdale 10.20pm Daniel Hillier, Javier Sainz, Oliver Hundeboll 11.30pm Deyen Lawson, Jonathan Thomson, David Borda Defending champion: Julien Brun Past Aussie winners: Nil Top Aussie prediction: Deyen Lawson Epson Tour Carolina Golf Classic Kinston Country Club, Kinston, North Carolina 9.30pm Soo Jin Lee, Selena Costabile, Lucia Polo 10.14pm* Hira Naveed, Becca Huffer, Maddi Caldwell-Young 10.58pm Stephanie Na, Siyun Liu, Moeka Nishihata 3.04am Gabriela Ruffels, Daniela Iacobelli, Gabriella Then 3.04am* Grace Kim, Daniela Darquea, Samantha Wagner 3.15am* Robyn Choi, Katelyn Sisk, Karen Chung 3.37am* Amelia Garvey, Yan Liu, Sofia Garcia 3.48am* Emily Mahar, Alyaa Abdulghany, Binny Lee 3.59am* Julienne Soo, Sarah White, Megan Osland Defending champion: Sophia Schubert Past Aussie winners: Nil Top Aussie prediction: Grace Kim PGA TOUR Latinoamerica Fortox Colombia Classic Ruitoque Golf Country Club, Bucaramanga, Colombia 9.25pm Louis Dobbelaar, Rafael Echenique, Ryan Cole 10.05pm Tim Stewart, Alejandro Tosti, Josh Goldenberg 2.45am Charlie Hillier, Kevin Velo, Brendon Doyle Defending champion: Samuel Stevens (2020) Past Aussie winners: Nil Top Aussie prediction: Tim Stewart Champions Tour American Family Insurance Championship University Ridge GC, Madison, Wisconsin Defending champion: Jerry Kelly (2020) Past Aussie winners: Nil Top Aussie prediction: Stuart Appleby TV coverage: 9am-10.30am Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503; 2pm Monday on Fox Sports