The earliest golfing memories that I have are of the Italian Open when I was about six years of age. Watching that event is how I really got started in the game.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I started playing golf when I was a kid, because across the street from where we lived there was a little nine-hole golf course where my father worked.
I started with golf because I saw my brothers play, I was always watching them. It was my life. Growing up, we always played competitions like chipping, hitting.
My father was a very good golfer and he got me started early. My grandfather played, too. It was just something that the Kroft family did. I kind of grew up on the golf course.
I didn't really get into golf until I was about 14. My mom and dad were taking lessons from a pro an hour and a half from our farm in Cohuna, Australia. When they got home, I'd ask my mom to explain everything they learned - drills and all.
Well my dad was a pretty good player at one stage and my two older brothers played golf as well. So there were always golf clubs flying around the house.
Summer I was 13, my grandfather and my father taught me how to play golf. I took lessons that summer, and I played every day that summer. I probably would've kept playing, except I realized that girls don't watch golf; they watch tennis. So I let my golf game go dormant and started playing tennis.
The first time I played golf was in Flushing Meadows, Queens, when I was about 16 or 17. They had an 18-hole pitch-and-putt. My buddies and I would hop the fence and sneak on and play.
The very first tournament I watched is the U.S. Open when I was 13. And that was the year Juli Inkster won.
I played a lot of other sports at school and just one day the golf bug bit me and I started playing serious golf from when I was ten years old.
I started playing golf at about four years old.