Florida Teen Golfing Sensation "Still Hangs A Clay Aiken Poster"

Boca Raton, FL's new teenage golf sensation, Morgan Pressel admits to the Boca Raton Sun-Sentinel that she adores our man, Clay.

Boca Raton's Morgan Pressel juggles dual roles -- pro golfer and high school senior
Boca's Morgan Pressel may be a pro golfer, but she's still a teen

By Dave Hyde
Posted November 27 2005

Don't forget that she's still 17. Still puts a stuffed dog on her bed. Still hangs a Clay Aiken poster on her door. Still plays Bubble Trouble on the computer, writes vocabulary cards for her high school anatomy class and has an older boyfriend just starting college.

When Morgan Pressel drives a black Navigator through her gated Boca Raton community with the music cranked high, bouncing her head to the beat and singing along to the rap of Will Smith -- "Everybody get down, put your hands up to the ceiling" -- please don't forget that she still drives on a temporary learner's permit.

Or that her grandfather still backs the car, his car, out of the garage for fear she'll scrape it.

And that he still reaches over from the passenger seat, turns down the radio and says what grandfathers everywhere do: "It's too loud."

"Not for me, Papa," Pressel says, turning it back thump-thumping high with the steering-wheel control.

"Turn it down so you can hear my instructions," says Herb Krickstein, 71, turning it down himself again. "And slow down."

Don't forget all this, because there are two Morgan Pressels bursting on the sports world these days. There is the one that has accomplished so much, so early, and captivated the golf world so thoroughly by winning the U.S. Amateur tournament, finishing second in the U.S. Open and oozing the precious metal of possibility.

Tournaments want her name. Corporations weigh her endorsement value. One sports agent who lost the battle to represent her said that with her smooth swing, fighter's personality and blond-haired, fresh-faced, All-American look she could be -- wait, people don't use could-be qualifiers around this Morgan Pressel -- "should be the next Chris Evert."

Then there is the other Morgan Pressel. The one still 17. Still behind in her philosophy class reading. Still carrying two iPods with the musical likes of Bowling for Soup, Shakira and Rob Thomas on them. This is the one still doing cartwheels in her living room, attending her high school homecoming dance and receiving gently delivered driving tips from her grandfather.

"Now pay attention when you turn into this parking lot," he says. "This is where a lot of accidents occur."

"I'm being careful," she says.

Please don't forget this other Morgan Pressel, because while everyone recognizes her prodigious talent as a golfer, only a few understand the teenage trials she has weathered. Like the mother she lost. And the father she left. And how she often ends a day of golf in tears, unable to stop them, no matter how the day went or who's there to see.

"Morgan, you've got to pull up more into the parking spot," her grandfather says, after she stops the car and starts to get out. "You're sticking out into the middle of the street."

"Oh, Papa, I am," she says, looking out, smiling at her mistake. "I'm still learning the depth of this car."

Yes, she's still learning, which is a good place to begin.