Ashleigh Buhai

Also known as Ashleigh Ann Simon, she started playing golf at around age 6 and credits her dad for introducing her to the sport.
When she's not playing golf, she enjoys playing all sports, listening to music, spending time with family and friends, and trying to play her guitar. She says the top items on her bucket list would be: going to the Masters, watching a cricket game at Lords Cricket Ground, and going to the Rugby World Cup.
Enjoyed a well-decorated amateur career, winning four professional events as an amateur. She won the 2004 South African Open at age 14 and won the 2005 Pam Golding Classic and Nedbank Masters in 2006 on the Ladies African Tour. Before turning professional in 2007, she won the South African Open for the second time. She is a four-time South African Amateur Stroke Play champion (2004-07) and a three-time South African Amateur Match Play champion (2004, 2006-07). Simon competed in the 2006 Rolex Tournament of Champions and on the gold-medal winning team at the 2006 Women's World Amateur Team Championship. She also partnered with Laurette Maritz three times to represent South Africa in the Women's World Cup of Golf, an unofficial event on the LPGA Tour (2005-07). Qualified for the Tour on her first attempt.
She turned professional a day after turning 18 and made her debut playing on an invitation in the 2007 Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open, where she missed the cut. Playing on invitations, she then finished T-20th in the Northern Ireland Ladies Open, T-28th in the KLM Ladies Open in Holland, and was victorious in the Catalonia Ladies Masters, a limited-field event for the top-40 players on the LET. She became the second-youngest winner on the LET after Amy Yang and the youngest-ever professional winner at age 18 years, 37 days. As a result of her win, she became a Category 3 member (tournament winner) of the LET on July 9. She then played in the Evian Masters, Scandinavian TPC, Wales Ladies Championship of Europe, and Dubai Ladies Masters. However, because she joined the Tour mid-season, her winnings before her becoming a member were not reflected on the New Star Money List, and she did not appear on the Rookie of the Year table until 2008.
2010 Notes: Played in 18 events with a season-best 3rd place in the Unicredit Ladies German Open and T-3rd in the ABN AMRO Ladies Open. Finished 14th on the Henderson Money List with season earnings of Euro 103,759.10.
2011 Notes: Played in 20 events and recorded her second career win in the Portugal Ladies Masters at Campo Real. She also recorded five top-10 finishes, including T-3rd in Sanya Ladies Open in China, T-5th in the Ladies Scottish Open, joint 6th in the Ladies Irish Open, T-7th in the Lalla Meryem Cup, and T-9th in Raiffeisenbank Prague Masters.
2012 Notes: Played in 18 events and made the cut in 12. Posted four top-10 finishes: a T-3rd in the ISPS Handa Ladies British Masters, a T-6th in both Slovakia and South Africa, and a T-9th in Tenerife. Finished 38th on the Order of Merit rankings.
2013 Notes: Played in nine LET events and recorded four top-10 finishes, with her best a T-2nd in the ISPA Handa Ladies European Masters, where she fired a career-low 63 in the opening round. Also, T-2nd in the South African Women's Open.
2014 Notes: Joined the LPGA Tour and made the cut in nine of 18 events, with the best finish of T-15th in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic. Played in eight LET tournaments, with the best finish of T-8th in the Sanya Ladies Open.
2015 Notes: Made the cut in eight of 17 starts on the LPGA Tour, with the best finish of T-42nd in the ShopRite LPGA Classic, finishing 117th on the money list. Fared better on the LET, where she entered seven events, finished second at the Helsingborg Open, and was 29th on the Order of Merit.
2016 Notes: After suffering dizzy spells in 2015, had small plastic tubes inserted into her eardrums to ease vertigo. Those problems spilled over to 2016, where in 16 LPGA starts, she made eight cuts. Her best finish was T-22nd in the ShopRite LPGA Classic. She finished 107th on the money list with $73,210. She played in 10 events on the LET and had two top-20 finishes: T-5th in the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters and T-18th in the RACV Ladies Masters. She finished 40th on the Order of Merit with euro 38,800. In Dec. 2016, she married David Buhai, who has served as her caddie. They got engaged in Dec. 2015 after playing in the Dubai Ladies Masters. Simon made double-bogey on her last hole and was met on the green by Buhai, who dropped to one knee and proposed. Did play in the Olympics for South Africa, finishing 50th.
2017 Notes: Played in South Africa on the Ladies Sunshine Tour, and in eight events, she won twice - Cape Town Ladies Open and Sun International Ladies Challenge. On the tour's biggest event, the South African Women's Open, she placed 2nd, 7 shots back of winner Lee Anne Pace. Also finished runner-up in the South African Women's Masters and Ladies Tshwane Open. On the LPGA Tour, she played in 21 events making 11 cuts, but she had 3 top-five finishes. Her best was a T-2nd in the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic, then T-3rd at the BlueBay LPGA, and T-5th at the Indy Women In Tech Championship. She finished 42nd on the LPGA Tour money list.
2018 Notes: Won the South African Women's Open on the LET, beating Karolin Lampert by two shots. It was the 3rd time she won the tournament, but she won it as a professional the first time. She won as an amateur in 2004 and 2007 before it became a LET event. Played in 28 LPGA events making 17 cuts with one top-ten, T-7th at the ShopRite Classic. Won $254,692, ranking 72nd and 52nd in the CME race.
2019 Notes: Played in six LET events, missing cut at the Ladies Classic - Bonville, T-8th at the Investec South African Women's Open, T-37th at the Evian Championship, 5th at the AIG Women's Open, missed cut at ASI Ladies Scottish Open and T-26th at the Andalucia Open De Espana. On the LPGA Tour, played in 27 events making 19 cuts with one top-ten, the 5th at the AIG Women's Open. After that was T-11th at the ISPS Handa Vic Open and T-11th at the Pure Silk Championship. She earned $407,546 and was 51st on the money list, and 56th on the CME points list.
2020 Notes: Played in 16 LPGA events making 14 cuts with three top-ten finishes. She was 24th on the money list with $429,628, and 24th on the CME points list. Best finish 2nd at the Cambia Portland Classic, losing a two-hole playoff to Georgia Hall. Was T-6th at the ShopRite Classic and 10th at the Pelican Womens Championship. Ashleigh played only three LET events, but that did not stop her from finishing 44th on the Race to Costa del Sol, recording a 15th place finish at her native Investec SA Women's Open and an 11th place finish at the AIG Women's Open at Royal Troon, where she closed with a final round 68. She spent several months in South Africa during the COVID hiatus and hit balls into a net in the garden of her parents' home. During the offseason practice in Florida with Ernie Els and Branden Grace.
2021 Notes: Played in 24 LPGA events making 18 cuts with two top-ten finishes. She was 70th on the CME Points list finishing 75th on the money list with $229,695 in earnings. She played in four LET events with one top-ten and was 43rd on the money list with euro51,021. Started the year T-8th at the Gainbridge LPGA, her only top-ten finish. In the Aramco Team Series Sotogrande on the LET, she was 2nd, five back of winner Alison Lee. She qualified for the Tokyo Olympics as a South Africa team member but didn't play. There were many reasons for this, but the main one was that if I tested positive or got exposed to someone who had Covid in the Athletesâ?? Village, it would put me out of the Scottish Open and the AIG Womenâ??s British Open. She was T-8th at the Cambia Portland Open and finished the year with a T-57th finish at the Pelican Womens Championship.
2022 Notes: Was 4th at the LPGA Lotte Championship, five shots back of winner Hyo Joo Kim. Shot a final round 67 to finish T-9th at the Palos Verdes Championship