At 19, Yana Wilson skipped college to chase her professional dreams—and it just paid off big time.

Yana Wilson officially secured her 2026 LPGA Tour card last week, becoming the fifth player to graduate from the Epson Tour this season after winning the Dream First Bank Charity Classic in Kansas. But this isn’t just another feel-good rookie story—Wilson’s been rewriting the rulebook since she was 14.

The Henderson, Nevada native has won over 118 tournaments by age 15, claimed the 2022 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, and became a two-time Drive, Chip & Putt National Champion at Augusta National. Wilson was busy becoming a household name in junior golf.

The College Gamble That Actually Worked

Wilson was supposed to be a prized freshman on the Oregon Ducks women’s golf team this fall. Instead, she chose to turn professional and chase her LPGA dreams through Q-School. The decision raised eyebrows, but Wilson had already proven she belonged with the big girls.

She’d played in LPGA events as an amateur, including a memorable moment at the 2023 Mizuho Americas Open where her seventh-grade history teacher showed up to watch—someone she hadn’t seen since seventh grade. Those early LPGA experiences weren’t just learning opportunities; they were auditions for the life she wanted.

Rookie Season Reality Check

Wilson currently sits atop the Epson Tour’s Race for the Card standings with nine top-10 finishes in 16 events, including two wins and just one missed cut. She’s also sitting second on the money list with $138,581 earned—not bad for someone who was in high school two years ago.

Her first professional win came at the Reliance Matrix Championship in her hometown Las Vegas, where she said, “It was really special to win in my hometown in front of everybody. I had a lot of people that came out there that I did not expect to come out there.” The hometown hero moment was made even sweeter when it happened on her mom’s birthday.

The “Job Not Done” Mentality

Despite clinching her LPGA card, Wilson’s response was refreshingly grounded: “It feels pretty cool. I mean, there’s still more work to be done. I have other goals in mind that I want to achieve, so, you know, job not done.”

That mindset explains how a kid from Vegas went from junior golf phenom to professional tour winner in just over a year. Wilson currently holds the No. 1 spot in strokes gained tee to green on the Epson Tour—a stat that suggests her game travels well to the bigger stage waiting for her in 2026.

What’s Next for the Vegas Phenom

With three tournaments remaining in the 2025 Epson Tour season, Wilson will push to maintain her No. 1 position in the Race for the Card rankings. The official LPGA Card Ceremony takes place October 5th, but Wilson’s already proven that ceremonies are just formalities when you’ve got the game to back it up.

At 19, most people are still figuring out their majors. Wilson just figured out how to make millions playing the game she’s loved since she was 8. Sometimes the biggest risks really do have the biggest rewards.