Girl shines in LPGA tourney for dying mom 13-year-old Dowd birdies first hole, finishes 2-over par in first round

John Raoux / AP Dakoda Dowd, 13, left, gets a hug from her mother, Kelly Jo, after she hit her first tee shot in the opening round. FREE VIDEO •'Couldn't really feel my hands' April 27: Dakoda Dowd, 13, and her terminally ill mother Kelly Jo Dowd talk about Dakoda playing in her first LPGA tournament. NBC Sports

REUNION, Fla. - The chip stopped 2 feet from the hole, and Kelly Jo Dowd couldn't contain her excitement.

For a second, dark reality - terminal cancer in her hip and liver - was forgotten, replaced by the thrill of seeing her 13-year-old golf phenom daughter compete against the best players in the world.

"How good is this?" she asked as the name Dakoda Dowd - who made the short putt to birdie her very first hole - appeared on an LPGA leaderboard for the first time.

Dakoda made her long-awaited LPGA debut Thursday, shooting a 2-over 74 in the first round of the Ginn Clubs & Resorts Open outside of Orlando. Tournament officials extended Dakoda the invitation after hearing of Kelly Jo's illness - and her wish that death wouldn't cheat her out of seeing this day.

Dakoda had three bogeys, only the one birdie, struggled with the putter and finished the day nine shots behind Cristie Kerr's leading round of 7-under 65.

And that was completely irrelevant.

For the first time in Dakoda's golf life, winning wasn't the goal, nor the plan.

"I didn't have any expectations for this tournament, except to go out there and have a great time and look over and see my mom," said Dakoda, a winner of more than 100 tournaments and ranked among the nation's best 13-year-old players. "It did feel good shooting 74. I'm just really happy to be here."

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So is her mom, on a number of different levels.

Kelly Jo Dowd is fighting cancer for the second time in four years. She was given a clean bill of health after doctors believed she beat breast cancer, but she learned last year she has terminal bone and liver cancer - and, conceivably, only months to live.

Her assessment of Dakoda's first LPGA round?

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"Fantabulous," Kelly Jo Dowd said. "I have to make up my own vocabulary to describe it."

Dakoda was paired with Kate Golden and Tracy Hanson - both at least 21 years older - and held her own, even outdriving both pros on a couple occasions. Golden told Kelly Jo before the round not to worry, that "we'll take good care of your girl." And Hanson was particularly touched by Dakoda's story, since cancer claimed her mother nearly eight years ago.

"God knocked me on the head and said, 'Now, wait a minute. You have a purpose and a reason for being in that group,"' said Hanson, who shot 69. "I lost my mom to cancer, so it's very near and dear to my heart, their story. And it was a little emotional there on the first tee."

Kelly Jo wept and smiled when the starter announced Dakoda on the tee box as "a remarkable young lady." And the tears stopped when Dakoda hit a perfect drive down the left-center of the fairway to open her round - setting up that lone birdie of the day.

"She's playing with a heart full of love for her mom," said Mike Dowd, Dakoda's father. "The kid's got this in her, but I think this is more about God doing something for our lives right now. We walk out of our house this morning and see a rainbow. Then a birdie on the first hole. Come on. There's something else going on here."

Kelly Jo, who was shuttled from hole to hole in a cart but stood along the rope line to see every one of Dakoda's shots, spent much of the day with her hands clasped in front of her, often bowing her head and closing her eyes before her daughter would hit the ball.

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"I was pretty overwhelmed," Kelly Jo said. "We've been waiting for this opportunity for a long time."

Through the attention generated here, the Dowd family hopes to raise cancer awareness and encourage women to be diligent in getting checked - something Kelly Jo acknowledges that she did not do, instead waiting nearly a year before getting the breast lump that turned out to be cancerous examined by doctors.

Kelly Jo said countless strangers have approached her in the past few weeks, offering kind words and encouragement.

"It's just all super surreal," said Dakoda, who is three years older than Beverly Klass was when she made her LPGA debut as a 10-year-old in 1967.

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Kelly Jo often shouted, "Good shot, 'Koda."

She pumped both fists over her head when things went well. She clapped softly when they didn't.

By the seventh hole, she felt so good that she leaned into a television camera's lens and began singing, then announced she was inviting everyone out for dancing that evening. And her excitement level only continued to rise as the day rolled along.

"I don't know a woman on earth right now who's happier than me," Kelly Jo said.

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