Waters on the way to 100

The most-prolific female winner on the PPA Tour has a chance to turn 100 this weekend in North Carolina.

Anna Leigh Waters, just 17 years old, has 97 gold medals in her PPA career. She would reach the century mark if she wins gold in singles, doubles and mixed doubles at the North Carolina Cup in Cary, N.C.

Waters is the No. 1 seed in all three disciplines, and after Thursday’s play, she’s into the quarterfinal in all three disciplines as well.

Waters turned pro in 2019, won her first gold on the PPA Tour in the 2021 at the August Takeya Showcase when she beat Catherine Parenteau for the singles title.  

And 2023 was her most-dominant season. 

Waters won 47 medals – all golds – and averaged 2.76 first-place finishes per tournament.

Last year in singles, Waters won gold in 14 of the 17 tournaments she entered. In doubles, she was undefeated, taking 17 golds. In mixed doubles, she won 16 times in 17 tournaments, all but one coming with Ben Johns. She went on a streak of 60-plus wins in a row with Parenteau from 2023-24, at one point winning nine tournaments in a row.

Waters started 2024 with 20 triple crowns. Now she now has 23 triple crowns.

Waters is playing alongside Catherine Parenteau in doubles and with Johns in mixed doubles in North Carolina. Johns is the only other player in PPA history to get to 100-career wins. He said Waters should get there this week.

“I fully expect her to hit it this tournament,” he said.