Bella Simoes is the Brazilian nine-year-old who has already taken the golfing world by storm

Bella Simoes had already been labeled the most dominant golfer of her age when she made headlines earlier this week when she attempted to qualify for the US Women’s Open at the age of nine.

Although her quest was unsuccessful, it is clear that she is already poised to become the next star of the LPGA Tour.

The Brazilian youngster already has a huge following on social media to accompany her packed trophy cabinet that has seen the sponsorship deals pouring in.

But despite already being a three-time US Kids World Champion, the starlet already has her sights set on bigger and better things, including an Olympic gold medal and multiple major wins.

Here, DailyMail. com takes a look at the prodigy’s golf journey, where it all started, the family sacrifices and even an appearance by a former president.

A QUICK START

Bella had a club in her hand shortly after most of the children had just started walking.

The child prodigy began her golf journey at the age of two after sparking interest by watching her father, Rodrigo, on the driving range.

She officially started learning at the Golf Club of Brasilia, in Brazil, under the guidance of Vincente Pereira, who had a battle on his hands to teach a two-year-old, but he clearly succeeded.

By the time Bella entered her first worlds, Bruno Freitas had taken over as her coach.

Freitas, who is currently the pro at Sao Fernando Golf Club in Sao Paulo, Brazil, is also a coach at the Brasil Kids Golf Academy and even trained Bella full-time in Miami, Florida, from January 2020-August 2020, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Bella has also been taken under the care of the Don Law Golf Academy in Boca Raton, Florida, an academy that specializes in educating future stars.

Seven years after her first swing, the nine-year-old has ramped up her dedication and trains four hours a day.

A TROPHY CABINET LIKE NO OTHER NINE YEAR OLD

Practicing four hours a day clearly pays off.

Despite such a young age, Bella has already built up a well-stocked trophy cabinet.

She started competing in tournaments at the age of five and won her first. Winning quickly became a habit for the starlet.

Since then she has been back-to-back at the US Kids World Championships with three wins in Pinehurst.

She earned her first win at the tournament, a three-day championship for golfers aged 5-12, in 2020 in the Girls Seven and Under age six category, beating girls a year older than her.

She defended her title in 2021 by a whopping nine strokes before restoring her dominance in the Girls Eight category last year.

The rising star celebrates her world titles in a unique way by jumping into Lake Pinehurst after each of her three victories.

But her success is not limited to the worlds.

She is also a three-time Florida State Champion and a back-to-back winner at the Jekyll Island Regional in addition to her wins at the Texas Open, Georgia Invitational, PGA Invitational and UA Regional Championship.

Not one to shy away from a challenge, Bella has also proven herself capable of taking on the older girls and the boys, winning the Girls 11-12 division of the South Florida PGA at the age of eight and the Boys and Girls 6- 8 South East Regional of the 2021 Junior Tour powered by Under Armour.

Bella previously revealed that she prefers to beat the boys over the girls, saying, “I know I can play as well as them.”

She also had the honor of representing Brazil at the South American Championships in her home country in 2021 and, to no surprise, won that too, this time by a whopping 19 strokes.

No doubt her peers and many adult golfers will be desperate for her secret and they may be surprised to learn that it has something to do with Eminem.

Bella revealed that it’s not Brazil’s traditional Samba or even Baile Funk that she listens to to get herself in the zone before hitting the track, but rather the rapper’s famous song “Lose Yourself.”

The rap really seems to get her blood pumping when her dad revealed to the Junior Tour that his daughter was already hitting the ball an astonishing 198 yards — and who knows how that number might skyrocket in a few years.

‘DADDY CADIE’ AND CO.

Her success in all these tournaments in the United States is due to her parents’ decision to uproot and move from Brazil to Florida to give their daughter better opportunities.

With a better golf structure and more tournaments for kids in the United States, Rodrigo and Adriana Simoes moved to Florida where they now live in Miami.

Rodrigo even travels back and forth from the US to Brazil to make sure his daughter has the best chance at a professional career, as he still has a business in his home country.

“All I can do is foresee everything [she needs] so she can be the best,” he told The Junior Tour. “Give her the tools.”

In fact, Freitas continued to coach Bella full-time in Miami, according to his LinkedIn profile, and still makes the trip from Brazil to caddy from time to time.

Rodrigo has performed as “Daddy Caddie” for many tournaments in the past, but has admitted that separating his on-court duties from his supporting role for his daughter becomes difficult, which is when Freitas is called up.

Her father plays but has jokingly admitted “poorly” and insisted he was not up to standard to be able to coach Bella, claiming he tried unsuccessfully to get her mother into the sport.

SOCIAL MEDIA THRILL

The Brazilian star has been documenting her golfing journey on Instagram, which is run by her mother.

The pair have shared 981 posts and have dazzled social media with her performance, with a huge following of 11,000.

Her performance on and off the track has caught the attention of some of the biggest brands in the sport.

She joined Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Nelly Korda and Scottie Scheffler in the TaylorMade ranks, among others.

The golf equipment giant began sponsoring the youngster in January, and she shared a photo of herself leaning on a TaylorMade golf bag behind a load of branded hats, balls, gloves and an umbrella on her Instagram.

The future star has also showcased her collection of Under Armor golf shoes, caps and apparel in several posts on her social media.

Bella even revealed on Instagram that she had played with former President Donald Trump at his Trump International Golf Club Palm Beach.

She shared a photo of her posing with the Trump last year, before sharing a video of the 45th president looking stunned when he saw her hit the ball at the driving range.

HEAVEN IS THE BORDER

Bella is inspired by world stars Nelly Korda and 15-time grand winner Woods, according to Brazilian outlet Corriero.

And she’s aiming — and arguably on track — to replicate their success.

The youngster’s goal is to one day make it to the LPGA Tour and win not one but “many” majors, she claimed in an interview with The Junior Tour.

In addition to golf’s top honours, according to Corriero, Bella also had her sights set on the 2024 Paris Olympics, but she may have to postpone her gold medal ambitions as her father explained that dream is “more complicated.”

Rodrigo explained to the Brazilian publication that the Olympics depend on the professional Rolex rankings and that if a country has no players in the rankings, it will not participate in that particular sport.

Instead, Bella may have to settle for Brisbane 2032 – a year after she’s scheduled to graduate from high school.

However, for now, Bella and Rodrigo are thinking short term. Her father told The Junior Tour that the “dream” is to get his daughter into the US Women’s Open at age 10 to break Lucy Li’s record.

Li set the new mark as the youngest player to qualify for the major as an 11-year-old in 2014, breaking Lexi Thompson’s previous mark of 12 years in 2007.

Thompson, of course, was an impressive golf prodigy who broke through after her performance at the US Open to win the Chevron Championship, record 11 wins on the LPGA Tour and become a Solheim Cup hero.

Bella made her first attempt at qualifying this week at the age of nine, but was unsuccessful, finishing tied for 59.

Despite not qualifying this year, she will undoubtedly have another shot next year and it looks like Bella is well on her way to becoming Brazil’s Lexi Thompson – or more.