McKay was born in
Glasgow. She is a former pupil of
Fernhill School and was introduced to golf by her parents. They moved from Glasgow to
Girvan, close to the famous
Turnberry golf links where she learned to play and is still a club member. She also won the Daily Telegraph Junior Golf Championship in 1991 and won the
Girls Amateur Championship in 1992 and 1993. and 1996 and played in the 1996
Espirito Santo Trophy World Amateur Team Championship. McKay was the first international female player to be offered a golf scholarship at
Stanford University in California where she was a classmate of Tiger Woods (she took a Portuguese literature class with him). She graduated in 1997 with a B.A. in Public Policy having been
Pac-10 champion in 1997, Pac-10 All Conference from 1994 to 1997) and Pac-10 All Academic 1st Team in 1997. She also earned All-American honours from 1994 through to 1997. ==Professional career==