Ha Na Jang Holds Lead Entering Final Round of LPGA Qualifying Tournament

Final Stage of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament
LPGA International – Jones & Hills Courses
Daytona Beach, Florida
Fourth-Round News & Notes
December 6, 2014

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., December 6, 2014 – Ha Na Jang (Seoul, South Korea) will take a three shot lead over Maria Hernandez (Pamplona, Spain) into the final round of the LPGA Tour Qualifying Tournament. Jang fired a fourth round 4-under, 68, on the Hills Course at LPGA International to leave her at 15-under par, 273, for the event.

“I’m really excited to be trying for my LPGA Tour card tomorrow,” Jang said. “Even though I have a good enough score to get my card right now I’m going to try get to 20-under and be the hot story of this tournament.”

Jang, who sits at No. 25 in the latest Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, posted a bogey free round with four birdies to find herself in position for her 2015 LPGA Tour card and has shot an impressive 17-under, 199, in her last three rounds after an opening day 74. The Seoul native is already the hot issue back in Korea and is hoping to make the LPGA Tour so she can inspire the next generation of golfers in her home country.

“I think this week is going to be the turning point in my golf life,” Jang said. “I really want to get on the LPGA so I can inspire kids. Growing up in South Korea we had Se Ri kids and Inbee kids and I want to be Korea’s next best player in the LPGA so there are Ha Na kids.”

Following today’s round, the field was cut to the top-70 players and ties. A total of 71 players made the cut of 2-over, 290. The 71 golfers will compete in one final round on the Hills Course for LPGA Tour cards.

Players who finish in the top-20, after Sunday’s final round, will earn membership through category 12 on the LPGA Tour priority list while those who finish 21 through 45 with earn membership through category 17. In laymen’s terms, players who finish in the top 20 will have “full-time” status on the LPGA Tour while players that finish 21 through 45 will have “conditional” status.

DENMARK’S KOELBAEK HOPES TO JOIN LINE VEDEL: At 2013 LPGA Qualifying Tournament, Denmark native Line Vedel finished in a tie for ninth to earn LPGA Tour membership. She may have company on the LPGA Tour in 2015 as Copenhagen, Denmark native Therese Koelbaek fired a 4-under 68 on Saturday on the Hills Course to move into a tie for 25th.

“I’m hoping to go join Line, who has done really well on the LPGA Tour,” said Koelbaek of Vedel, who finished 45th on the LPGA Tour official money list in 2014 with three top-10 finishes. “We grew up playing together and on the national team.”

Koelbaek is the lone Danish player in the field this week.

Koelbaek, who finished 31st on the Epson Tour’s Volvik Race for the Card money list in 2014, jumped started her round on the back nine with a tough par save on the par-4 13th.

“I had a tough up and down and chipped it 15-feet short and then I made the putt and that felt huge,” said Koelbaek. “I went onto birdie-birdie so that really kept the momentum going.”

Koelbaek carded four birdies on the back nine and six birdies for the round.

“I hit a lot of greens today and I hit my irons really well,” said the 26-year-old Koelbaek. “My putter has been really good all week, I’ve been saving pars and when I’ve had 15-footers for birdie I’ve been able to make them too.”

JULIE YANG GETS RESULTS WITH CHANGED MINDSET: Amateur Julie Yang knew that she had the game to contend this week, but hadn’t been getting the results that she would have hoped until today.

“I changed my mindset a little bit,” Yang said. “I thought I was playing a little too defensively the last three days so I thought I might as well give it all I’ve got. I played a lot more aggressively today. I was shooting for pins at almost every hole.”

The result was a bogey-free round of 5-under, 67, on the Jones Course, which puts the Oklahoma State junior at 3-under, 285, for the tournament.

“It worked today and I like how it feels so I’ll do the same tomorrow,” Yang said with a smile.

Yang has had quite the journey to get to this point having lived in South Korea, Thailand, Arizona, Scotland and Stillwater and traveling to numerous junior tournaments across the globe.

“I think it has helped a lot and I think it will help even more as I go further in my career,” Yang said of the travel. “It made me a player who has been able to adapt to different situations so it’s been very helpful.”

If Yang can adapt on the Hills Course and put together a solid final round she may just earn her 2015 LPGA Tour Card, but she isn’t thinking about that just yet.

“I’ll leave it up to the universe,” Yang said. “Who knows? I’m just going to play lights out tomorrow and see what happens.”

FRANCE’S FIONA PUYO MOVES UP THANKS TO 66: One of the biggest moves on the day came from Fiona Puyo (Biarritz, France) who moved from outside the cutline, in 89th at 4-over after her first three days, to safely in at T38 thanks to a 6-under round of 66 on the Jones Course.

“Putting and my short game,” Puyo said of what made the difference today. “It means I have to just keep going. It’s great that I was able to put a round like this together.”

Puyo went bogey free on her round and added four birdies and a chip-in eagle from just off the right edge of the green on the par-5 fifth.

While you’ll find most golfers at Q-School at the range following their rounds, Puyo most likely won’t be one of them.

“When I’m done with my round I’m focusing on recovering,” Puyo explained. “This is time to play, it’s not time to practice anymore so after the round I try to relax as soon as possible and try not to lose any energy.”

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON’S SOOBIN KIM SHOOTS 7-UNDER: SooBin Kim, a senior at the University of Washington, shot a tournament-best tying round of 7-under 65 on the Jones Course to move from 38th into a tie for ninth at 8-under 280.

“My shots were sticking closer to the pin and then my putting was really good today, too,” said Kim.  “I was kind of frustrated with my putting the first three days, but it is nice to see those putts going in today and I’m excited to see how I play Sunday.”

Kim is in the second quarter of her final year at Washington and she plans to turn professional if she gets her card.

“If I get my card, I will probably turn professional and probably take it easy in school and take a quarter at a time,” said Kim. “I’m not rushing to finish school and I just want to follow my dreams and do what inspires me.”

ISRAEL’S LAETITIA BECK IN MIX FOR CARD: Laetitia Beck (Caesarea, Israel), who was part of the 2014 Duke women’s golf national championship team, shot a 2-under 70 on the Hills Course on Saturday to stand at 7-under 281 with one round left.

“All week I’ve been struggling a little bit with ball striking, but I was steady today and I hit a lot of greens,” said Beck, who is trying to become the first Israeli to play on the LPGA Tour. “I’m making a lot of pars and I’m happy that I had a steady round today.”

Beck made 16 pars and two birdies on the day.

Beck, 22, is playing in her first LPGA Qualifying Tournament and is trying not to put a lot of pressure on herself with one day remaining.

“I’ve just been telling myself to go out there and enjoy the experience and if I do well great,” said Beck. “I know I have the game and if I play on the LPGA Tour this year or next year it doesn’t really matter as long as I have a place to play. This is a learning experience for me.”

Beck was born in Belgium and moved to Israel when she was six years old. She ultimately moved to the United States when she was 14 to train at the IMG Academy in Bradenton.

“I never really lived somewhere for a long period of time, I lived in Belgium, then Israel and then the states and I think it has helped me to meet different people,” explained Beck. “I really like that I am unique and I can tell people my story.”

The story Beck really wants to tell could come true tomorrow.

“My main goal is to represent my county and I am the first one and I hope that soon I can be the first one to have an LPGA Tour card. I’m just very proud to represent my country and I have a lot of support.”

How will she approach Sunday?

“I usually try to play very safe, but I don’t know if tomorrow should be the day to play safe,” said Beck with a smile. “I’m going to talk to my coach, but I’m just going to go out there and enjoy the experience because if I think too much about the result I am going to be extremely nervous.”

OF NOTE: Here are some other notes from day four of Final Stage of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament.

• Cheyenne Woods shot a 1-under 71 on the Hills Course, a big improvement from her second round 79 on the Hills Course. She is 3-under for the tournament and in a tie for 32nd.
• No. 37 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings Charley Hull posted a 2-over 74 and made the 72-hole cut on the number at 2-over. She is in a tie for 68th with 18 holes remaining.
• Maria Hernandez of Spain carded a 7-under 65 to move from T16 to solo second at 12-under 276.
• Of the top seven on the leaderboard, there are five different countries represented (Korea, Spain, Australia, China and the United States)
• Princeton’s Kelly Shon fired a 4-under 68 and is now 6-under for the tournament. 
• There are two amateurs that both have college eligibility remaining in the top-20 (Alison Lee – UCLA and SooBin Kim of Washington).
  
  

NOTABLES TO MISS CUT: Here is a look at a few notable players that will not play on Sunday.

• Valentine Derrey – No. 100 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings
• Vicky Hurst – Nine career top-10 finishes on the LPGA Tour
• Madison Pressel – Younger sister of Morgan Pressel and Epson Tour winner
• Augusta James (a) – Senior at N.C. State and 2014 Canadian Women’s Amateur Champion
• Annie Park (a) – Junior at USC and 2014 WGCA All-American second team
• Anaelle Carnet (a) – No. 143 in World Amateur Golf Rankings
• Haruka Morita-WanyaoLu (a) – No. 20 in World Amateur Golf Rankings

HOW THE ROLEX WOMEN’S WORLD GOLF RANKINGS TOP 100 FARED