LPGA Qualifying Tournament Final Stage Top Storylines

The LPGA Tour will host Final Stage of LPGA Qualifying Tournament from Wednesday, November 30 through Sunday, December 4. The field of 157 players are competing for 20 full LPGA Tour cards and 25 partial cards. 

Players will alternate over the first four rounds between the Jones and Hills courses at LPGA International. There will be a cut to the top 70 and ties after the fourth round. The final-round will be contested on the Hills course. Play will begin at 8:00 a.m. all five days.

Players that finish in the top 20 - no ties - will earn LPGA Tour status in category 12 on the 2017 priority list while those that finish 21 through 45 - including ties - will earn status in category 17. Players that finish a minimum of 72 holes, but don’t earn LPGA Tour status, will receive Epson Tour status in category E on the Epson Tour priority list. 

Although the most significant prize is leaving with a 2017 Tour card, there is a $50,000 purse and the medalist will earn $5,000. 

This coming week is the culmination of a three-stage Qualifying Tournament process that started in late August with Stage I in Rancho Mirage, California. A total of 92 players advanced out of Stage I to Stage II, which was held in October in Venice, Florida. A total of 84 players passed through Stage II to get to where we are now. 

A total of 36 players have made it through to Final Stage from Stage I. 

There are 10 players that will retain amateur status into Final Stage. If an amateur finishes in the top 20, she must declare a change in her status to professional following the final-round in order to obtain LPGA Tour status. 

The field features 78 players representing the United States and 79 international players from 32 different countries. Canada has the most representatives with nine followed by England with seven and both Thailand and the Philippines have six players apiece. 

The highest ranked player in the field according to the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings is Beth Allen (San Diego, Calif.), who ranks 63rd. Allen currently plays on the Ladies European Tour and leads the Order of Merit. There are eight players ranked in the top 200 in the world (Allen - 63, Nicole Broch Larsen (Hillerod, Denmark) - 90, Emily Pedersen (Smoerum, Denmark) - 109, JeongEun Lee (Seoul, South Korea) - 123, Mel Reid (Loughborough, England) - 135, Nasa Hataoka (Ibaraki, Japan) - 145, Holly Clyburn (Cleethorpes, England) and Aditi Ashok (Bangalore, India) - 198.

There are ten players in the field that finished between 101-125 on the 2016 LPGA money list that are looking to improve status for 2017. Vicky Hurst (Melbourne, Florida) was the highest finisher on the 2016 money list that is in the field. She finished No. 101 with one top 10 finish. 

There are three players in the field that have won on the LPGA Tour. Lorie Kane (Charlottetown, Canada) is a four-time winner with her last coming at the 2001 Takefuji LPGA Classic. Julieta Granada (Asuncion, Paraguay) won the 2006 LPGA Playoffs at The ADT and Silvia Cavalleri won the 2007 Corona Championship. 

Youth will definitely be served this week with 14 teenagers in the field and 25 players 21 years old and younger. There are just 12 players over the age of 30. 

INDIA’S ADITI ASHOK WINS BACK-TO-BACK LET EVENTS INTO Q-SCHOOL

No player has had a better lead up to Final Stage than 18-year-old Aditi Ashok, who recently won back-to-back tournaments on the Ladies European Tour (LET). 

On Nov. 13, Ashok captured her first victory in her home country at the Hero Women’s Indian Open. On Nov. 26, she won the Qatar Ladies Open. Ashok moved up to third on the LET Order of Merit after her second straight win and leads all rookies in earnings. 

Ashok is 18-under in her last seven rounds on the LET. 

She finished T20 at Stage I and T24 at Stage II to reach this point. 

NINE OLYMPIANS IN FIELD

There are nine 2016 Olympians in the field: Aditi Ashok (India), Laetitia Beck (Israel), Nicole Broch Larsen (Denmark), Tiffany Chan (Hong Kong), Julieta Granada (Paraguay), Alejandra Llaneza (Mexico), Stephanie Meadow (Ireland), Guilia Molinaro (Italy) and Marianne Skarpnord (Norway). 

The highest finisher of the group was Skarpnord, who finished T25. 

NO. 1 AMATEUR IN WORLD WITHDRAWS; STAYING AT DUKE

The big news just a week ago came when Leona Maguire, the No. 1 amateur in the world according to the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR), withdrew. Maguire, a junior at Duke, finished T6 at Stage II and appeared as if she would test the waters at Stage III. 

The 2014-15 National Player of the Year and a two-time First-Team All-American decided last week to stay in school. 

“Upon considerable deliberation, I have decided to withdraw from stage III of LPGA Q-School and not pursue LPGA membership for 2017,” said Maguire.  “This is not a decision that I have taken lightly but one that I feel is best for me in the pursuit of my long-term aspirations. I am thankful for the continuous support of my parents, friends, teammates, coach Shane O Grady, ILGU and everyone at Duke and for their guidance in helping me to reach my decision.”

The No. 2 amateur in the world, Bronte Law, will compete this week. Law, who captured the 2016 ANNIKA Award, finished second at Stage II. The second highest ranked amateur in the field is Katelyn Dambaugh, who is ninth. Dambaugh, a senior at South Carolina, finished 2015-16 with a scoring average of 71.62, which was second lowest in the country. 

2016 COLLEGE ALL-AMERICANS IN FIELD

There are several 2016 All-Americans in the field this week. The Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) First-Team All-Americans are Katelyn Dambaugh (South Carolina), Lauren Kim (Stanford) and Bronte Law (UCLA).

The Second-Team All-Americans are Tiffany Chan (USC), Lauren Coughlin (Virginia), Mariah Stackhouse (Stanford), Charlotte Thomas (Washington) and Emma Talley (Alabama). The Honorable Mention All-Americans are Karen Chung (USC), Daniela Darquea (Miami), Ying Luo (Washington) and Elizabeth Szokol (Washington). 

LOTS OF ATTENTION ON 17-YEAR-OLD FROM JAPAN

Nasa Hataoka (Ibaraki, Japan) may be the second youngest player, but she might have the most attention on her. On October 2, she became the first amateur to win a JLPGA major by capturing the Japan Women’s Open Golf Championship. In the process, she surpassed Ai Miyazato’s record as the youngest champion of a major. Miyazato won the same JLPGA event in 2005 at the age of 20.

Seven different Japanese media outlets have requested credentials to cover Hataoka in Daytona Beach at LPGA International. 

Hataoka finished fourth at Stage I and T19 at Stage II.

UL INTERNATIONAL CROWN PLAYERS REPRESENTED IN FIELD

There are four players - Rebecca Artis (Australia), Ssu Chia Cheng (Taiwan), Holly Clyburn (England) and Mel Reid (England) - in the field that competed in the UL International Crown in July. The UL International Crown pitted the four best players from the top eight nations against each other. The United States went on to win.

Reid, a veteran of two Solheim Cup’s, captured headlines with stellar play against the Japanese team. She was playing by herself because teammate Charley Hull couldn’t compete due to illness and Reid took the high power Japanese team to the 18th hole in best-ball format.
 

RECENT USGA TOP FINISHERS IN FIELD

Emma Talley (Princeton, Ky.) first made headlines when she defeated Cindy Feng in the final match to win the 2013 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. She went onto win the 2015 NCAA individual championship at Alabama and after finishing 26th on the Epson Tour money list in a half-season this year, Talley will try to earn an LPGA card. 

Angel Yin (Arcadia, Calif.) finished runner-up at the 2015 U.S. Girls’ Junior. The 18-year-old turned professional in early 2016 and made her debut at the ISPS Handa Women’s New Zealand Open on the LET in February. 

The field is littered with players from the 2014 U.S. Curtis Cup - both Team Great Britain and Ireland and Team USA. Eight players from the ‘14 Curtis Cup are in the field (Gemma Dryburgh, Bronte Law, Charlotte Thomas and Stephanie Meadow competed for GB&I while Emma Talley, Ashlan Ramsey, Erynne Lee and Mariah Stackhouse competed for Team USA). 

CAN JAYE MARIE GREEN FIND 2013 FORM?

Jaye Marie Green (Boca Raton, Florida) first earned her way onto the LPGA with a scintillating performance at 2013 Qualifying Tournament at LPGA International. She posted rounds of 62-68-66-67-68 for a record total of 29-under to earn medalist honors. 

Green, 22, finished No. 112 on the LPGA money list this year and is back at Qualifying Tournament for the first time since her brilliant 2013 showing. Green finished 58th on the LPGA money list in 2015 with three top 10 finishes. 

REMEMBERING THE HISTORIC 2014 LPGA Q-SCHOOL CLASS

In 20 years, we may look back and contend that the 2014 LPGA Qualifying Tournament class was the greatest ever. Just two years ago, Ariya Jutanugarn, who was the LPGA Rolex Player of the Year in 2016 with five victories, finished T3 in Daytona Beach to earn her Tour card. 

Minjee Lee, who had two wins and eight top 10 finishes this year on the LPGA, was co-medalist with Alison Lee in 2014. Alison Lee has already competed on a Solheim Cup team and has 11 career top 10 finishes. 

Sei Young Kim, who has quickly piled up five LPGA wins, finished T6 along with Ha Na Jang, who has three wins and 17 top 10’s in two short seasons. 

Jutanugarn is now ranked No. 2 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings while Kim ranks sixth, Jang ranks ninth, Minjee Lee ranks 17th and Alison Lee ranks 34th. 

The two players that had the strongest years in 2016 from the 2015 LPGA Qualifying Tournament class were Megan Khang and Gaby Lopez. Khang finished 57th on the money list while Lopez closed 60th. 

EPSON TOUR NEXT 15 IN FIELD

In addition to awarding ten LPGA Tour cards, the Epson Tour also gives exemptions to Final Stage to the top 15 non-LPGA members that finish the year outside the top 10. 

The following Epson Tour players noted below bypassed Stage II and will compete in Final Stage. The only player that had the opportunity to compete, but did not sign up is Jessica Wallace. 

No. 11 Clariss Guce (Artesia, Calif.), No. 12 Erica Popson (Davenport, Fla.), No. 13 Augusta James (Bath, Ontario, No. 16 Brittany Benvenuto (Langhorne, Pa.), No. 17 Erynne Lee (Silverdale, Wash.), No. 18 Natalie Sheary (West Hartford, Ct.), No. 20 Nicole Broch Larsen (Hillerod, Denmark), No. 21 Dottie Ardina (Laguna, Philippines), No. 22 Paola Moreno (Cali, Colombia), No. 24 Shannon Fish  (Spring, Texas), No. 25 Emma de Groot (Coffs Harbour, Australia), No. 26 Emma Talley (Princeton, Kentucky), No. 29 Brittany Marchand (Orangeville, Ontario) and No. 30 Emily Tubert (Burbank, Calif.). 

Guce won twice on the Epson Tour in 2016 while Popson, Lee, Broch Larsen and Moreno each won once.

OF NOTE

• Two of the last three Division I PING WGCA Players of the Year are in the field in Bronte Law (UCLA) in 2016 and Celine Boutier (Duke) in 2014. 
• There are players in the field from the last six NCAA national championship teams: Ani Gulugian (2011, UCLA), Stephanie Kono (2011, UCLA), Hannah Collier (2012, Alabama), Jennifer Kirby (2012, Alabama), Stephanie Meadow (2012, Alabama), Sophia Popov (2013, USC), Laetitia Beck (2014, Duke), Mariah Stackhouse (2015, Stanford), Lauren Kim (2015, Stanford), Ying Luo (2016, Washington), Charlotte Thomas (2016, Washington) and Elizabeth Szokol (2016, Washington). 
• The youngest player in the field is Kanphanitnan Muangkumsakul of Khonkaen, Thailand, who was born in December of 1998. Lori Kane, who is the oldest player in the field, was a rookie on the LPGA in 1996. 
• What will it take to earn an LPGA card this year? In 2015, two players tied for 19th at 4-under. In 2014, three players tied for 18th at 4-under and in 2013, two players tied for 19th at 6-under.