There are six tournaments left in the season and undoubtedly, the top ten will change. Likely, several times. So, we decided to come up with our “Six Players to Watch Outside the Current Top 10” based on how they’ve performed this year and other factors too. Don’t hold us to it! There is just no way to predict how things unfold. That’s the beauty of golf.
Lindsey Weaver | Bellefontaine, Ohio | No. 11
This list has to start with Weaver. First of all, she is closest to the top 10 at No. 11 and just $2,532 behind No. 10 Kendall Dye. Probably more important to this conversation, she has been in the hunt a ton this year. She has seven top 10 finishes (that’s 50% of her starts) and nine top 20’s. Closing has been Weaver’s achilles heel. It feels like there have been several times where it seemed like her first win was coming. Take the Tullymore Classic. She posted back-to-back 65’s to open, but closed with a 71 to finish second. Even at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship, she opened with a 67, but finished with a 72 to place in a tie for fourth. There are two other things to take note of with Weaver. One, she peppers the fairway (91.14%, 3rd on Tour) so she’s going to give herself plenty of chances. Two, if you’ve watched Weaver compete, you know she is incredibly competitive and so driven to finish the year strong.
August Kim | Saint Augustine, Florida | No. 26
This rookie joined the Tour mid-year, but nearly won one of the biggest events of the season in French Lick to open eyes and move way up the money list. Kim ranks 26th on the money list in just seven events - $19,053 of her $21,676 came in one start. Yes, she has been a bit inconsistent. Outside of the second place finish at the Donald Ross Centennial Classic, she has four missed cuts in her other six events. However, the big finish at a major event proves that she has the game. On top of that, she went toe-to-toe with Erynne Lee, who ranks third on the money list, on the final day and took her to the third hole in a playoff. The other thing to note about Kim is that the last event of the year is in Daytona Beach at a course – LPGA International – she used to practice while growing up in Saint Augustine. Maybe a little home cooking helps over the final few days of the season.
Daniela Iacobelli | Melbourne, Florida | No. 16
If you lean towards experience, Daniela Iacobelli has to be on this list. She currently ranks 16th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list and is about $14,000 short of the top 10 so it’ll require some great results down the stretch. Iacobelli has relied on two big finishes this year – a fifth place result at the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic and a second place finish in Albany. She does have six total top 25 finishes. Here is the thing with Iacobelli. She generally plays with no fear and won’t panic under pressure. On top of that, she won at LPGA International in 2012 to jump into the top 10 to earn her card. If you’re a statistics person, you might lean towards her too. She ranks fifth in total birdies and first in eagles on Tour.
Brittany Marchand | Orangeville, Ontario | No. 17
Each year someone finds the hot hand at the end of the season. Last year, it was Nelly Korda and Laura Gonzalez Escallon. Two years ago, it was Brianna Do. Maybe, it’s Brittany Marchand this year. She won the PHC Classic three weeks ago and then followed that up with a win at the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada. Marchand admitted after the PHC Classic that it has been somewhat of an up-and-down year, but maybe the joy of victory is all she needed. It hasn’t been a bad year by any means – she does have six top 20 finishes. She will play in her second LPGA Tour event of the year this week so she’ll have a nice lead-in to the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge. You do have wonder a little bit about fatigue. Marchand has played in a few competitive events during the three weeks off and including the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open, she may have to play seven straight weeks to end the year.
Paola Moreno | Cali, Colombia | No. 14
Nobody has planned her schedule better than the veteran Paola Moreno this year. She basically plays the big money events and doesn’t play many of the $100,000 events. She has only made nine starts this year and ranks 14th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. Even if she does have to play all six to end the year, she is probably the most fresh of anyone fighting tooth and nail for an LPGA card. You do wonder a little about rust as she didn’t play in the last two Epson Tour events so she hasn’t played on Tour since late July. Moreno has the experience to pick and choose and turn it off and turn it right back on. She has three career wins and 13 top 10 finishes in her Epson Tour career. Remember, she finished 2nd on the Epson Tour’s money list in 2012 to reach the LPGA. From a statistics standpoint, she’s incredibly accurate off the tee (93.01%, 2nd on Tour) and can putt (29.54 putting average, 33rd on Tour). Seems like a good combination.
Laura Wearn | Charlotte, N.C. | No. 19
The long bomber is definitely finding her game at the right time of the year. She had zero top 25 finishes in her first 12 starts of the year, but has two top 10 finishes in her last three starts to move up to 19th on the money list. Wearn has won on Tour (2016 Gosling’s Dark ’n Stormy Classic) and might need a second career win to get the Tour card. She would have won the Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic if Nanna Koerstz Madsen didn’t smash the Tour’s all-time scoring record. She has three rounds of 67 or lower in her last ten rounds so she clearly has the ability to go very low. Take for example the career-best 9-under, 63 in the second round in Rochester. Wearn leads the Tour in driving distance (283.98) and even if she does spray the drive from time-to-time, she is very adept at scrambling. She ranks 15th on Tour in greens in regulation even though she ranks 137 in driving accuracy. She did finish T21 at the Epson Tour Championship last year with rounds of 71-69-69 on the final three days.
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