When the final putt dropped at Stage II of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament this afternoon, Olivia Cowan (Steinwenden, Germany) and amateur Sierra Brooks (Orlando, Florida) were both 13-under par overall to claim co-medalist honors at Plantation Golf & Country Club.
Cowan ventured to Venice, Fla. late last week with the goal in mind of winning and she accomplished it. The five-year Ladies European Tour (LET) veteran will use the momentum for a run at LPGA Q-Series.
“I feel good going into the next two weeks,” said Cowan, who fired a 3-under par 69 in the final round on the Bobcat Course. “I’m playing well and am happy about that. I feel a lot better too than the start of the week when I was ill, so that’s good as well. But yeah, I feel confident.”
Meanwhile, Brooks finishes as the low amateur and now it’s back to real life for the University of Florida senior. With an exam in her History course looming tomorrow, she hits the highway to Gainesville after carding a 4-under par 68 highlighted by six birdies.
“I actually brought notecards on the course to study,” Brooks said with a smile. “Since I was by myself a little bit out there, it was nice to at least try to study a little bit when I could. It was definitely a fun week and I’m happy with my golf game, the way everything turned out. The goal for every tournament is to go in with a mindset to win, but controlling what I can and just playing my game. I’m happy with where that is, and I’m ready to ride that momentum into next week.”
The performance of the day came from amateur Bianca Pagdanganan (Quezon City, Philippines) and her 8-under par 64 on the Bobcat Course. She entered the last 18 holes tied for 43rd and on the wrong side of a berth to LPGA Q-Series, but climbed all the way into a tie for eighth at 9-under overall.
“I have no words, just told myself last night that I needed a good round,” said Pagdanganan, one of 14 to advance to Q-Series that started the Q-School process at Stage I. “My coach and my dad were telling me that 4-under or better would be safe. I didn’t try to force anything and stuck to my gameplan. Today just felt really good, ball striking was so much better than what it was the previous days. I didn’t expect to shoot this low. I have no words, I’m still in shock.”
38 PLAYERS ADVANCE TO Q-SERIES
A minimum of the top-30 players and ties advance to LPGA Q-Series contested from Oct. 23 to Nov. 2 in Pinehurst, N.C. at Pinehurst Resort. Those at the next score, or scores, also move on provided the total number of players in Q-Series does not exceed 108, which had 60 exempt and entered competitors prior to the start of the week at Plantation Golf & Country Club.
With 72 holes now complete in Stage II of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament, a total of 35 players finished at 5-under par or better, with five more individuals sitting on the 4-under par mark. In total, 38 competitors at 4-under par or better are heading to Q-Series and finalize the field at 98 players.
Below is a look at who advanced through Stage II, representing 15 different countries.
Czech Republic (Karolina Vlckova)
Denmark (Emily Kristine Pedersen)
England (Holly Clyburn, Meghan MacLaren)
Finland (Matilda Castren)
France (Celine Herbin, Joanna Klatten)
Germany (Olivia Cowan, Esther Henseleit)
Hungary (Csicsi Rozsa)
People’s Republic of China (*Mohan Du, Yan Liu)
Philippines (amateur Bianca Pagdanganan)
Republic of Korea (*amateur Yae Eun Hong, Jiwon Jeon, amateur Kum-kang Park)
Sweden (amateur Frida Kinhult)
Switzerland (amateur Albane Valenzuela)
Thailand (Prima Thammaraks)
United States (Lakareber Abe, Brittany Benvenuto, Elise Bradley, amateur Sierra Brooks, amateur Jennifer Chang, Kendra Dalton, Cindy Ha, Haylee Harford, amateur Andrea Lee, Gabby Lemieux, Janet Mao, Haley Moore, Elizabeth Nagel, Yealimi Noh, Anna Redding, Maia Schechter, Katelyn Sepmoree, Savannah Vilaubi, Eunice Yi, Katie Yoo)
Venezuela (Alazne Urizar Zapata)
*Due to age regulations for the LPGA Tour, could only compete through Stage II of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament and obtain Epson Tour membership for 2020.
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