The first 36 holes of the first LPGA Tour major of the season have come and gone, with 73 players making it to the weekend at The Chevron Championship. Starting the week, four Epson Tour Grads teed it up at The Club at Carlton Woods and all four made the cut. Gabriela Ruffels, Auston Kim, Isabella Fierro, and Kirsten Gillman, each with their unique journey and varying amounts of experience in major championships, have all found a way to make the cut and be inside the top 30 while doing so.
Auston Kim (-3, T17) RD 3 Tee Time: 10:35 AM CT
Kim is making her first appearance at a major since the 2022 U.S. Women's Open, where she just missed the cut. This week, however, Kim's performance has been nothing short of exciting. An even-par opening round was followed by a thrilling second round that included four birdies, three bogeys, and a hole-out eagle. The eagle, a remarkable shot with a pitching wedge on the second hole, moved the LPGA Tour rookie well within the cut line early in her second round. Kim will start the day five shots back of the lead, but if the birdies keep rolling in for her, keep an eye out for a moving day push.
Isabella Fierro and Gabriela Ruffels (-2, T21) RD 3 Tee Times: 10:13 AM CT and 9:51 AM ET
Fierro and Ruffels sit on almost the opposite spectrums when it comes to experience playing in majors as a rookie on the LPGA Tour. Before this week, Ruffels had made 10 starts in LPGA Tour majors, while Fierro is making her third career major start at the 2024 Chevron Championship. Despite the difference in experience, both players sit at 2-under for the championship with two rounds to play. Fierro's other two major starts both came at The Chevron Championship in 2022 and 2023, but 2024 is the first cut made for the 23-year-old.
"I love the environment. I love watching the little girls. I mean, I hope I get to inspire them to be right here one day, because I was one of them. I was one of them. I was always looking up to Lorena Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam, so definitely I want to be able to inspire younger girls," said Fierro, her passion for the game evident in her words. "And I love the crowd here. It's so much fun, and I know there are a lot of Mexican people here, so I love being out here.
Kristen Gillman (-1, T30) RD 3 Tee Time: 9:18 AM CT
Gillman has the most experience of the 2023 Epson Tour grads in the field, making 16 starts in majors since 2016, three of which she was an amateur. In those 16 starts, Gillman has made the cut in eight of them, with a career-best T6 finish at the 2019 Chevron Championship. Gillman finished No. 10 in the 2023 Race for the Card to earn her LPGA Tour membership for the 2024 season and seems to have found the form that gave her so much success early in her career.
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