Hannah Green completed a successful start to her professional career today, advancing to the final stage of the LPGA Tour Q-school.
Having taken the pro plunge two weeks ago, Green was rock solid throughout the second stage of qualifying, with rounds of 67-73-74-72 ensuring a T8 finish at two under par in Venice, Florida.
The Perth ace was one of three Australians to advance, with International Crown representative Rebecca Artis (75 today) sharing 30th place with Wanasa Zhou (72).
The top 80 players and ties in the 193-strong field advanced to the December finale at Daytona Beach, also in Florida.
Popular Norwegian Marianne Skarpnord won medallist honours at -11, leading a strong field of veteran LET players looking to move their bases to the US-based LPGA Tour.
Four other Aussies weren’t as lucky with Jayde Panos (T95 at +14), Emily McLennan (T135 at +19), Steph Na (T146 at +20) and Ellen Davies-Graham (T168 at +23) on the wrong side of the +12 cut line.
Green, who’d been joint leader after round one, was thrilled to advance after a busy couple of months, including leading Australia at the World Amateur Teams Championship in Mexico.
“Made it to the final stage of LPGA Q-school,” Green tweeted.
“Happy chappy.”
Artis, of rural New South Wales, is one of a handful of previous LET winners looking to make the transition between tours.
Inspired by her time with Minjee Lee, Su Oh and her idol Karrie Webb as part of the Australian International Crown team midyear, Artis’ consistency impressed this week with rounds of 73-72-73-75 ample to advance.
Melbourne’s Zhou was also controlled in posting an even-par round to cap a week of 74-70-77-72.
“I’m really excited to advance, my goal was to come and get status before the end of my senior year and I think I did that,” said Zhou, who has an accounting test right when she gets back to the University of Arizona tomorrow.
“I played well and my game is in a good place.”
Zhou’s caddy this week was her teacher, Henry Liaw, who won the 2001 US Junior Amateur Championship and is the head golf professional at Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet Canyon, the site of a Symetra Tour event.
“It’s hard for me to go all the way home, so I play and practise at Morongo whenever I have breaks from school,” the 22-year-old said.
“Henry has been a big help because he knows what it’s like to compete at a high level.”