No fewer than nine Australian women put their dreams on the line this week in the final stage of the LPGA Tour’s Q-School in Florida.
Golf Australia squad members Minjee Lee, Stacey Keating, Su-hyun Oh, Jayde Panos and Rebecca Artis will be joined by Emma de Groot, Maggie Yuan and former squad members Breanna Elliott and Julia Boland from Wednesday in Daytona.
Only 20 of 154 women in action on the LPGA International’s Jones and Hill Courses will gain full LPGA Tour cards for next season, while those who finish 21-45 will gain conditional status.
For those who make the top-70 (and ties) cut after the fourth of five rounds, status on the secondary Symetra Tour is also up for grabs in the third and final qualifying stage.
LPGA experts say it’s one of the strongest Q-School fields as it includes three players in the top 40 of the world rankings and three who have posted a top-10 finish on the LPGA Tour in 2014.
There are women from 32 countries teeing it up, with three women – Lorie Kane, Birdie Kim and Silvia Cavalleri – having previously won an LPGA Tour event.
The event has a $US50,000 purse, with $US5000 going to the medallist, meaning newly minted pro Oh could pocket her first cheque this week.
Lee, who teamed with Oh and Shelly Shin to guide Australia to victory in the World Amateur Teams Championship in September, is one of the main talking points in the field, which also boasts prodigiously talented Englishwoman Charlie Hull and Australian Ladies Masters champion Cheyenne Woods.
The full field and first round draw is at:
http://www.lpga.com/golf/news/2014/12/qschool-final-rd-1-pairings.aspx