Melbourne’s Su Oh has come out all guns blazing in her quest to grab a 2016 LPGA Tour card.
Oh, who has split her time between Europe and North America this year after narrowly missing out on her LPGA card at Q-school last year, fired a five-under-par 67 in the opening round of the Symetra Tour Championship in Florida today.
The 19-year-old peeled made six birdies against just one bogey on the Jones Course at LPGA International in Daytona to sit tied fourth and just one out of the lead after the first of four rounds.
The top 10 players on the money list after Monday’s (AEST) final round earn automatic cards to the LPGA next year, with the next 15 earning the right to skip a stage of the Q-school process.
And with $US22,500 as first prize, every player in the 108-strong field can mathematically reach the top 25 with victory this week.
Oh, a Golf Australia rookie pro, is ranked 87th after playing just 11 of the 22 events this year, but will reach the top 25 if she wins this week.
The other Aussies in the field are Oh’s fellow Victorian Bree Elliott and Perth’s Jayde Panos, who both have work to do after today’s round one.
Elliott, ranked 33rd on the money list, is T37 after day one at even par, while Panos, ranked 114th, is a further shot back and T53.
The leaders – Thailand’s Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong and Americans Cydney Clanton and Catherine O’Donnell – were impressive in their 66s, Clanton’s coming without a bogey.