Q-School Final - 4th Round

by hound dog on Dec 6, 2008 2:22 PM PST Comment 9 comments

Stacy Lewis' 67 moved her to the top of the board (-15) at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament. Michelle Wie is in second place at -14, Amy Yang is third at -13 while Shiho Oyama is fourth at -12.

You can bank on it - the four players I just mentioned have their Category 11 status locked up. None of the four have carded a round over par this week and each has at least eight shots to play with going into Sunday. Here is how most of the others line up:

-11 Mollie Fankhauser, Charlotte Mayorkas

-10 Sophie Giquel, Beth Bader

-9 Lisa Strom, Jeanne Cho-Hunicke

-8 Mika Miyazato

-7 Anna Rawson, Anna Grzebien, Carolina Llano, Louise Stahle

-6 Jeehae Lee, Carri Wood

-5 Leah Wigger, Paige Mackenzie, Sunny Oh

----------20----------

-4 Audra Burks, Janell Howland, Chella Choi, Christi Cano

-4 Anja Monke, Marcy Hart, Allison Hanna-Williams, Nicole Hage

-3 Sarah Kemp, Alison Walshe, Jennifer Gleason

-3 Garrett Phillips, Samantha Richdale, Tania Elosegui

----------30----------

-2 Taylor Leon, Na Ri Kim, Ashleigh Simon, Haeji Kang, Emily Bastel

-2 Anna Nordqvist, Angela Buzminski, Sarah Oh, Brandi Jackson

----------40----------

-1 Nontaya Srisawang, Maru Martinez, Eunjung Yi, Pornanong Phatlum

E Liz Janangelo, Miki Saiki, Ashli Bunch, Kim Welch, Angela Jerman

+1 Melissa Reid, Tiffany Tavee, Jessica Carafiello

+2 Hannah Jun, Paola Moreno, Song Yi Choi, Sarah Lynn Sargent

+2 Martina Eberl, Lisa Ferrero, Ashley Prange, Lee Ann Walker-Cooper

Exactly 70 players (most of them listed above) will tee off tomorrow morning in the final round. Those who missed the cut include Naree Song, Patricia Meunier-Lebouc, A.J. Eathorne, Kristen Samp (all by one shot), Onnarin Sattayabanphot, Kristina Tucker, Beatriz Recari, Sophia Sheridan, Jaclyn Sweeney, Jenny Suh, Kelly Lagedrost and Jessica Shepley. The players who made great Saturday runs to make the cut include Jun (68 T61), Eberl (69 T61) and Tavee (69 T58). Their counterparts were Sukjin Wuesthoff (76 T71), Song (74 T71), Misun Cho (75 T71) and Jackie Gallagher-Smith (77 T83).

Louise Stahle was the day's big mover - a round of 65 put her at T12 after starting the day T41. Beth Bader all but locked up a Top 20 spot with a 66 that leaves her at -10, six shots clear of the border. Very few players who started the day in the Top 20 had a particularly bad Saturday. Mollie Fankhauser's 73 only dropped her to T5 but she still has a seven-shot cushion. Jeehae Lee, Leah Wigger and Audra Burks all shot 72 yet dropped several positions because of the good overall scoring. With the remaining contestants all playing the easier Champions course tomorrow, expect the scoring to match if not exceed today's low numbers.

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21-30 and 31-40

In the past ,if you had higher status, your finish at Q school did not count for non exempt status.

Does anyone know if that is still the case with the new priorities? My copy says nothing for 21-30 and every score counts for 31-40? One LPGA caddy told me they still throw out higher priority scores, I am not sure he is right?

Would love to have the knowledge before tomorrow morning. If not, I will find out after finals.

by Phil E. Blunts on Dec 6, 2008 7:21 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

take Mayorkas

She’s, what, #96 on the money list? So she has to finish 16th or better to improve her priority status, right?

by The Constructivist on Dec 6, 2008 8:18 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Exactly

What if Mayorkis finished 18th? Then what?

In past Q schools they ignored finishes by players with better status.

Also in the past the LPGA has ignored money list finishes. Last year Allison Hanna Williams finished #127 and was non exempt.

I see 10 or 11 players in the #81-#125 with better priority.

Someone like Kate Golden who finshed #133 may have 101-125 priority?

by Phil E. Blunts on Dec 7, 2008 12:13 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Mayorkas is a great example

To answer Phil’s most pressing question – by committing to play in Q-School, a player does NOT forfeit any prior status they have earned. Mayorkas finished #97 on the money list (at the cutoff time after Kapalua) and is playing this week to finish 17th or better. She can NOT lower that position. By my reckoning, Charlotte would currently be about #135 in the priority pecking order unless she does improve it, so the choice to play is a good one IMO.

From my understanding, they won’t throw out a player’s finish if it doesn’t help their standing. Meaning that if Mayorkas finished 20th, that wouldn’t be thrown out to allow Player #21 to move up a spot and claim Category 11 status.

by hound dog on Dec 7, 2008 5:38 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

ignored money list finishes?

I’m guessing that in most of the previous cases Phil is remembering, the player earned the better status by either Q-School or Futures Tour performance or a medical extension of their previous status. Hanna-Williams was non-exempt this year because she finished #125 last year at the cutoff time (through Longs Drugs). The fact she fell to #127 by the end of the year didn’t change her status.

by hound dog on Dec 7, 2008 5:51 AM PST reply actions 0 recs