The Priority Shuffle - 2011, Volume Two

According to documents at LPGA.com, the British Open was the second cut-off point this year to re-order the Priority List.  Any players from Categories 9 on down will be placed in Category 8 if they are in the money list Top 40, and any players from Categories 14 on down will be re-ordered by their current money list standing.  As of this writing the official revised list has not been posted but as soon as I see it, I will make it available here.

Three players were given Cat-8 status after the first cut-off (event seven, the Sybase Match Play Championship) and two of them retain that status.  Mindy Kim is #30 on the money list and Paige Mackenzie is #37 so they will remain in Positions 90 and 91 on the List.  Julieta Granada has fallen out of the Top 40 to #51 so her position will revert back to #121 in Cat-11 between Kimberly Kim and Stephanie Sherlock.  This drop of nearly 20 positions will probably cost Julieta a couple of starts in the limited-field Asia events this fall, assuming those events use the Priority List.  At least a couple of them have keyed on the money list instead - why the PL has been subverted in those cases is beyond me.

26 players in Category 14 or worse have collected some LPGA money this year so those players will be lined up in this order beginning with Position #128 (the third column is the player's previous position number):

After adjusting the list for medical extensions and retirements, Position 128 actually equates to #132.  This leaves Samantha Richdale just above the magic "144" barrier.  Those below her need one or more players higher up to skip a full-field event to open up space for them.

Ryann O'Toole is 45^th on the money list, meaning she missed by about $16,000 getting into Category 8 - a jump of 43 positions instead of just seven.  Caroline Hedwall's Evian and British performances jacked her up about 40 real positions from her spot in Cat-20 (there are many retired players in Cat-19) while Jaclyn Sweeney made a similar leap by merely making the WBO cut.

When the Tour gets back in action in about two weeks, they will play four straight full-field events which for many of these players will be their last chance to improve their status on the course this year.  Until that gut-wrenching five days known as Q-School in December, that is.