Tuesday, July 26, 2011

LPGA Q-School's Stage 1 Begins Today

Here are the field list and pairings for the 1st stage of LPGA Q-School, which begins today. Brent Kelley identifies many of the key notables in the field, including Lexi Thompson, Victoria Tanco, Carlota Ciganda, Brianna Do, and Russy Gulyanamitta; LPGA.com adds Mitsuki Katahira, Stephanie Kono, and Junthima Gulyanamitta. Along with these and others I focused on earlier this month, I'll join Randall Mell in adding Ginger Howard to the list of golfers to watch in this 150-player field. She's been tearing it up on the SunCoast Series with 3 wins in her last 4 starts there, including her last 2 in a row.

The top 50 move on to the next stage in late September. Let's see who gets there in style and who just squeaks in. I'll be rooting for central NYers Jillian Fraccola and Maite Cupp myself. With great names like Minami Levonowich, Yayoi Garcia G., Iris Ocariza, Mari Suursalu, Tovie St. Louis, and Emma De Groot (from Chattanooga, Tennessee) in this field, just scanning each day's scores alone will provide plenty of entertainment. Good luck to everyone!

[Update 1 (7/27/11, 3:29 am): Here's the leaderboard!]

2 comments:

pearshapedhuman said...

Interesting to see Doris Chen there. I thought she was heading to USC in the fall. I wonder if coach Gaston is secretly rooting against her.

WooIsMe said...

After 3 rounds, it's safe to say that Lexi Thompson (-18) will make it through Stage 1. The stage 2 cut line (Top 50 and ties) is currently at +4. Only 4 players broke 70 today.

After Thompson is Ginger Howard (-11), Mitsuki Katahira (-9), and Stephanie Kono (-8). Victoria Tanco is T9 (-4). Brianna Do and Junthima Gulyanamitta are both T22 (-1). Russy Gulyanamitta did not make the cut.