Saturday, December 7, 2013

LPGA Q-School Day 4: Jaye Marie Green is -25 through 72 Holes--Yup, -25!

I think it's a safe bet that Jaye Marie Green will be joining Lydia Ko and Giulia Molinaro in the LPGA's Class of 2014.  She's only -25 through 72 holes of the final stage of Q-School; she's only made 1 bogey all week and hasn't made another in 57 holes and counting.  She's only 9 shots up on Mi Rim Lee, 11 on Tiffany Joh, 14 on Amy Anderson (the Stage II medalist), and 15 on Seon Hwa Lee (the 2006 LPGA Rookie of the Year, don't forget!) and Kathleen Ekey.  She's only 21 shots ahead of the 4 players tied for 18th at -4 and 28 ahead of the 8 who just barely made the cut at +3.  I think she's better take it easy tomorrow!

So who might be joining Green and Anderson as the newest members of the '14ers?  Erica Popson fired a 67 on the Jones course to catch Megan Grehan at -9 in T7.  They should be able to get into that double digits under par range that I predicted would be in the running for a top 20 finish when all was said and done this week.  Canada's own Jennifer Kirby is also playing good golf this week and is tied with Ashleigh Simon (68 today) at -8.  Chinese teenager Xiyu Lin continues to impress, breaking 70 for the 2nd time this week to move into solo 13th at -6.  Beyond that, it's a toss-up, as even youngsters playing well so far will need to go low to outdistance the hungry vets and established stars on either side of that 20th spot.

I'm talking about long-time LPGAer Silvia Cavalleri (72, -5, T14), LET superstar Lee-Anne Pace (69, -3, T22), #29 from the JLPGA money list Harukyo Nomura (74, -3, T22), U.S. Women's Open champion Birdie Kim (71, -2, T27), LET up-and-comer Joanna Klatten (70, -2, T27), ALPG star Kristie Smith (70, -1, T34), just to name a few looking to stay in or move into the top 20.

Can top prospects like Yueer Cindy Feng (68, -1, T34) and Lindy Duncan (71, -1, T34) prevail under these circumstances?  Well, they have a decent shot at it.  But frankly, everyone playing tomorrow will have something of a chance to get into the top 45 by getting under par for the week and into the top 20 by getting close to double digits under par.  Nobody's out of it, given the 61 and the 62 that have already been dropped on the field this week.

So let's back and see what happens tomorrow!

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