Yikes, my comments on the Tuesday scoring and the volatility to come over the next 54 holes were all-too-prescient for a few golfers who have already completed their rounds at the LPGA's Venice sectional Q-School qualifier today. 1st-round leader Moah Chang shot a 79 today on the Bobcat course, falling all the way to T61 right now at +3. Susan Nam followed up her 69 with a 76 to drop from T3 to T35 for now. On the bright side, former KLPGA and LPGA member Yeon Joo Lee bounced back from her 75 with a 68 to pull into the top 10 as of this writing. Of course, not everyone was so volatile over the 1st 36 holes. Showing some good early consistency were the leader in the clubhouse, amateur Jaclyn Sweeney (71-68), and #18 on the Futures Tour money list, Samantha Richdale (72-69).
More when more scores are in!
[Update 1 (10/2/08, 1:09 am): Chang's former co-leader Sunny Oh hung in there with a 72 today to remain at -4 (T69), while Chella Choi's 67 rocketed her into a tie for the lead at -6 with the LET's Beatriz Recari, a Spanish golfer who sits at #52 on their Order of Merit right now, with just over 37,000 euros in 15 events. All of Recari's stats look pretty good except for her scoring average and winnings, which suggest she has the talent to do better than she has thus far but has had some difficulty playing to her potential. Maybe this will be her week--she's the only player in the field to break 70 twice.
Joining Sweeney 1 shot back are the Ladies Asian Golf Tour's #6-ranked player, Hae-Jung Kim (who shot a fine 68) and part-time Futures Tour member, multiple winner in Asia, and #20-ranked player on the LAGT Nontaya Srisawang (who in matching Choi's 67 is looking to repeat her feat from last season of winning a sectional qualifying tournament). Showing some grit today were Pornanong Phatlum, who's won on the LAGT and sits #2 on their money list (she's T22 at E after a 71 yesterday), and Sara Brown, who's one of those upper-mid-level Futures Tour members to watch (she's T27 at +1 after a 72 today). Both are looking for redemption after bad pairs of closing rounds at Mission Hills.
So, with 21 players under par and 32 players at +1 or better, those further down the leaderboard have some work ahead of them. Jenny Suh (74, +2, T33) and Angela Oh (76, +3, T37) probably need just one good round and one decent one, while Natalie Tucker (73, +5, T53), Sunny Park (77, +6, T59), Caroline Larsson (70, +6, T59), and, yes, Leanne Bowditch (72, +6, T59) could use two pretty good ones. The key thing is, they have 2 more rounds left to play. The same can't be said for Shayna Miyajima, Gina Umeck, Christina Lecuyer, Esther Choe, Rebecca Kim, Vanessa Brockett, Aimee Cho, or Kiran Matharu, among many others. Back to the drawing board for them.]
[Update 2 (1:14 am): Hound Dog surveys several other players' results.]
[Update 3 (1:18 am): LPGA.com focuses on the leaders.]
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