Beth Ann Baldry reported yesterday that USC's Jennifer Song, recent winner of a Seoulie for Clutch Performance of the Year from the Seoul Sisters blog for her victories at the WAPL and U.S. Women's Amateur last year, will be turning pro after the Curtis Cup in mid-June. I assume she'll be dividing her time between the Futures Tour and the LPGA events that she can get sponsor exemptions into.
By waiting that long, Song can get into at most 9 FT events, which makes it very unlikely she'd be able to make the top 5 on their money list. This means that her best bet to avoid Q-School is to earn enough in the LPGA events she gets into to make the top 80 on their money list, which would give her Category 10 priority status for the 2011 season. Of course she could just go ahead and win an LPGA event, but that's easier said than done. Most likely we'll see her in Category 11 in 2011. Let's see if she can beat the odds!
[Update 1 (1/21/10, 11:21 PM): Ryan Herrington reports Song is one of 7 amateurs invited to play in the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the LPGA's 1st major of 2010.]
3 comments:
In 2008 Vicky Hurst earned money at a rate that would have given her top 5 in just 6 events. Mindy Kim could have done it in 10. Sarah Jane did it in 10 and could have done it in 9 while Stacy Lewis earned moiney at a rate which would have qualified her in 8 based on the 2 events she played.
Getting top 5 on the Futures in half a schedule is a lot easier than getting top 80 on the LPGA in a 1/3 to 1/4 the number of events the LPGA players play.
Good points, I was mainly thinking of Pernilla Lindberg.... But it might be tough for Jennifer to even get into those 9 FT events, as she'd have to catch a quick flight back for the 1st one and then hope none conflicted with LPGA sponsor exemptions. Bottom line is, she'd better come to the FT ready to contend.
Here is an idea.
A newbie is a player who turns pro June or later. For that year the 6 event limit does not apply, and the player is automatically eligible for the next fukl field event following any event in which she places in the top 10.
This would allow a player like Song a fighting chance to earn her card through LPGA events--and woukld add interest to the tournaments in which she played.
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