JLPGA Q-School Update

The 2nd stage of the JLPGA's Q-School is taking place over the next few days in Tochigi (where Sakurako Mori opened with a 73, 2 shots off the lead), Gunma (where Riko Higashio's 73 puts her 4 back), Mie (where Bo-Mee Lee leads with a 70, Shanshan Feng fired a 72, Mai Arai shot a 74, and Yuki Sakurai a 75), and Hyogo (where Da E Na opened with a 71, 2 shots off the lead, and Ji Na Lim stumbled to a 76 and Kyung Min Lin to a 77). The top 10 on last year's KLPGA money list and players who finished between 51st and 90th on last year's LPGA money list are free to join those who advanced from August's 1st stage. HappyFan at Seoul Sisters.com reports that the Korean press has former KLPGA rookie of the year He Yong Choi and Chae Young Yoon trying to make the leap to the JLPGA along with Lee and Lim. Unfortunately, google's various translation programs aren't all that good and they're being more temperamental than usual, so I'm probably missing all kinds of big names! Sorry about that.

[Update 1 (11/4/10, 6:15 am): In Tochigi, Sakurako Mori is T4 at +1 with 18 holes to go and looks like a lock to advance. In Gunma, Na Zhang is T23 at +5 and Riko Higashio is T45 at +9. We'll see if they can dodge the bullet of 1 terrible round (opening 77 by Zhang, 2nd-round 80 by Higashio) with a good one tomorrow. In Mie, Shanshan Feng leads at -4, Bo-Mee Lee is 4th at -2, and Mai Arai and Yuki Sakurai are T8 at +3, so odds are they'll all advance. In Hyogo, Da E Na is T2 at -1, Kyung-Min Lin is T19 at +5, and Ji Na Lim is T22 at +6, so still some work to be done there by Lin and Lim. And there's still no sign of Choi or Yoon--but for that I blame google translate!]

[Update 2 (11/5/10, 5:41 am): In Tochigi, Yoshinori Sakai medalled with a 72-67-72 performance; Sakurako Mori was 10 shots behind, but at 13th should easily advance to the next stage. In Gunma, Ai Kido's 70-71-68 beat Hiroko Yamaguchi by 2 shots; a closing 67 brought Tao Li Yang to 12th, while Na Zhang at 23rd and Riko Higashio at 28th may also advance. In Mie, Shanshan Feng lost a match of cards for medallist honors with Yoshiko Kumiko Kaneda, but she beat Bo-Mee Lee (4th) by 2 shots, Yuki Sakurai (7th) by 6, and Mai Arai (11th) by 8. And in Hyogo, Da E Na lost a match of cards for medallist honors with a golfer whom google identifies only as "Kang," but beat Kyung-Min Lin (14th) by 5 shots and Ji Na Lim (28th) by a lot more.

We won't know exactly how many players move on to the 3rd stage of JLPGA Q-School until the last regular-season event on the JLPGA schedule, the Daio Paper ElleAire Ladies, is completed on November 21st. 2 days later, 54-hole, 102-player tournaments in Mie and Tochigi prefectures, begin. Anyone who finished 21st through 50th on last year's LPGA money list or 11th through 20th on the LET's may join in the fun at that stage, so it'll be interesting to see who joins Feng. And with the top 20 on the LPGA and top 10 on the LET from last year eligible to enter the JLPGA's Final Qualifying Tournament from November 30 to December 3 in Shizuoka Prefecture, it'll be very interesting to see who, if anyone, skips the LPGA Tour Championship to seek dual LPGA-JLPGA membership in 2011.]

[Update 3 (11/9/10, 11:58 pm): HappyFan reports that the Korean press identifies "Kang" as Soo-Yun Kang. Yet another LPGAer headed to the JLPGA or seeking dual membership. He also noted that the Korean press is reporting that Sarah Lee, Joo Mi Kim, Il Mi Chung, and Aree Song will be seeking KLPGA membership next year, just as Jin Joo Hong and Sung Ah Yim did this season. I seem to recall other names being mentioned somewhere on Seoul Sisters.com, but don't have time to look them up right now.]