Yoo Hae-ran (21) was under great pressure while taking part in the 2022 LPGA Tour Q Series. As a proven player who won 5 wins from the rookie of the Korean Women’s Professional Golf (KLPGA) tour, the world ranking (50th place) was the second highest among 100 participants, so the pressure was great, but Yoo Hae-ran eventually scored 29 under par 545 strokes in 8 days. I was blown away and enjoyed the joy of passing the top spot.
Minami Katsu (24, 56th in the world) and Yuna Nishimura (22nd, 44th) from the JLPGA tour attracted attention as three of the participants, along with Yoo Hae-ran, were among the top 100 in the world. Katsu and Nishimura, along with Yoo Hae-ran, were proven overseas pros among the Q-series participants, most of whom knocked on the LPGA tour door after graduating from college locally or were pushed to the seed due to failing to keep their card this season.
The joys and sorrows of the two diverged slightly. Katsu finished in 5th place, receiving an LPGA Tour card (category 14) given to players in the 1st to 20th place, and was able to play stably, while Nishimura was one stroke short and was tied for 24th, and was playing both the 1st and 2nd tours. Received a conditional card (category 15).
Katsu has 8 wins on the JLPGA tour, including 2 consecutive wins at the 2021 and 2022 Japan Women’s Open, and is a strong candidate to compete fiercely with Hae-ran for the rookie of the year next year. Nishimura, who has won 6 wins in the past 3 years on 스포츠토토 the JLPGA tour, including 2 wins this season, is a strong competitor who will jump into the race for the Rookie of the Year award if he achieves good results in the early part of the season.
Bailey Tardy (USA), who secured a card for next year by placing 2 strokes behind Yu-ran, is the main character who sublimated the bitter experience of failing to go directly to the LPGA Tour due to a cut-off in the Epson Tour (Part 2) for the last two consecutive seasons. In 2020, it was $343 short, and last year it was $1765 short. The wound in her heart is so great that she was about to give up on the Q series this year, but the back story of receiving support from those around her and submitting her application 15 minutes before the application deadline is becoming a hot topic.
Alexa Fano (18, USA), who gained popularity through Netflix as one of the main characters in the golf documentary “The Short Game,” which depicts the challenges of junior players, failed to make it into the top 20 by one stroke, but will be on tour for the first and second parts next year. I was able to receive love from the fans.
Along with Park Geum-gang (21), who passed with a tie for ninth place, Joo Soo-bin (18), who has dual Korean and American citizenship, tied for 34th, is also a player to keep an eye on. Joo Soo-bin, who graduated from elementary and middle school in Pohang and is currently attending Gimcheon Central Bangtong High School, advanced to the finals by winning the US Women’s Open domestic qualifier this year, and won a card in her first attempt at the LPGA.