The newest version of the LPGA Tour’s final stage of qualifying, Q-Series, wrapped up today at Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Mobile, Alabama, after the sixth round of some of the most stressful golf there is. The LPGA cut down the final stage of qualifying from an eight-round marathon to a six-round affair but maintaining the cut after 72 holes. Those who survived had only two days to get into the top 45 who earn status for the 2024 season.
Some veterans hoped to give their careers a vital lifeline, while others vied for a chance to begin their professional careers. Australia’s Robyn Choi, who has not played on the LPGA full-time since 2019, won by three strokes at 29-under par. Here’s more on her and six other notable players who earned status for 2024.
Robyn Choi
Q-Series finish: Winner (29-under 401)
The 25-year-old Queenslander will return to the LPGA for the first time since 2020. This was Choi’s third consecutive Q-Series appearance, earning her way to the final stage with her finishes on the Epson Tour moneylist. She missed the Q-Series cut in 2021 and finished T-55, three strokes out of status, in 2022. Her $US15,000 first-place cheque for winning exceeds her total career earnings on the LPGA Tour ($US10,007).
Choi is one of two Aussies to graduate to the LPGA Tour for 2024, with Perth’s Hira Naveed finishing Q-Series in outright 15th place to also secure a card, thanks mainly to a closing 65 that lifted her from 43rd place.
Mina Harigae
Q-Series finish: 4th (21-under 409)
While the “Mr Irrelevant” in the NFL, Brock Purdy, nicknamed for the final pick of the NFL draft, is soaring to new heights with the San Francisco 49ers as their starting quarterback, Harigae, a Bay-area native, earned the unfortunate “Ms 101” moniker, finishing 101st on the LPGA’s CME points list and missing out by one spot for quality status in ’24. Undeterred, the 34-year-old Harigae posted six straight under-par rounds to put the 2021 US Solheim Cup team member in a better position for her 15th year on tour.
Laetita Beck
Q-Series finish: T-10 (18-under 412)
The first-ever Israeli PGA Tour or LPGA Tour member will return with full status for the first time since 2018. Beck, 31, made her LPGA rookie debut in 2014 and played in the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she finished T-31. She returned to the LPGA’s final stage of qualifying for the seventh time in her career by finishing 20th on the Epson Tour moneylist.
Lucy Li
Q-Series finish: T-17 (13-under 417)
After Li’s triumphant 2022 season, where she won the Epson Player of the Year award and posted a pair of top-10s on the LPGA, it felt like she had started to realise the potential she was dripping as an 11-year-old. Instead, Li had to fight for her tour status after an up-and-down rookie season with no top-10s.
Jennifer Song
Q-Series finish: T-17 (13-under 417)
Having the CME Group Tour Championship winner as your caddie, apparently, pays off. Song, 33, in danger of not having full-time tour status for the first time since her 2011 rookie season, had close friend Amy Yang, who won the CME three weeks ago, caddie for her at Q-Series. Song barely snuck into the final stage of qualifying, finishing 149th on the CME points list, and after a consistent week, she earned quality status again for her 13th season on tour.
Alena Sharp
Q-Series finish: T-38 (9-under 421)
Sharp, 42, sat T-60 going into the final round of Q-Series. After a year grinding on the Epson Tour, the Canadian’s first full year on the LPGA’s developmental circuit since 2005, Sharp responded with a four-under 68 to surge into status for her 20th year on the LPGA. The veteran will have early opportunities to move into position to represent Canada for the third time at the Olympics, as she’s currently in 290th in the world ranking and 40 spots away from Canada’s second slot.
Annie Park
Q-Series finish: T-45 (8-under 422)
After a birdie on Park’s 107th hole to move to eight-under, the 2018 ShopRite LPGA Classic winner needed a birdie on the final hole to move into the top 45. Instead, after a par on the last and signing her card, Park sat perilously at T-46. With only a handful of players left on the course, Yue Ren slipped to eight-under, giving Park a needed lifeline and a substantial bump up the LPGA’s priority list for next season.
Here are the rest of the players who earned status at Q-Series:
T-2 Mao Saigo
T-2 So Mi Lee
T-5 Gurleen Kaur
T-5 Polly Mack
T-7 Hyo Joon Jang
T-7 Yu Jin Sung
T-7 Yuri Roshida
T-10 Savannah Grewal
T-12 Yiyi Liu
T-12 Xiaowen Yin
14 Liqi Zeng
15 Hira Naveed
16 Lauren Hartlage
T-17 Jing Yan
T-17 Sofia Garcia
T-17 Yealimi Noh
T-17 Jin Hee Im
T-23 Malia Nam
T-23 Nataliya Guseva
T-23 Jeongeun Lee5
T-23 Aline Krauter
T-27 Kirra Riihijarvi
T-27 Kelly Tan
T-27 Alexandra Fosterling
T-27 Ana Pealez Trivino
T-27 Kaitlyn Papp Budde
T-27 Benedetta Moresco
T-27 Lauren Stephen
T-35 Ssu-Chia Cheng
T-35 Weiwei Zhang
T-35 Mariajo Uribe
T-38 Trichet Cheenglab
T-38 Maddie Szeryk
T-38 Laura Wearn
T-38 Clariss Guce
T-38 Sophia Schubert
T-38 Sydney Clanton
T-45 Becca Huffer
T-45 Due Ren
T-45 Gigi Stoll
T-45 Nicole Broch Estrup
T-45 Jung Min Hong
