Six Koreans advance to second leg of LPGA Q-Series

Golf

Published: 08 Dec. 2022, 17:19

Six Koreans advance to second leg of LPGA Q-Series

Ryu Hae-ran tees off during the first round of the SK Shieldus SK Telecom Championship at Lavie Est Belle in Chuncheon, Gangwon on Nov. 11. [KLPGA]

With the first half of LPGA Q-Series completed after four rounds at Magnolia Grove Golf Course, six Koreans landed in the top 70 and will advance to the second week at Highland Oaks Golf Course in Dothan, Alabama.

There are 45 LPGA Tour cards for the 2023 season up for grabs at the two week Q-Series, with eight Korean golfers — Lee Mi-hyang, Lee Seul-ki, Kang Min-ji, Yoon Min-a, Hong Yae-eun, Park Kum-kang, Ryu Hae-ran and Jeon Ji-won — starting out the first week of qualifiers. Lee Seul-ki and Kang missed the cut.

With the top 70 and ties coming in at two-under-par to make the cut, Lee Seul-ki carded a one-under-par while Kang carded a three-over-par after the first week.

The top Korean going into the second week is Ryu Hae-ran, who carded a 12-under-par to tie for sixth. This season on the KLPGA Tour, Ryu won one KLPGA title at the Nexen SaintNine Masters 2022.

Hong Yae-eun watches her shot after teeing off during the second round of the BMW Ladies Championship golf tournament at Oak Valley Country Club in Wonju on Oct. 21. [AFP/YONHAP]

On the other end of the leaderboard, No. 119 Hong narrowly made the cut, carding two under par and tying for 66th with nine other golfers despite being the more experienced Korean golfers going into the Q-series.

Hong had played the qualifying event last year and finished tied for 12th, reaching the LPGA Tour for the first time in 2022.

However, Hong had a rough rookie season, missing seven consecutive cuts before beginning to find her form in the last few tournaments.

Hong was only able to card her first top 10 finish in October, when the Tour flew to Korea for the BMW Ladies Championship and she played as a sponsor invitee.

The Q-Series is a 144-hole stroke-play tournament played across two golf courses over two weeks with cumulative scores.

The first week teed off on Dec. 1 at the Magnolia Grove Golf Course with the cut line to the top 70 and ties coming in at two-under par.

This week, those who made the cut will battle at Highland Oaks Golf Course to reach the top 45 and ties, based on their scores over the two weeks of play and earn a LPGA Tour status for the 2023 season.

Last season, An Na-rin and Choi Hye-jin, alongside Hong, earned their Tour cards, with An topping the leaderboard while Choi tied for eighth.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]