Yoo Hae-ran, the 3rd Korean chief of the Q series… Challenge for LPGA Rookie of the Year next season
Yoo Hae-ran (21), who has won 5 times on the Korean Women’s Professional Golf (KLPAG) tour, passed the LPGA Qualifying (Q) Series as the top player and obtained a full seed for the LPGA tour next season. A former KLPGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 2020, he won the opportunity to challenge for the LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year next year.
It is the third and second year in a row that a Korean finished the Q series as the first, following Jeongeun Lee 6 (26) in 2018 and Annarin (26) in 2021. Including Q School, which was held before the Q Series, it is the 7th time since Pak Se-ri (45) in 1997 that Hae-ran Hae-ran has been honored as the top (including a joint first place) in the ‘SAT Test’, which qualifies Koreans to enter the LPGA Tour. All.
In the final 8th round of the LPGA Q Series held at the Highland Oaks Golf Course (par 72) in Doseon, Alabama, USA on the 12th (Korean time), Hae-Ran Yu shot a 4 under par 68 to take first place with a total of 29 under par 545 strokes. 100 players from all over the world took part and proudly took first place in the ‘Hell Race’, which was held over 8 rounds and 144 holes for 2 weeks. In the first round, he tied for 61st place, but gradually improved his ranking, and after taking the top spot on the leaderboard in the 7th round, he kept his ‘Number 1’ position on the final day.
There are slight differences for each competition, but if you are in the top 20 of the Q series, you can go to all competitions almost reliably. The 21st to 45th place in the Q Series will receive a conditional ticket to the LPGA Tour and a ticket to the Epson Tour (part 2), and those ranked 46th or lower will play on the Epson Tour. Yoo Hae-ran, who passed as the top scorer, was able to play in almost all games, and immediately emerged as the most promising rookie of the year on the LPGA tour next year.
Yoo Hae-ran, born in 2001, wore the Taegeuk mark in 2018 when he was 17 years old and participated in the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games team event and won a silver medal with Lim Hee-jeong (22) and Jung Yoon-ji (22). In 2019, when he was playing on the KLPGA 2nd division tour, he won the KLPGA Tour Jeju Samdasoo Masters, where he participated as an invited player, and debuted on the KLPGA Tour the following year. In 2020, when he was a rookie, he won two consecutive victories at the Jeju Samdasoo Masters and climbed to second place in the prize money rankings, winning the Rookie of the Year title and adding two victories in 2021. In April of this year, he won a total of 5 wins at the Nexen Saint Nine Masters. 메이저놀이터
In the 8th round of the Q Series, she reduced 4 strokes with 6 birdies and 2 bogeys, driving 7 under par, beating Bailey Tardy (USA) by 2 strokes and winning the senior honor.
Yoo Hae-ran said, “It means a lot to get a tour card, and it’s especially great to join the world’s best tour.” As a Korean player, he is also proud that he won the championship for two consecutive years,” he said.
“I played better than round 7. At the start he was a bit shaky and missed a few putts, but was soon able to make birdies in a row. I definitely need to practice putting a bit more while preparing for next year’s tour,” he said. I still can’t believe I got to play on the LPGA Tour. Perhaps it will take some more time to realize it. I am looking forward to playing with some of the best players in the world.”
Among Korean players, Park Geum-gang (21) tied for ninth place with a total of 20 under par following Yoo Hae-ran, winning the right to participate in the LPGA Tour next year. On the other hand, veterans Lee Mi-hyang (29), Jeon Ji-won (25), and Hong Ye-eun (20), who won two LPGA tour careers, were pushed out of the 45th place to play in the second division, the Epson Tour.
Katsu Minami (Japan), who has won two wins each on the JLPGA tour for the past two years in a row, is expected to compete with Yoo Hae-ran for the rookie of the year by securing a seed for next year with 5th place (24 under par) in the Q Series.