After a fortnight of pressure-packed golf, 46 players representing 21 different countries earned LPGA status for 2023 through Q-Series. A total of 23 of the 46 players will be LPGA rookies.
Hae Ran Ryu earned medalist honors, finishing at 29 under. The KLPGA player came into the event ranked 50th in the world. Ryu broke 70 in six of the eight rounds.
“I didn’t think that I could earn the LPGA tour card so soon,” said Ryu. “It’s still unreal to me that I could play on the LPGA tour.”
Three teenagers earned LPGA status for the first time, including former Netflix star Alexa Pano. Two players who are 30 and over are LPGA members for the first time.
Former Wake Forest player Ines Laklalech made history by becoming the first LPGA member from Morocco as well as North Africa and the Arab region.
Six players turned professional at the start of Q-Series. Two of those players earned LPGA status: Valery Plata and Natthakritta Vongtaveelap.
Plata, a fifth-year senior at Michigan State, prepped for final exams all throughout the tournament.
“I think it was good for me to just go home, stop thinking about what happened on the golf course and just think about school,” said Plata, who was 4 over in her first nine holes on Day 1 and finished the tournament 25 under.
Players who finished in positions 1-20 earned category 14 LPGA status, while those in positions 21-45 will be in category 15. Players in category 14 will be ranked higher on the priority status list that fills tournament fields. Players are listed in the order of their finish at Q-Series.
To wit: Of the 17 Q Series grads last year who kept their LPGA card in 2022, only 4 were below 20th. The lowest were a pair at T35: Linn Grant (who despite only playing the non-US events incredibly was 56th in CME points) and Caroline Inglis who got the final card at No. 100.
— Grant Boone (@grantboone) December 12, 2022
Check out the complete list of players who earned LPGA status below:
1. Hae Ran Ryu, 21, Suwon, South Korea
Hae Ran Ryu is a five-time winner on the Korean LPGA and is currently No. 50 in the Rolex Rankings. Ryu is the third player from South Korea to win Q-Series and the second consecutive, following Na Rin An in 2021.
Ryu was the 2020 KLPGA Rookie of the Year and 2018 Korean Women’s Amateur champion.
2. Bailey Tardy, 26, Atlanta
Bailey Tardy will be a rookie on the LPGA in 2023. After several close calls, including an 11th-place finish on the 2022 Epson Tour money list, the Georgia grad finally earned her card. Tardy’s lone victory on the Epson Tour came at the 2021 Copper Rock Championship.
T-3. Valery Plata, 21, Bucaramanga, Colombia
Michigan State’s Valery Plata turned professional just last month ahead of Q-Series. The 2020 Big Ten Player of the Year won the Big Ten’s Mary Fossum Award in 2021, an honor given to the player with the season’s lowest stroke average to par. She grew up next door to longtime LPGA player Maria Jose Uribe back home in Colombia.
T-3. Aline Krauter, 22, Stuttgart, Germany
After helping Stanford win the 2022 NCAA title, Germany’s Aline Krauter turned professional in August. The 2020 British Women’s Amateur champion played two events on the LPGA as a professional in 2022: the Greater Toledo LPGA Classic (T-29) and the Pelican Women’s Championship (T-55).
5. Minami Katsu, 24, Kagoshima, Japan
A 10-time winner on the Japan LPGA, Minami Katsu became the youngest winner in JLPGA Tour history when she won the 2014 KKT Cup Vantelin Ladies Open at age 15. A two-time major winner on the JLPGA, Katsu turned professional in 2017. She tied for eighth at the 2022 TOTO Japan Classic.
T-6. Chanettee Wannasaen, 18, Chiang Mai, Thailand
A two-time winner on the Thailand LPGA, Chanettee Wannasaen turned professional in 2021. She has one victory on the LET Access Series. The Thai teen won the 2019 Singha Thailand Amateur Match Play Championship.
T-6. Samantha Wagner, 26, Windermere, Florida
The former University of Florida player turned professional in 2017. Wagner, who will be an LPGA rookie next year, made the cut in 16 of 20 starts on the Epson Tour in 2022, recording five top-10 finishes. Her career-best finish on that tour is a tie for second at the 2021 Copper Rock Championship.
8. Linnea Johansson, 29, Bastad, Sweden
Linnea Johansson played collegiate golf at Nova Southeastern University (2013) before transferring to Oklahoma State. The 29-year-old has made $131,849 in career earnings on the LPGA. She finished 120th on the CME points list in 2022. Her career-best finish on tour is a share of 24th at the 2022 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, alongside playing partner Frida Kinhult.
T-9. Kum-Kang Park, 21, Seoul
Kum-Kang Park is a two-time winner on the Epson Tour. The South Korean has one career LPGA start and will be an LPGA rookie in 2023. In 2022, she made 16 cuts in 20 starts with three top-10 finishes. She finished 19th on the Epson Tour money list.
T-9. Lauren Hartlage, 24, Elizabethtown, Kentucky
Lauren Hartlage, a former Louisville player turned professional in August 2021 and earned LPGA status at last year’s Q-Series. Hartlage finished 143rd on the CME points list. She played in 16 events on the LPGA in 2022 and carded one top-10 finish at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational alongside playing partner Brooke Matthews.
T-9. Isi Gabsa, 27, Munich, Germany
Isi Gabsa first earned LPGA membership for 2019 after finishing ninth in the 2018 Epson Tour money list. Gabsa notched her lone victory at the 2018 Forsyth Classic and has 13 additional top-10 finishes. The German has $244,538 in career earnings on the LPGA.
T-12. Luna Sobron Galmes, 28, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
A three-time winner on the LET, Spain’s Luna Sobron Galmes first earned LPGA membership for 2018 after finishing T-5 at Q-School. In 2022, Sobron Galmes made the cut in two of six starts on the LPGA with a season-best finish of T-68 at the Kroger Queen City.
T-12. Yu-Sang Hou, 23, Taipei
An LPGA rookie in 2022, Yu-Sang Hou made the cut in three of 12 starts on the LPGA with a career-best finish of T-55 at the Greater Toledo LPGA Classic. The former Arizona player. whose sister Vivian is also a professional golfer, made the cut in eight of nine starts on the Epson Tour and recorded two top-15 finishes.
T-12. Ines Laklalech, 25, Casablanca, Morocco
Ines Laklalech becomes the first player from North Africa and the Arab region to earn LPGA status, advancing through all three stages of qualifying. Earlier this year, the former Wake Forest player won the LET’s Lacoste Ladies Open de France, becoming that tour’s first Moroccan, Arab and North African champion.
T-15. Dana Finkelstein, 29, Chandler, Arizona
Dana Finkelstein made the cut in 11 of 19 starts on the LPGA with a season-best finish of T-18 at the Meijer LPGA Classic. The 29-year-old has made $457,623 in career earnings on the LPGA. She first earned LPGA membership for 2017 after finishing seventh on the 2016 Epson money list. Finkelstein finished 117th on the CME points list in 2022.
T-15. Polly Mack, 23, Berlin, Germany
Former Alabama player Polly Mack made eight cuts in 11 starts on the Epson Tour with two top-10 finishes in her rookie season. A member of the German national team, Mack’s career-best finish on the Epson Tour was a solo third at the 2022 French Lick Charity Classic.
T-17. Jennifer Song, 32, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Jennifer Song finished 111th on the CME point list this season. The former USC standout first earned LPGA status in 2011 after finishing second on the Epson Tour money list. While Song has yet to win on the LPGA, the 2009 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion has made $2,952,157 in career earnings in 260 events on the LPGA.
T-17. Ellinor Sudow, 24. Vasatorp, Sweden
Ellinor Sudow played collegiate golf at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, helping to launch the program. The 24-year-old Swedish player turned professional earlier this year. She finished second at the 2021 Danish International Ladies Amateur Championship and solo third at the 2021 German International Amateur.
T-17. Maddie Szeryk, 26, London, Ontario
Maddie Szeryk played collegiate golf at Texas A&M where she set the SEC record with 32 career top-10 tournament finishes. Szeryk earned LPGA status for 2022 after a T-35 finish at the 2021 LPGA Q-Series. She finished 144th on the CME points list this season with 14 starts.
T-17. Riley Rennell, 24, Columbia, Tennessee
Riley Rennell earned Epson Tour status for 2022 and made seven cuts in 16 starts. Her career-best finish on the Epson Tour was a solo second at the 2022 Epson Tour Championship; she has one additional career top-10 finish on that tour. Rennell has $42,437 in career earnings.
T-21. Alexa Pano, 18, Lake Worth, Florida
Alexa Pano turned professional in April after competing in her third Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Pano made 16 cuts in 18 starts on the Epson Tour with five top-10 finishes. Pano became the youngest golfer (age 11) to play a JLPGA Tour event at the 2016 Yonex Ladies Open. She’s best known for her role in a documentary on Netflix, “The Short Game.”
T-21. Jaravee Boonchant 23, Bangkok
Jaravee Boonchant won her first professional title at the BGC Thailand LPGA Masters. She turned professional in December 2021 and earned Epson Tour membership by completing 72 holes at Stage II of the 2021 LPGA Q-School. She finished 12th on the Epson Tour money list this season and had former Duke teammate Gina Kim on the bag at Q-Series. Kim will also compete LPGA in 2023.
T-21. Dani Holmqvist, 34, Stockholm, Sweden
Dani Holmqvist first earned LPGA membership in 2013. She played a full season on the Epson Tour in 2022, with a season-best finish of T-2 at the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic. Holmqvist’s career-best finish on the LPGA is a tie for seventh at the 2018 Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic. She has $475,874 in career earnings on the LPGA.
T-24. Min Lee, 27, Taoyuan City, Chinese Taipei
Min Lee first earned LPGA status in at the final stage of 2016 Q-School. The 27-year-old has made $761,968 in career earnings on the LPGA. A three-time Epson Tour winner, Lee represented Chinese Taipei at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
T-24. Sofia Garcia, 24, Asuncion, Paraguay
A two-time South American Amateur champion, Sofia Garcia turned professional in 2021 after playing collegiately at Texas Tech. Garcia’s career-best finish on the Epson Tour is a T-2 at the 2022 Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic; she has five additional career top-10 finishes. She finished 30th on the Epson Tour money list this season.
T-24. Yuna Nishimura, 22, Osaka, Japan
A six-time winner on the Japan LPGA, Yuna Nishimura has five career LPGA starts, including a solo-fourth at the 2022 TOTO Japan Classic. Nishimura turned professional in 2019. As an amateur, she was the runner-up in the 2018 Women’s Asia-Pacific Amateur and fifth in 2019.
T-24. Pavarisa Yoktuan, 28, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand
Pavarisa Yoktuan first earned LPGA status at the 2015 Q-School. Yoktuan’s career-best finish on the LPGA is a tie for fifth at the 2019 Greater Toledo LPGA Classic. She has $303,605 in career earnings on the LPGA. Her career-best finish on the Epson Tour is fourth.
T-28. Natthakritta Vongtaveelap, 20, Bangkok
Natthakritta Vongtaveelap turned professional before the start of Q-Series. She advanced through all three stages of qualifying school. The Thai player finished runner-up twice in the 2021 and 2022 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific. She is a two-time winner of the Singha Thailand Amateur Open (2021, 2022) and won the 2021 Singha Thailand Ladies Amateur Open.
T-28 Karis Davidson, 24, Gold Coast, Australia
Karis Davidson first earned LPGA status at last year’s Q-Series where she finished T-41. The Aussie turned pro in 2016 and has made $102,807 in career earnings on the LPGA. In 2022, Davidson made the cut in eight of 11 starts on the LPGA with a career-best finish of T-8 at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational with partner Daniela Darquea.
T-28. Karen Chung, 27, Budd Lake, New Jersey
Karen Chung first earned LPGA membership for 2019 after finishing fifth on the 2018 Epson Tour money list. Her career-best finish on the LPGA is a tie for 40th at the 2019 LOTTE Championship. Chung, a former USC standout, made 13 cuts in 20 starts on the Epson Tour this season with three top-10 finishes.
T-28. Charlotte Thomas, 29, Guildford, England
England’s Charlotte Thomas first earned LPGA status for 2019 after finishing ninth on the Epson Tour money list. In 2022, Thomas made the cut in 11 of 20 starts on the LPGA with a season-best finish of T-12 at the Lotte Championship. She has made $354,250 in career earnings on the LPGA. In 2016, Thomas helped lead Washington to its first NCAA title.
T-28. Dewi Weber, 26, Groningen, Netherlands
Dewi Weber of the Netherlands and her caddy fist bump before teeing off during the sixth round of the 2022 LPGA Q-Series – Dothan at Highland Oaks Golf Course on December 9 2022 in Dothan Alabama. (Photo by Hannah Ruhoff/Getty Images)A former three-time All-American at Miami, Dewi Weber was an LPGA rookie in 2022 and finished 101st on the CME points list, barely missing out on her full card. She made 10 cuts in 20 starts on the LPGA this year and recorded a career-best finish of T-6 at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational alongside playing partner Pauline Roussin-Bouchard.
T-28. Manon De Roey, 30, Antwerp, Belgium
Belgium’s Manon De Roey won the 2022 Aramco Team Series in Bangkok and has 15 additional top-10 finishes on that tour. The 30-year-old represented Belgium at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She played collegiate golf at New Mexico, winning twice, and turning professional in 2015.
T-34. Jenny Coleman, 30, Rolling Hills Estate, California
Jenny Coleman’s career-best finish on LPGA of third came at the 2021 LPGA Drive On Championship at Golden Ocala. She first earned LPGA membership for the 2020 season after finishing third on the Epson Tour money list in 2019. Coleman made the cut in eight of 24 starts on the LPGA this season, with a season-best finish of T-14 at the DIO Implant LA Open.
T-34. Soo Bin Joo, 18, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
South Korea’s Soo Bin Joo made her professional debut at the the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open, where she missed the cut. The 18-year-old advanced through all three stages of LPGA qualifying. She has also competed as Alicia Joo.
T-34. Louise Ridderstrom, 28, Stocksund, Sweden
Louise Ridderstrom played collegiate golf at UCLA and turned professional in 2016. Her career-best finish on the LPGA is a tie for 18th at the 2019 LPGA Mediheal. Ridderstrom first earned LPGA membership after finishing T-36 at 2018 LPGA Q-Series. She has made $98,584 in career earnings on the LPGA.
T-34. Jing Yan, 26, Shanghai
Jing Yan has made $1,230,362 in career earnings but struggled mightily in 2022, missing the cut in eight of eight starts on the LPGA this year. She also missed the cut in all nine starts on the Epson Tour this season. Yan played collegiate golf at Washington. Her career-best finish on the LPGA is a solo second at the 2017 New Zealand Women’s Open.
T-38. Lindy Duncan, 31, Plantation, Florida
Lindy Duncan first earned LPGA status for the 2014 season. This year, the former Duke standout made four cuts in 10 starts on the LPGA, with a season-best result of T-9 at the CP Women’s Open. Duncan finished 115th on the CME points list. She has made $1,246,290 in career earnings on the LPGA.
T-38. Roberta Liti, 27, Siena, Italy
Roberta Liti will be a rookie on the LPGA in 2023. The former Arizona State player turned professional in December 2018. Her career-best finish on the Epson Tour is a tie for fifth at the 2020 Symetra Classic; she has two additional career top-10 finishes.
T-38. Magdalena Simmermacher, 26, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Magdalena Simmermacher played collegiate golf at Old Dominion University, where she was 2015 Freshman of the Year and 2018 Conference USA Player of the Year. She has competed in seven LPGA events, but has yet to make a cut. A veteran of the LET, Simmermacher has three runner-up finishes on that tour.
T-38. Laura Wearn, 31, Charlotte, North Carolina
A three-time winner on the Epson Tour, 31-year-old Laura Wearn will be a rookie on the LPGA next season. The former Furman player turned professional in 2014. This season, she made 14 cuts in 20 starts with a season-best finish of T-3 at the Wildhorse Ladies Golf Classic and the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship. Wearn finished 24th on the Epson Tour money list in 2022.
T-38. Ana Belac, 25, Portoroz, Slovenia
Ana Belac first earned LPGA membership for 2021 after topping the Epson Tour money list in 2020. The former Duke player made the cut in seven of 19 starts on the LPGA in 2022 with a season-best finish of T-35 at the DIO Implant LA Open. Together, Belac, Kim and Boonchant helped Duke win the 2019 NCAA Championship.
T-38. Su Oh, 26, Melbourne, Australia
Su Oh, 26, first earned LPGA status for the 2016 season. She has two victories worldwide: the 2015 Volvik RACV Ladies Masters co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour and the ALPG Tour, and the 2022 Australian WPGA Championship on the ALPG Tour. In 2022, Oh made the cut in nine of 24 starts with a season-best finish of 18th at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Olympics, finishing in a tie for 13th.
T-38. Weiwei Zhang, 25, Hainan, China
A five-time winner on the CLPGA Tour, Weiwei Zhang was an LPGA rookie in 2022. Zhang made two cuts in 10 starts on the LPGA, with a career-best finish of T-10 coming at the Portland Classic. Zhang turned professional in 2017 and won the Sky Ladies ABC Cup on the JLPGA that season.
T-45. Arpichaya Yubol, 20, Saraburi, Thailand
Arpichaya Yubol advanced through all three stages of LPGA qualifying. The 20-year-old from Thailand has one victory in the LET Access Series. She one career LPGA start, finishing 74th at the 2022 Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open. Yubol, who turned pro in 2017, has one victory on the TLPGA.
T-45. Dottie Ardina, 29, Laguna, Philippines
Dottie Ardina, 29, first earned LPGA membership for 2014 via LPGA Q-School. She has made $308,690 in career earnings on the LPGA with her career-best result a tie for 12th at the 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA. Ardina made the cut in 15 of 16 starts on the Epson Tour this season, winning the 2022 Copper Rock Championship.
