Tag: Bailey Tardy

2024 Blue Bay LPGA prize money payouts for each LPGA player

Check out how much money each player earned in China.

There were many nights when Bailey Tardy wondered if it might be time get a new job. She’d missed more cuts than she’d made at the start of her rookie season last year. And it had already taken a long time to even get to the LPGA.

“It’s expensive being out here,” said Tardy. “I wasn’t making any money. I’m 27, so it’s kind of like either you make it or you go get a job.”

A $482,136 paycheck for a fourth-place finish at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble, however, provided much-needed breathing room. Now, after securing her first victory in China at the Blue Bay LPGA, that bank account looks especially strong after a $330,000 payday.

Tardy has now amassed $911,491 in official career earnings on the LPGA.

This marked the first event on the Asian swing this season to feature a cut. A total of 66 players earned a paycheck on Hainan Island.

Here’s how much money each player earned at the 2024 Blue Bay LPGA.

Prize money payouts

Position Player Score Earnings
1  Bailey Tardy -19 $330,000
2  Sarah Schmelzel -15 $208,128
3  Ayaka Furue -14 $150,982
T4  Savannah Katarina Grewal -13 $95,907
T4  Minjee Lee -13 $95,907
T4  Lydia Ko -13 $95,907
7  Ruixin Liu -12 $64,381
8  Stephanie Meadow -11 $56,405
9  Hye-Jin Choi -10 $50,708
T10  Xiyu Lin -9 $44,440
T10  Lucy Li -9 $44,440
T12  Celine Boutier -8 $37,450
T12  Gaby Lopez -8 $37,450
T12  Mao Saigo -8 $37,450
T15  Yunxuan Zhang -7 $29,247
T15  Yan Liu -7 $29,247
T15  Anna Nordqvist -7 $29,247
T15  Albane Valenzuela -7 $29,247
T15  Gabriela Ruffels -7 $29,247
T15  Sei Young Kim -7 $29,247
T21  Yuna Nishimura -6 $22,660
T21  Frida Kinhult -6 $22,660
T21  Moriya Jutanugarn -6 $22,660
T21  Lauren Coughlin -6 $22,660
T21  Mi Hyang Lee -6 $22,660
T21  Yu Jin Sung -6 $22,660
T21  Olivia Cowan -6 $22,660
T28  Emily Kristine Pedersen -5 $18,972
T28  Narin An -5 $18,972
30  Esther Henseleit -4 $17,890
T31  Hee Young Park -3 $15,554
T31  Kristen Gillman -3 $15,554
T31  Jennifer Song -3 $15,554
T31  Weiwei Zhang -3 $15,554
T31  Yu Liu -3 $15,554
T31  Caroline Inglis -3 $15,554
T37  Xiaowen Yin -2 $12,620
T37  Auston Kim -2 $12,620
T37  Muni He -2 $12,620
T37  Chanettee Wannasaen -2 $12,620
T41  Danlin Cai -1 $10,939
T41  Pavarisa Yoktuan -1 $10,939
T41  Mary Liu -1 $10,939
T44  Roberta Liti E $9,515
T44  Daniela Darquea E $9,515
T44  Yuai Ji E $9,515
T44  Miranda Wang E $9,515
T48  Yijia Ren (a) 1 —
T48  Paula Reto 1 $8,318
T48  Wichanee Meechai 1 $8,318
T48  Celine Borge 1 $8,318
T52  Azahara Munoz 2 $7,521
T52  Peiyun Chien 2 $7,521
T52  Liqi Zeng 2 $7,521
T55  Sandra Gal 3 $6,837
T55  Agathe Laisne 3 $6,837
T55  Zixuan Wang (a) 3 —
T55  Wei-Ling Hsu 3 $6,837
59  Ruoning Yin 5 $6,382
60  Linnea Strom 6 $6,153
T61  Iris Wang 7 $5,812
T61  Lauren Hartlage 7 $5,812
T63  Xinyu Cao 8 $5,527
T63  Yanhong Pan 8 $5,527
65  Yuli Shi 11 $5,356
66  Matilda Castren 16 $5,242

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1373]

A win away from the Hall of Fame, Lydia Ko tied for lead at Blue Bay LPGA

Sunday could be historic.

Sunday could be historic on the LPGA.

Needing one win to secure the final point to earn Hall of Fame status, Lydia Ko is tied for the lead at the Blue Bay LPGA at Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course in China. Ko shot 6-under 66 on Saturday to move into a tie with Bailey Tardy (66) and Sarah Schmelzel (69) with 18 holes to go.

Ko, a 20-time winner on the LPGA, is one point away from meeting the minimum threshold to be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame. The 26-year-old could earn her 21st win on Sunday, making herself the youngest player to ever be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame.

“Still a lot of golf to be played, and it seems like someone shoots a really low score at least one of the rounds,” Ko said. “We all know the pin positions dictate the scores, so I just got to stay patient and keep giving myself good looks and see where that puts me.”

Ko’s round featured five birdies, an eagle and a lone bogey. For Tardy, who played alongside Ko in the third round, she had a clean scorecard with four birdies and an eagle.

Meanwhile, after a player tied the course record in each of the first two rounds, Canadian Savannah Grewal set a new one on Saturday, shooting 8-under 64.

“Feels kind of surreal. Still soaking it all in,” she said. “Just wanted to come out and play my best. I was joking with my brother yesterday that I shot 2 over that today is moving day. I got it.”

However, the focus on Sunday will be Ko, who nearly earned that last point earlier this season. After winning the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions to open the year, she lost in a playoff against Nelly Korda at the LPGA Drive On Championship the next week.

Come Sunday in China, Ko can make LPGA history.

[lawrence-related id=778440230,778439984,778438553,778438468]

American bomber Bailey Tardy unlikely leader at U.S. Women’s Open

“I love this place,” said Tardy of her inspired play at Pebble Beach. “It’s heaven on earth.”

[mm-video type=video id=01h4s9byzedxgbc70a45 playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01h4s9byzedxgbc70a45/01h4s9byzedxgbc70a45-0819d16c534601f80783bc8eae86e291.jpg]

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Bailey Tardy procrastinated so much about signing up for U.S. Women’s Open qualifying that she nearly forgot it altogether. The Georgia native wound up in Minnesota, where she thought a bogey on her 36th hole put her in the first alternate position. She’d showered, changed clubs and packed up her golf clubs for an evening flight when another player suddenly three-putted the last hole.

“I was like oh, my gosh, I’ve got to go hit golf balls, I’ve been sitting down for an hour and a half,” recalled Tardy. “So I threw golf clothes back on, found my golf shoes, hit about 15 balls, and just went and played four more holes, which felt like an eternity.”

Tardy holed a 20-foot birdie putt on her fourth extra hole to secure a spot at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California, for her fourth U.S. Women’s Open start. Now, the 26-year-old, ranked No. 455 in the world, finds herself the unlikely leader at the midway point of this historic championship.

Not that she seems too surprised.

“I’ve always believed in myself to win any tournament that I enter,” said Tardy. “I’m good enough to be here, and I’ve been on the LPGA, so I feel like I definitely have the game to hang with the best in the world.”

The powerful Tardy hit a 306-yard drive on the sixth hole Friday to reach the par 5 in two and make eagle for a consecutive day, A second-round 68 gave her the solo lead at 7 under at the midway point Friday. She missed the cut in her three previous USWO appearances and finished inside the top 50 only once thus far in her rookie season.

“I love this place,” said Tardy of her inspired play this week. “It’s heaven on earth.”

U.S. Women’s Open: How to watch | Photo gallery

Tardy leads former USC player Allisen Corpuz and Hyo Joo Kim by two shots. While Kim, a five-time winner on the LPGA including the 2014 Evian Championship, is a veteran of this position, 29th-ranked Corpuz is still getting used to it all. The 25-year-old is only in her second full season on the LPGA.

“I honestly still need to get a little more comfortable, I think, in contention,” said Corpuz. “So that’s really been the focus this year, just really trying to put myself into that spot and then hopefully learn how to convert as it keeps happening.”

Kim, currently ranked eighth in the world, leads the LPGA in greens in regulation and scoring, and ranks fifth in putts per green in regulation. She closed her round Friday with a pair of bogeys to follow an opening 68 with 71.

“Starting tomorrow, I will have an excellent mindset as a new day,” said Kim of her disappointing finish.

Rookie sensation Rose Zhang heads into the weekend at 1 over par, eight strokes back of Tardy. Zhang shot 34 on her back nine for a 1-under 71, feeling like she’d steadied things enough to go into the weekend with a fresh mind.

Zhang, who holds the women’s course record of 63 at Pebble Beach, currently ranks 10th in the field in strokes gained off the tee. Her ball-striking hasn’t been as pristine as usual, however, as she’s hit only 20 of 36 greens.

“I’ve been in this position before where you have to chase,” said Zhang, “and it’s nothing new to me.”

Good-sized crowds have followed Zhang around an overcast Pebble Beach the first two days. The former Stanford star said she’s “super lucky” that people like her.

“I think that it does change a lot of how I play just because you have people just randomly shouting at and you randomly cheering you on,” said Zhang.

“It’s great and all, but definitely something that I’ve never been used to or been accustomed to. This is all very foreign and new to me. Week three as a pro.”

[pickup_prop id=”34171″]

13 players who made cut at Epson Tour event in Arizona are also in LPGA Drive On field just 21 miles away

It’s a busy two weeks in Arizona for the LPGA and its developmental tour.

MESA, Ariz. — It’s a busy two weeks in Arizona for the LPGA and its developmental tour.

The Epson Tour’s Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic, which runs through Sunday, is being held for a third time at Longbow Golf Club in Mesa.

Next week, the LPGA returns to the Grand Canyon State for the first time since 2019 when the Bank of Hope Founders Cup was played in Phoenix. Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club is hosting the LPGA Drive On Championship from March 23-26. The club also hosted the LPGA from 2004-08 for the Safeway International.

It makes for a pretty great situation for up-and-coming golfers to take advantage of back-to-back playing opportunities.

Despite an up-and-down week at the Carlisle, LPGA member Bailey Tardy is trying to make the most of consecutive weeks at golf courses just 21 miles apart. She said her first-round 79 on Thursday was due in part to key piece of equipment she forgot to pack.

“I didn’t have golf shoes the first day so I think that was my issue,” she said before showing off her new shoes. “Fifty dollars. PGA Superstore. Not the same ones, but I like them better.”

Tardy followed her 79 with a 64 to make the cut Friday.

Like Tardy, Canada’s Maude-Aimee LeBlanc will make her first 2023 LPGA start at the Drive On. And like Tardy, LeBlanc lives back east, so the Epson event is a great chance to prep.

“We haven’t played in Arizona in a while and I practice in Florida so it’s very different, the grass, the air. The ball goes a lot farther here,” she said, noting that she’s also breaking in a new caddie this week in Mesa.

There were 16 players who entered the Epson event also in the upcoming LPGA field, with Tardy among the 13 advancing to the weekend. Two of those advancing – Grace Kim and Celine Borge – are LPGA members who were 2022 Epson Tour graduates. Two others – Jaravee Boonchant and Karen Chung – are dual members, having finished between No. 21 and 45 in last year’s Q Series.

Longbow Golf Club
The leaderboard at Longbow Golf Club for the 2023 Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic. (Photo: Todd Kelly/Golfweek)

The other nine golfers who made the cut at Longbow are LPGA members: Lauren Stephenson, Lauren Coughlin, Pernilla Lindberg, Grace Kim, Amanda Doherty, Caroline Inglis, Valery Plata, Samantha Wagner along with Tardy and Leblanc.

For new Epson Tour chief business and operations officer Jody Brothers, his focus is on the first of the two events in Arizona but knows having the LPGA here next week helps on preparation and logistics for many players.

“They’re pros at traveling, but anytime you can settle in and get comfortable, whether it’s time-zone adjustment or green speeds or types of grass, I think that serves them really, really well,” he said.

Tardy missed out on her LPGA card for the 2021 season by a mere $343. Now that she has status, she’s not taking anything for granted.

“It’s just as hard to stay on the LPGA as it is to get your card.”

She’s also learned that a first-round 79 doesn’t have to ruin your week.

“Honestly, after the first round and then [bouncing back in] the second round is just never give up on yourself,” she said. “Just don’t harp on the bad things and focus on what you’ve done and rely on that to prepare yourself for the next day.”

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01evcfxp4q8949fs1e image=]

Meet each of the 46 players who earned LPGA cards at Q-Series for 2023, including rookies who span in age from 18 to 31

Meet the players who played their way onto the LPGA for 2023.

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.

Check out the complete list of players who earned LPGA status below:

LPGA Q-Series: Former Netflix star, an NAIA history maker and freshly-minted pros set for 144-hole grind

Meet 12 of the players set for the 144-hole grind.

One hundred players will tee it up this week at LPGA Q-Series, an eight-round grind that begins on Dec. 1 and ends Dec. 11. The first week will be contested at the RTJ Trail at Magnolia Grove in Mobile, Alabama, at the Crossings and Falls courses.

The field will be cut to top 70 and ties after the first week of competition. The second week of competition will take place at Highland Oaks Golf Course in Dothan, Alabama.

A total of 45 players will receive LPGA status in 2023. This is the first year that players were required to turn professional before entering Q-Series. A total of six players turned pro for this week: Nataliya Guseva, Minji Kang, Ashley Lau, Heather Lin, Valery Plata and Natthakritta Vongtaveelap.

Players in the top 75 of the Rolex Rankings automatically advanced to the final stage. Those players include: Yuna Nishimura (44), Hae Ran Ryu (51) and Minami Katsu (56).

Players who finish in the top 20 of Q-Series will fall under Category 14 of the LPGA Priority List. Those who finish 21-45 and ties earn Category 15 and Epson Tour status Category C.

Those who complete all four rounds before the cut earn Epson Tour status.

This year’s field features an eclectic group of players, including former college hotshots, up-and-comers and a former Netflix star.

“No one really wants to be here,” said Dewi Weber, who finished 101st on the CME points list this year, one position shy of a full card.

“The vibes are always really, really weird at Q-school. But I was a rookie on the LPGA, but I feel like I’m kind of a vet when it comes to Q-school because I’ve done this now four times, even though I don’t want to but I have.”

Bailey Tardy missed out on her LPGA card by $343. It left her sour, but she’s ready to fight.

Bailey Tardy missed out on her LPGA card by just $343. It left her sour, but she’s ready to fight.

Last year Bailey Tardy missed out on an LPGA card by $343.

When the Symetra Tour season was over, Tardy laid in bed at night replaying all the shots she could’ve saved. Holes she would’ve played differently. Putts she’d like to have back.

When she’d go out to the course at home in Georgia, her mind would wander to a tournament, making quality practice nonexistent. She used words like “sour” and “bitter” to describe the mood and likened her predicament to being one number off on the lottery.

“I kind of just removed myself from golf,” she said of the resulting six-week break.

Because the COVID-19 pandemic shortened the Symetra Tour season to 10 events, only five cards were awarded last season. Tardy didn’t have great status on the developmental tour, but because so many international players didn’t come back for 2020, she got into all 10 events. And she made the most of it, finishing sixth on the money list with three top-five finishes.

Typically, 10 cards are awarded each season. And usually if a player finished 11th on the money list, she’d punch a ticket directly to Q-Series with a chance to earn LPGA status. Except Q-School was canceled in 2020. The former Georgia standout finished last season exactly where she started – 151st on the priority list in Category I.

“I still don’t have great status,” said Tardy, who isn’t entirely sure how many events she’ll get in this season.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CE4vgVMlyEB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

On Wednesday, the Symetra Tour announced a 2021 schedule of 20 events with $3.8 million in total prize money. As frustrating as the $343 gap turned out to be, Tardy knows that something good came out of those 10 events: confidence.

“I didn’t even play my best golf last year,” she said, “and still was able to contend most of the weeks.”

Tardy can’t put a price-tag on that feeling of belonging. It wasn’t all that long ago that she saw her name on the leaderboard at the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open and nearly broke down crying, she felt so overwhelmed.

“Now,” she said, “I’m getting comfortable seeing it up there.”

Tardy recently headed down to Florida to get ready for the mid-March opener in Mesa, Arizona. She hired a putting instructor over the offseason, fully aware that the number of three-putts she’d had over the course of a three-round tournament, as many as eight, was keeping the former Curtis Cup player out of the winner’s circle.

Mentally, Tardy says, she has taken big strides since college.

“In college,” said Tardy, “I didn’t have a mental game.”

Last offseason she hired Bob Rotella and said the way she looks at her golf game is night and day.

“People would always be telling me, ‘You have one of the greatest golf swings,’ ” said Tardy. “I don’t know why I would never believe that.”

At a U.S. Women’s Open, she’d see people watching her on the range and worry about them nitpicking her swing. It was the same on the putting green.

“No one is even looking at you,” she’d tell herself.

Bailey Tardy and her mother Kim (photo courtesy Alison Palma/Symetra Tour)

A more confident Tardy hit the road last year with her mother Kim, whose real job is real estate agent, as her caddie.

Mom is there for comic relief, said Bailey, and they make a great team.

Two years ago when Florida Tech won the NCAA Division II title, a volunteer assistant coach convinced one his players – who was 6 down through 12 holes – to go into a tree pose to work on deep breathing in the middle of the fairway. Kim Tardy read that story and as a yoga enthusiast, now jokingly tells Tardy to go into a tree pose when she gets nervous.

(By the way, that Division II player rallied to win the match after that yoga pose.)

Mom will be back on the bag for the first part of the 2021 season, at least until work brings her back to Georgia.

Tardy met Sophia Popov for the first time at the LPGA stop in Portland last year, after the Symetra Tour player from Germany broke through with that inspiring victory at the AIG Women’s British Open.

From Symetra Tour player to major champion in the span of one week gave hope to countless grinders who are still waiting for their big break.

“She has fought to get to where she is,” said Tardy. “You may have one setback, but it doesn’t mean anything. I kind of related to that.”

This spring, the fight continues.

[jwplayer 7NBaZ2A0-vgFm21H3]