Jennifer Song – Syndication Server

LPGA Q-Series reaches halfway point after heavy rain adds extra day to the schedule

The 108-hole grind that is the 2023 LPGA Q-Series will go to a seventh day.

Three inches of rain Saturday in Mobile, Alabama, led to the postponement of the third round, which had to roll over to Sunday. The final round will now happen Wednesday.

There are 104 golfers at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail competing for LPGA cards for the 2024 season. Robyn Choi of Australia leads the way at 13 under after 54 holes. She shot the lone 64 (7 under) at the Falls Course on Sunday. Three golfers – India’s Diksha Dagar, American Lauren Stephenson and Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe – posted 8-under 64s on the Crossings Course on Sunday.

Tied for second at 12 under, a shot back, are Japan’s Mao Saigo, Korea’s Hyo Joon Jang and Mira Harigae of the U.S., who finished 101st in the CME points, one spot out of earning a 2024 card. She also dropped from 49th to 120th in the Rolex Rankings. Rounds of 68-66-68 so far this week have her in solid position at Q-Series.

There will be a cut after the fourth round, which is now going to be on Monday, with the low 65 and ties advancing. The projected cut as of Sunday night is 3 under. Come Wednesday, the top 45 and ties will earn their cards. Any player who completes 72 holes will receive Epson Tour status.

The LPGA is sticking to the six-round schedule and also wants to “allow maintenance crews to prepare the golf courses and provide the fairest course conditions for the competition,” the tour said in a release.

The re-worked daily schedule, according to the LPGA, now looks like this:

Round 4 will start at 7:30 a.m. ET on Monday from No. 1 tee only
After round 4, the cut will be made of the top 65 players and ties
Round 5 will start at 7:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday on Crossings Course from No. 1 and 10 tee
Round 6 will start at 7:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday on Crossings Course from No. 1 and 10 tees

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Two weeks after winning $2 million at CME, Amy Yang is at LPGA Q-Series – as a caddie

The five-time LPGA winner is instead caddying at LPGA Q-Series for good friend Jennifer Song.

Amy Yang is back inside the ropes after winning the CME Group Tour Championship and the $2 million first-place prize. Only Yang wont’t hit any shots. The five-time LPGA winner is instead caddying at LPGA Q-Series for good friend Jennifer Song, according to lpga.com.

Yang, 34, last played at LPGA Q-School in 2008, but agreed to return to help Song, who finished 149th on the CME points list, which determines LPGA status. The top 100 on the CME list keep full status each year.

Song, 33, missed 11 cuts in 18 starts on tour in 2023. The 2009 U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links champion, Song has recorded 13 career top-10 finishes and made $3,006,404 since joining the tour in 2011.

Jennifer Song of the United States plays her second shot on the 18th hole on Day One of the ISPS HANDA World Invitational presented by AVIV Clinics at Galgorm Castle Golf Club on August 17, 2023 in United Kingdom. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)

The newly abbreviated LPGA Q-Series got underway Thursday at the Robert Trent Jones’ Magnolia Grove Golf Course in Mobile, Alabama. The event, which has been shortened from 144 holes to 108 holes, concludes Dec. 5.

Song is one of 104 players who will compete over the Falls and Crossings courses, with a cut after Round 4 to low 65 and ties.

Players who finish in the top 45 and ties will earn 2024 LPGA cards, with those in the top 20 earning a higher status.

Mel Reid in front at Shoprite LPGA Classic after three rounds

Mel Reid leads the Shoprite LPGA Classic after 3 rounds at 15 under. Jennifer Kupcho and Jennifer Song are T-2 at 14 under.

With one more round to go in the Shoprite LPGA Classic, they’re all chasing Mel Reid.

The 33-year old was consistent throughout the day at Seaview Resort in Galloway, New Jersey, but arguably her finest moment came at the halfway point. A 3-wood into the par-5 ninth hit the edge of the green and rolled several feet toward the hole, setting up an eagle. Three additional birdies propelled Reid to a 5-under 66 and 15 under par: one shot clear of second place.

England’s Reid tied for seventh at the ANA Inspiration and tied for fifth at the Cambia Portland Classic. A win at the Seaview this week would be her first career victory on the LPGA Tour.

Jennifer Kupcho and Jennifer Song may have something to say about that, though.

ShopRite LPGA Classic: Leaderboard

Kupcho, a former NCAA Division I champion with Wake Forest, carded a 6-under 65 to put herself into a tie for second. The 23-year old from Littleton, Colorado, dealt with pain in her upper back throughout the third round and still managed six birdies.

“Yeah, I mean, the golf course is definitely tricky,” said Kupcho. “I think it really actually makes me focus a lot more just because some of the holes you have to like hit right on the spot going into the greens. I’ve played through a lot of things in my career.”

Song equaled Kupcho with a 65 of her own. The 30-year old dual citizen of the U.S. and South Korea remained clean and finished strong, holing the last of her six birdies on No. 18.

“I love it,” Song said about her performance. “First and third round it was bogey-free, and I just want keep that going and have the same momentum going into tomorrow. I’m not going to change a lot of things. I think just focus on my rhythm and be aggressive out there.”

The top of the leaderboard remains fairly crowded, with a number of other contenders lurking. Fourth-place Nasa Hataoka of Japan finds herself within striking distance at 12 under. Malaysia’s Kelly Tan and California’s Ryann O’Toole are T-5 at 11 under, while Canadian Brooke Henderson is also in the hunt at 10 under, which leave her in seventh place.

“Yeah, first two days I didn’t really score as well as I felt like I was actually hitting it,” said Henderson, who achieved seven birdies and one bogey. “Today I kind of made some putts that I wasn’t expecting to make, so it was a little bit of a bonus. Evens out, but hopefully tomorrow I can continue to make all those putts that I made today.”

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