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Players at The Annika fighting to keep their LPGA cards for 2024

The penultimate event of the year on the LPGA is layered with interest.

The penultimate event of the year on the LPGA is layered with interest as some players fight for spots in the lucrative CME Group Tour Championship while others fight for their jobs.

There’s great emphasis on the 60th spot of the CME points list, the cutoff point for the season-ending event with the $7 million purse. What’s even more impactful for many players, however, is the 100th spot. The top 100 players on the points list maintain full cards for the 2024 season. The top 80 receive the best status available.

Midway leader Emily Kristine Pedersen holds a two-stroke lead at The Annika driven by Gainbridge after rounds of 63-65 put her at 12 under at Pelican Golf Club. Pedersen entered the week 80th on the CME list and is projected to move to 34th should she triumph for the first time on the LPGA. While winning will require a good bit of work, Pedersen is in fine shape to jump into the top 60.

Emily Kristine Pedersen plays her shot from the third tee during the second round of the 2023 Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican at Pelican at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida. (Photo: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

The Dane had plenty of memorable moments at the Solheim Cup in Spain this year, including an ace, and carried that fire into the regular season.

“I think I haven’t really been good at cheering on myself in normal tournaments,” she said. “I’m kind of like getting annoyed about the bad things, but when the good things happen I take it for granted a little bit.

“So I have been trying to pat myself on the back a little bit more when I’m doing something good, and that’s definitely something I’m taken from the Solheim.”

Minami Katsu, who currently sits in second, also hopes to vault into the top 60. Currently 78th on the points list, she’s projected to move to No. 49 should she remain in that position.

Meanwhile, Muni He, who is rocketing up the board, is in a fight for full status. Players who finish 81st to 100th on the CME list fall into Category 11 on the LPGA priority list, which is used to fill fields. He started the week 113th and is tied for fourth after two days at The Annika. He is currently projected to move up to 92nd on the money list.

Those who fall between Nos. 101 to 125 on the list will be in Category 16 next season. Some players who finish outside the top 100 will go to Q-Series later this year to improve their status. The top 45 finishers from Q-Series fall in Categories 14 and 15 and are listed in the order they finish.

Here are five notables currently battling for full status:

Nine amateurs advanced through Stage 2 of LPGA Q-School. Now they have a decision to make

These golfers will soon have to make a decision about turning pro or go back to school.

The second stage of LPGA Q-School took place last week in Venice, Florida, and of the 188 who started the week, 41 advanced. Among those 41 were nine amateurs, including LSU’s Ingrid Lindblad, who topped the field by four strokes with an 18-under total.

Lindblad, a fifth-year senior who is currently No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, shot 67-66-70-67 at Plantation Golf and Country Club’s Bobcat and Panther courses.

Last year, the LPGA changed its Q-Series criteria, requiring players to turn professional before they can compete for an LPGA card. The deadline for players to sign up for Q-Series as a professional is 5 p.m. ET on Friday, November 17.

Lindblad said she’s decided to go back to school for one more semester.

“At the beginning of the year I’m like I am probably just going to go through the whole Q-Series and like peace out,” said Lindblad, “but I was talking to my coaches, and I really like it at LSU. Like, our coaches are awesome. This year we have a really good team, so I just want to give it a chance to get another SEC and maybe a national championship.”

Lindblad left Venice with Epson Tour status for 2024.

2023 NCAA Women's Golf Championships — Ingrid Lindblad from LSU plays her tee shot on the 10th hole during the first day of stroke play competition at the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale. (Photo: Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic)

Notable amateurs who missed the cut include Southern Cal’s Amari Avery and former U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Jensen Castle.

This year’s LPGA Q-Series takes place Nov. 30 to Dec. 5 in Mobile, Alabama, at the Magnolia Grove Golf Course.

Here are the eight other amateurs who will soon have to make a similar decision about turning pro:

Epson Tour pro’s epic birdie-eagle finish secures last LPGA card for 2024 season

Gillman hit a 4-hybrid from 196 yards to 5 feet and then drained the eagle putt on the 18th hole.

Kristen Gillman glanced at a leaderboard on the 16th green at the Epson Tour Championship and knew that she needed to make something happen. She promptly hit an aggressive 6-iron on the par-3 17th to 8 feet and made the birdie putt. On the par-5 18th, she hit a 4-hybrid from 196 yards to 5 feet and drained the eagle putt.

The birdie-eagle finish secured the 10th and final LPGA card for 26-year-old Gillman, who shot 64 in the final round at the LPGA International Jones Course in Daytona Beach, Florida.

“I feel like it hasn’t really sunk in,” said Gillman, who was back at the course Monday for a pro-am. “I’ve been on the outside looking in all season.”

A two-time U.S. Women’s Amateur champion (2014 and 2018), Gillman came into the final event of the Epson Tour season No. 13 on the money list. The top 10 earn full LPGA status for 2024.

Gillman’s $12,177 payday gave her $95,701 in season earnings, which comes out to $1,700 ahead of Becca Huffer, who finished 11th.

Gillman was one of two players who played their way into the top 10 in Daytona. Auston Kim surged from 15th to third on the money list by winning the Epson Tour Championship with back-to-back rounds of 65.

Kristen Gillman celebrates with the Robert Cox Trophy after winning the U.S. Women's Amateur. (Steven Gibbons/USGA) — Kristen Gillman celebrates with the Robert Cox Trophy after winning the U.S. Women’s Amateur. (Steven Gibbons/USGA)

It wasn’t that long ago that Gillman, an Alabama grad, was one of the best amateurs in the country. She first earned her LPGA card at the inaugural 2018 LPGA Q-Series with a T-13 finish. In her rookie season on the LPGA, Gillman qualified for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship and finished 43rd on the money list with $492,466.

The high didn’t last, however, as Gillman, currently 455th in the Rolex Rankings, found herself playing a full schedule on the Epson Tour in 2023 trying to make her way back to the LPGA. Gillman said confidence was the main ingredient she lacked in recent years. She felt like she was hitting it well enough, but couldn’t score.

“A lot of it is whatever you make it to be,” said Gillman of tour life. “You can make it seem a lot harder than it actually is. The more you’re out there, it’s easier to get in your head.”

At the Epson Tour Championship, Gillman said she only missed three greens in 72 holes and says her ball-striking is back where it was when she was among the best amateurs in the world and a strong LPGA rookie.

About 18 months ago, she went back to work with swing coach Justin Poynter, and while she had her boyfriend, mini-tour player Trevor Bailey, on her bag in Daytona, Gillman used a push cart for most of the season, grinding it out on her own.

The Texan felt her confidence finally start to shift after a runner-up showing in August at the French Lick Resort Charity Classic. She’d go on to finish the season with six consecutive top-15 finishes. She placed in the top 4 in her last three starts.

“If anything I’m better just mentally,” said Gillman of her form heading back to the LPGA.

“You learn a lot playing professional golf. I’m excited to get out there again and put in play what I’ve learned.”

Meet the graduates: These 10 Epson Tour players earned LPGA cards for 2024

Auston Kim vaults into top 10 to earn 2024 LPGA card after winning 2023 Epson Tour Championship.

Auston Kim needed some fireworks at the Epson Tour Championship to secure an LPGA card for 2024. She shot 7-under 29 on the front nine to get the sparks flying, and then made birdie on the final hole to win by two and vault into the top 10 on the money list.

“We talked all year about if we do the right things, if I create good habits, it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when,” said Kim, who entered the week No. 15 on the money list and ended it No. 3.

When the Tour Championship kicked off Thursday, three players had already clinched their LPGA cards for 2024: Gabriela Ruffels, Natasha Andrea Oon and Jiwon Jeon.

When the dust settled in Daytona Beach, Florida, eight of the 10 players who entered the week in the top 10 maintained their spots. Becca Huffer (No. 9) and Jenny Bae (No. 10) were the two who dropped out.

Huffer ultimately finished 11th on the money list, with $1,700 less than Kristen Gillman. The 33-year-old Huffer tied for 12th at the Tour Championship and closed with a 65.

A total of nine players broke the $100,000 mark in season earnings, five more than any other year in the developmental tour’s history.

Find out more about the card winners for the 2023 Epson Tour season: