The amateur deadline to turn professional to compete in Final Qualifying is Friday at 5 p.m. ET.
One of the best players in college golf has decided to take the next step in her career.
Julia Lopez Ramirez, the third-ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, is leaving Mississippi State and turning professional. She’s expected to tee it up next month in the Final Qualifying stage of LPGA Q-Series, which requires players to have professional status to compete. UCLA senior Zoe Campos, eighth in WAGR, also turned professional to play at Final Qualifying
Five amateurs advanced past the second stage of LPGA Qualifying, including 2024 NCAA individual champion Adela Cernousek, but the senior at Texas A&M is returning to school for the spring. Also advancing were Western Kentucky’s Catie Craig and Campos’ Bruin teammate Caroline Canales.
The amateur deadline to turn professional and compete in Final Qualifying is 5 p.m. ET Friday. Those who don’t turn professional will receive Epson Tour status.
Final Qualifying is set for Dec. 5-9 at Magnolia Grove Golf Club in Mobile, Alabama.
Caitlin Clark took over the LPGA on Wednesday when she played in The Annika pro-am alongside Nelly Korda and Annika Sorenstam — she played the front nine with the world No. 1 and the back with the GOAT.
Fans came out in droves to Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida, to get an up-close look at the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft and her golf game.
Her one goal for the day was to avoid hitting a fan, and she nearly failed. However, she rebounded and played some great shots throughout the morning.
Social media quickly picked up on Clark’s shoes and were obsessed with the gold bottoms. Her shoes were Nike’s Infinity Tour 2, however, they were a Player Exclusive, meaning they’re not available to the public.
Caitlin Clark is good at golf, but on the first day at the LPGA Pro-Am known as The Annika — the legendary Annika Sorenstam is host — she nearly nailed the patrons watching her tee off while hitting her shot into the water.
What’s wild about that is that Clark had one stated goal before the tournament, per Golfweek: to avoid hitting anyone in the gallery.
But she calmly took a ball out of her pocket after that shot and hit another one that looked much, much better.
Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida, was buzzing early Wednesday morning as world No. 1 Nelly Korda and WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark warmed up for their nine-hole pro-am at The Annika, one of the biggest non-major events on the LPGA schedule.
It’s not often you get two of the biggest stars in women’s sports together, and fans took advantage of the opportunity. They came out in droves to watch Korda and Clark, with tournament host and women’s golf GOAT Annika Sorenstam and LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan making an appearance on the first tee.
After Korda and Clark finish the front nine, the No. 1 pick from the 2024 WNBA draft will play the back with Sorenstam.
Here are must-see photos from an incredible morning at Pelican Golf Club.
Kim has won $1,099,359 this season and $3,138,132 in her LPGA career.
A Lim Kim crossed the $1 million mark in earnings this season after her victory at the Lotte Championship in Hawaii. The 29-year-old South Korean earned $450,000 for her two-stroke triumph over Russian rookie Nataliya Guseva.
Kim has won $1,099,359 this season and $3,138,132 in her LPGA career. The 2020 U.S. Women’s Open champion waited 1,426 days between titles. She becomes the third South Korean player to win on tour this season, joining Amy Yang (KPMG Women’s PGA Championship) and Haeran Ryu (FM Championship).
Kim has three titles on the KLPGA.
Here’s a look at the prize money payouts for each player at the 2024 Lotte Championship from a purse of $3 million.
The 29-year-old Kim posted three top-10 finishes this season in 25 starts before breaking through on Oahu.
South Korea’s A Lim Kim, a major champion, clinched her first LPGA title as a tour member at the Lotte Championship. The 2020 U.S. Women’s Open winner narrowly edged Russia’s Nataliya Guseva by two strokes in her 100th start since claiming a major title. The victory vaults Kim into field for the CME Group Tour Championship.
“Everything is getting better,” said a smiling Kim, who felt comfortable in Hawaii. The player who goes by the nickname “Queen” was a good sport with the traditional hula dance, too.
The 29-year-old Kim posted three top-10 finishes this season in 25 starts before breaking through on Oahu. She closed with a 4-under 68 for an 18-under total and managed to hang on despite Guseva’s tenacious play. The first Russian to earn an LPGA card shot 34 on the back nine to card a closing 69.
“I really did my best out there,” said Guseva, “I never gave up.”
After playing five weeks in a row, Guseva will take of next week before heading to Naples, Florida, for the final event of the season.
Nataliya Guseva plays her shot from the third tee during the final round of the LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei 2024 at Hoakalei Country Club on November 09, 2024 in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Rookie Auston Kim finished a career-best third place to greatly improve her chances of qualifying for the CME Group Tour Championship. The top 60 players in the CME points race qualify for the season-ending event, which features a winner’s check of $4 million. Kim moved up to 64th.
“It’s been a long year, a lot of good lessons and tough moments,” said Kim, “but really proud of myself for bouncing back after the tough weeks and being able to play some really solid golf.”
For Angela Stanford, it was a walk to remember as the 46-year-old played her last round in her final season on the LPGA. The seven-time LPGA winner, who has played full time on tour for 24 years, finished with her head held high.
“I said going into today I wanted to be me,” said Stanford, who finished tied for 26th. “I wanted to play my game. I hit every green on the back nine. Throughout my career my iron play was what I relied on, so that kind of made me get teary-eyed, because it’s awesome to play the last nine holes and hit every green. Just kind of felt like me, so it was good.”
Korda, 26, has won six times across 14 starts so far this season, including the Chevron Championship in April, the LPGA’s first major of the year. The world’s best player was forced to miss the tour’s Asia swing due to a minor neck injury, but she was recently cleared to practice and is expected to return for The Annika at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida, on Nov. 14-17. It would be her first start since a T-5 finish at the Kroger Queen City Championship in September.
“For me, it was important to show people how thankful I’ve been.”
Angela Stanford decided she wanted to putt after lunch. She headed back to get her supplies. Headphones, ball markers, golf balls. Once she arrived on the putting green, she realized she didn’t have a putter.
“I’m like, I think it’s time,” she said from the shores of Oahu. “It’s a senior moment. It’s time to exit to the Senior Tour.”
This week’s Lotte Championship might be the last time Stanford tees it up in an LPGA event as a full-time professional. The 46-year-old decided earlier this year the 2024 season would be her last. She’d hoped to have good friend Kristy McPherson caddie for her at The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican next week, but she’s currently not in the field.
The field for the penultimate event is filled off the CME points list and Stanford currently ranks 147th on that list. To have a mathematical chance, she’ll need to finish 12th or better at Hoakalei Country Club.
It doesn’t feel all that long ago Stanford hoisted a trophy in Hawaii. A 31-year-old Stanford defeated a young Michelle Wie West in the phenom’s first tournament as an LPGA member at the 2009 SBS Open. It was Stanford’s third victory in seven starts, making her the hottest player on tour.
Riding to the airport later that night in a Chrysler Sebring convertible – top down – with McPherson, Stanford tried to convey over the phone what it felt like to be on such a tear.
“She hasn’t won a card game all week,” McPherson joked in the background. “She ain’t that good.”
Angela Stanford poses with the trophy after winning the Volunteers of America Classic at the Old American Golf Club on December 6, 2020 in The Colony, Texas. (Photo by Chuck Burton/Getty Images)
It’s been quite the ride for this small-town Texan who wore blue on Sundays in honor of her blue-collar roots. That it might all come to an end this week feels somewhat fitting given her late mother Nan’s love of the island. It’s sad, of course, that Hawaii isn’t an easy place for friends to get to celebrate an LPGA career that dates to the 2001 season.
With so many players stepping away from the tour in 2024 – 11 so far – at relatively young ages, the almost 47-year-old Stanford put together a career that might never again be matched.
Stanford won seven times on the LPGA, including her first major title at the 2018 Evian Championship in France at age 40. Her most recent victory in 2020 came on Texas soil in front of her parents at the Volunteers of America Classic.
It’s safe to say no one will likely ever again have a major championship resume quite like Stanford’s, who played in an LPGA record 98 consecutive majors before the streak ended with this year’s U.S. Women’s Open. Only Jack Nicklaus has made more consecutive major starts with 146.
The 2024 Evian marked her final major championship appearance in her final season on the LPGA. She has made 103 major championship starts, 102 as a professional, showing a remarkable level of sustained excellence.
She’ll miss the competition. She’ll miss hearing her name on the first tee. She’ll miss the people and the sanctuary of a locker room.
“The locker room is one of my favorite places,” she said. “I think it’s a place for players to go to just be themselves. They don’t have to worry about who is in there except players.
“I’m going to miss that.”
Assistant Captain Angela Stanford of Team United States looks on during a practice round ahead of the start of the 2021 Solheim Cup at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. (Photo: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Of course, senior golf, though limited, has its perks. A victory at the U.S. Senior Women’s Open would put her back in the field at a U.S. Women’s Open. She’s also the most likely choice to be the next U.S. Solheim Cup captain. A second career in golf television might be around the corner.
There’s still much to look forward to, should this be her last start of 2024.
More than anything, she’s grateful.
“For me, it was important to show people how thankful I’ve been,” she said of the long goodbye, “and even this week, like just how grateful I’ve been for this career. … I needed to kind of get it out there and just let people know how much it’s meant to me. I wasn’t highly recruited. I wasn’t highly touted. I was kind of always overlooked and kind of always the underdog.
“But that didn’t mean that it didn’t matter … all this has mattered to me.”
In 2024, Nelly Korda won the award for the first time.
While the PGA Tour uses a vote, the LPGA has always favored a points system for its Rolex Player of the Year award. Introduced in 1966, Kathy Whitworth dominated the trophy in its infancy, winning seven times in the first eight years. From 1995 to 2005, Annika Sorenstam won it eight times. In 2024, Nelly Korda won the award for the first time.
Players must finish in the top 10 of official LPGA events to earn points, which are doubled at major championships.
Here’s the complete list of Rolex Player of the Year winners:
It took six playoff holes to determine a winner, with Takeda closing it out with birdie.
Rio Takeda won her eighth title of the season on the JLPGA at the Toto Japan Classic, but this time it was a co-sanctioned event with the LPGA. That means the 21-year-old’s victory at the Toto also comes with an LPGA card. She becomes the first non-member to win on the LPGA since Mone Inami won the 2023 Toto.
“I was planning to take Q-School in December,” said Takeda, “and now I can skip that Q-School and go play next year on the LPGA Tour, which is exciting for me now.”
Takeda has three more events left in Japan this year, and said she’s still thinking about when she’ll join the LPGA. She can join now or defer until 2025.
This week’s Toto Japan Classic was shortened to 54 holes due to effects of Tropical Storm Kong-Rey. Takeda started off Sunday three back of overnight leader Hana Wakimoto at Seta Golf Course. After a third-round 67, Takeda found herself knotted at 15 under with veteran LPGA player Marina Alex.
It took six playoff holes to determine a winner, with Takeda closing it out with birdie. She’s the third Japanese player to win on the LPGA this year, joining Yuka Saso and Ayaka Furue.
Japan’s Rio Takeda celebrates her victory after the final round of the LPGA Japan Classic golf tournament at the Seta Golf Course in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture on November 3, 2024. (Photo by STR/JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images)
Takeda came into the week No. 25 in the Rolex Rankings. The Toto marked her fifth start on the LPGA in 2024, and she earned $300,000 for the victory. Along with her eight wins on the JLPGA this season, she also has 13 additional top-10 finishes.
“So that was my first time [in a] playoff,” said Takeda, “so I wasn’t expecting that the game was that long, but I managed to win so I’m really happy.”
While Alex didn’t leave with the title, she did play her way into the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, which features an $11 million purse and $4 million check to the winner. Alex jumped up 29 spots to No. 32 in the CME points race. The top 60 earn a spot in the field.
“I added Hawai’i a few weeks ago in an effort to try and get into CME,” said Alex. “I’m still excited to go there, but I think it kind of motivated me to get the job done.”
“And so it’s nice to have these next couple weeks not worried about that as trying to get in and actually just keep building on my game and get geared up for CME.”
