Essentially, there will be five more cards awarded to Epson Tour players, rewarding full-season performance on the developmental tour. Meanwhile, fewer players will leave LPGA Q-Series with status. (Though more players will receive full cards at Q-Series than in previous years.)
But beyond those big changes, however, there are a number of smaller shifts in LPGA regulations that are worth noting. Several changes, in particular, will impact those without LPGA status who find the winner’s circle.
A U.S. player hasn’t won the Rookie of the Year Award since Paula Creamer in 2005.
This year’s rookie class of 26 players represents 12 countries, highlighting the global nature of the LPGA.
One of the most well-known rookies of the 2024 class is former U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Gabriela Ruffels, who many thought would be a veteran by now were it not for a paperwork error. The Aussie topped the Epson Tour’s money list to earn her card.
There are plenty of players who have won multiple titles on their home tours in this year’s class, including a teen from China.
The Class of 2024 includes only five Americans: Gurleen Kaur, Auston Kim, Kaitlin Milligan, Malia Nam and Gigi Still. A U.S. player hasn’t won the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Award since Paula Creamer in 2005.
Here are a dozen LPGA rookies to keep an eye on in 2023:
LPGA players won’t see the tour’s latest winner at its last two events.
Mone Inami won her first LPGA title on home soil and had a chance to accept immediate tour membership. The 24-year-old had until midnight Sunday local time in Japan to make her decision. She opted to turn it down.
That means the $300,000 paycheck from the Toto Japan Classic won’t be considered official money. She also will not receive the 500 Race to the CME Globe points. Inami would’ve been in the field at the upcoming Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican event in Florida, which would’ve given her a strong chance to make the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida.
Had Inami accepted immediate membership, those last two events would’ve made up her rookie season.
Now Inami, a 13-time JLPGA winner who was named after famed painter Claude Monet, has until 5 p.m. ET on Nov. 13 to decide whether or not she will accept membership for the 2024 season.
Japan’s Hinako Shibuno famously turned down an LPGA membership after her 2019 AIG Women’s British Open victory and had to later go to Q-School to earn her card.
At the 2021 Summer Olympics, Inami beat Lydia Ko in a playoff for the silver medal on home soil.
Mone Inami became the second non-member to win on the LPGA this season, joining Rose Zhang, with her triumph at the 2023 Toto Japan Classic. Inami, 24, attended high school and university in Ibaraki, Japan, and enjoyed home support at Taihelyo Club Minori Course.
“I am very happy to get an option that I can play not only on the Japan tour but also on the U.S. tour now,” said Inami, who played on “Team Ibaraki” with six-time LPGA winner Nasa Hataoka.
“I will discuss with my team to make a final decision whether we will take this option or not.”
Inami, whose mother named her after French artist Claude Monet, has until midnight to decide if she wants to accept membership straight away so that the points and money from the win will be official for the purposes of the Race to CME Globe and LPGA money list.
Otherwise, Inami has until Nov. 13 to notify the tour of her intention to join. If she wants until then, the points and money will not be official.
Now a 13-time winner on the JLPGA, Inami came into the week No. 93 in the Rolex Rankings. Though she hadn’t previously won this season in Japan, she did have 10 top-10 finishes. At the 2021 Summer Olympics, Inami beat Lydia Ko in a playoff for the silver medal on home soil.
Inami said she has struggled physically this season and was not comfortable with her swing, changing it four times.
“I got something good feeling with my swing this week,” she said, “it worked well and I won this tournament.”
Mone Inami and Nasa Hataoka share a laugh during the final round of the 2023 Toto Japan Classic at the Taiheiyo Club’s Minori Course in Omitama, Ibaraki, Japan. (Photo: Yoshimasa Nakano/Getty Images)
Inami closed with a 69 on a windy Sunday, making birdie on her penultimate hole, to clip Seon Woo Bae and Shiho Kuwaki by one stroke with a 22-under 266 total, which sets a new 72-hole scoring record for the tournament.
This was Kuwaki’s first LPGA start and first appearance at the Toto. She has nine top-10 finishes on the JLPGA this season.
The first Japanese player to win this season, Inami is the 23rd player to win on the LPGA this season.
Former World No. 1 Jiyai Shin, who now plays full-time in Japan, took a share of fourth. Defending champion Gemma Dryburgh closed with a 65 to tie for sixth. Drybrugh jumped up from 60th on the CME points list to 50th. The top 60 and ties qualify for the season-ending championship, where the purse is $7 million and the winner’s share is $2 million.
Similarly, Jasmine Suwannapura, who tied for sixth, moved from 59th to 49th on the CME list with her performance.
“I’m very happy,” said Suwannapura of her CME movement. “You know, that’s my goal since the middle of the year. I’ve been playing better and better every week.”
