LPGA Gets Into Action

After watching the men play for six weeks, the LPGA season finally got underway. Overall, the qualifiers did OK - all 20 played, and 13 of the 20 made the cut in the tournament. None did really well - three (In-Kyung Kim, Katherine Hull, and Paige MacKenzie) came in tied for 17th. MacKenzie was one of the first round leaders, with a 67, but fell off in later rounds.

On the men's side, qualifiers did a little better. Jeff Quinney continued his hot streak with a tie for 9th, while Anthony Kim had his best tournament also finished in a tie for 9th. Cliff Kresge was the only other top 20 finisher, coming in 18th place.

Quinney has also become the first qualifier this year to likely guarantee his card for next year. His earnings of $941,300 would have given him 96th place in last year's rankings.

I decided to stop tracking the PGA's new "Fedex Cup Points". It was hard to keep these straight from the earnings, and for the most part, there wasn't much difference in ranking between those two measures. This might change as the season progresses, particularly after some majors, but for now it doesn't seem so hot. As far as I know, earnings still are what qualifier a player for the next season.