2023 LPGA Q-Series ‘must hit the ball out of the park’…second round shortened for Im, Sung Yoo-jin, and more

You need to get off to a good start. With fewer days of competition, they need to be more focused.

The U.S. Women’s Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour’s Q-Series, which begins Sept. 30 at Magnolia Grove Golf Course in Mobile, Ala. The 105-player field, which includes first- and second-round qualifiers, players who have risen directly to the top of the world rankings, and players who have lost their Tour cards due to poor performance, will compete for seeding positions for the 2024 season 캡틴토토. Those ranked 21st through 45th will earn a conditional seeding on the second tour.

The tournament, which is attracting attention as a challenge to the 2023 Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour’s multiple winner Im Jin-hee (four), as well as domestic powerhouses Lee So-mi, Sung Yoo-jin and Hong Jung-min, will feature 10 Korean players, including existing members Jang Hyo-joon, Lee Jeong-5, Joo Soo-bin and Kang Hye-ji.

Until last year, the Q Series consisted of eight rounds, with four rounds every two weeks, but this year it was shortened to six rounds. After the four rounds, the main event, which is played against those who made the cut, was reduced to two rounds.

The reduction in rounds is a difficult variable to argue in favor of or against, but in general, it is a change that puts pressure on foreign players who need time to adjust. Lee Jung-six, Annarin, and Hae-ran Lee, who recently earned top honors at the Q-Series, were able to come from behind on the final day. The confidence that they could make up for it with their skills even if they were a little sluggish in the beginning was a big help.

That’s why it’s important to be in the top half of the field from the start. The smart strategy is to make the cut by the fourth round, finish in the top 20 to secure a card, and then try to qualify for the final two days.

Lim Jin-hee (World No. 40) is the highest-ranked player in this year’s field. Korean powerhouses Lee So-mi (57th), Sung Yoo-jin (66th), and Hong Jung-min (91st) are also strong candidates to make the cut.

Three Japanese players are among the most formidable opponents. Saigo Mao (No. 43), who has six career wins and is riding high after winning the JLPGA Tour’s Itoen Ladies Championship last month, Yuri Yoshida (No. 69), who won the Salon Pascal Cup at the World Ladies Championship in May, and last year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur winner Saki Baba, who came up through the second round of qualifying, will compete with the Koreans for the top spots.

Pauline Roussaint Bouchard (FRA) and long-hitting Natakritha Wongtawirap (THA), who lost out to Hae-Ran Lee in last year’s Q-Series, are among the returning players, as are Korean-Americans Soo Hyun Oh (AUS), Noe Lim Noe, Annie Park and Christina Kim (USA).

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