Anna Lin's Strong Finish "Top Entry on the US Stage"... Choi Hye-jin Advances Tied for 8th Place

LPGA Tour Q-Series Stage 2 Final Day: 6-Under Par Leads by 1 Stroke, Bouchard 2nd, Titikun 3rd, Furue 7th Secures Full Tour Card

Anna Lin passed the LPGA Tour Q-Series as the top qualifier. Photo by LPGA/Ben Harpring

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] Anna Lin (25, photo) shows a terrifying finishing power.

On the 13th (Korean time), at the Highland Oaks Golf Club (par 72) in Dothan, Alabama, USA, she surged with a 6-under-par on the final day of the second stage of the LPGA Tour Qualifying (Q) Series (total prize money $150,000) to complete a one-stroke come-from-behind victory (33-under-par 541 strokes). She became the second Korean player to pass first, following Lee Jeong-eun 6 (25, Daebang Construction) in 2018. It was a grueling 8 rounds and 144 holes over the first and second stages. If she enters the ‘Top 45’, she will play on the LPGA Tour next year.

If she finishes within the top 20, she can participate in all tournaments. Anna Lin started from second place, 5 strokes behind, and swept up 7 birdies (1 bogey). After reducing one stroke each on the 1st hole (par 4) and the 7th hole (par 5), she began a serious chase for the lead with three consecutive birdies from the 9th to the 11th holes. She took a brief breather with a bogey on the 13th hole (par 3), but took over the top of the leaderboard with consecutive birdies on the 16th and 17th holes. She finished well with a par on the last 18th hole (par 4), succeeding in a thrilling comeback.

Anna Lin debuted on the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour in 2017 and succeeded on her 93rd attempt at the Otech Carrier Championship last October. The spotlight shone even more because she had never entered the ‘Top 30’ in prize money ranking or average score in the previous three years. She won her second career victory by capturing the Hana Financial Group Championship in November. Since then, she had no wins, which made her anxious. In fact, this year, she has 11 top-10 finishes in 24 tournaments and ranks 9th in prize money (601.86 million KRW).

In October last year, she gained confidence by finishing third after leading throughout the LPGA Tour BMW Ladies Championship held in Busan. After a 3-stroke victory at the year-end KLPGA Tour special event LF HAZZYS Point King Championship last month, she boarded a plane to the US and endured a two-week hellish race, ultimately creating the story of becoming the top of the LPGA Tour Q-Series. She cheered, "I am so happy to be number one," and said, "I look forward to living in the US next year."

Pauline Roussin-Bouchard finished as the runner-up in the LPGA Tour Q-Series. Photo by LPGA/Ben Harpring

Pauline Roussin-Bouchard (France), who led for five consecutive rounds from the third day of the first stage of the Q-Series, settled for second place (32-under-par 542 strokes). Although she made 6 birdies, she made 4 bogeys and 1 double bogey, finishing at even par. ‘Number 18’ Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand) rose to third place (26-under-par 548 strokes). ‘Number 17’ Ayaka Furue was seventh (18-under-par 556 strokes), and Hinako Shibuno, the 2019 major British Women’s Open champion (both from Japan), tied for 20th place (10-under-par 564 strokes).

Korea’s Choi Hye-jin (22, Lotte) secured a full tour card by finishing tied for 8th place (17-under-par 557 strokes). After bogeys on the 2nd and 11th holes, she made 3 birdies on the 12th, 16th, and 18th holes. She said, "I think I finished well," and added, "I want to show confident play as a rookie." Hong Ye-eun (19) also performed well, shooting 1-under-par to tie for 12th place (13-under-par 561 strokes). On the other hand, Kim Min-ji (23) scored 3-under-par but remained tied for 47th place (3-under-par 571 strokes).

Choi Hye-jin secured a full card by finishing tied for 8th place in the LPGA Tour Q-Series. Photo by LPGA/Ben Harpring

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.