After eight rounds of play, the 2021 LPGA Q-Series has come to an end. In all, 46 players finished at -4 or better to secure Tour status for 2022. KLPGA winner Na Rin An posted a blazing 6-under 66 for the lowest score of the final round to earn medalist honors at -33 in her first appearance in an LPGA Q-Series. An beat out runner-up and Stage II medalist Pauline Roussin-Bouchard by one stroke.
“I think I'm very happy to have won the Q-Series,” said An, who carded seven birdies and one bogey in her eighth round. “The past two weeks have been physically straining, but I'm happy to have finished on a high note.”
An is one of 29 players to become 2022 LPGA Tour rookies from their finish at Q-Series. Roussin-Bouchard is also among the new crop of talent making their way onto the Tour next year. After a grueling even-par round that included five birdies, four bogeys and one double bogey, the Frenchwoman said she’ll build off the positives from this week with her Tour card in hand.
“If you ask me two weeks before if I'm going to be second, runner-up at Q-School and have my LPGA card I would've signed straightaway. I'm just very happy,” said Roussin-Bouchard. “I'm not really allowed to say that, but I'm kind of frustrated of the last round. I guess it's because I'm a competitor and I love competition and all that. But I had a couple friends stopping me from getting mad and be like, ‘Dude you have your LPGA card. Like that's what you wanted.’ So I'm just focusing on that right now and I can't wait for what's coming.”
Ladies European Tour Player of the Year Atthaya Thitikul rounded out the top three at -26 after a final-round 69. CLPGA winner Ruoning Yin and Epson Tour winner Peiyun Chien finished in a tie for fourth at -21, with Yin shooting a final-round 66 to Chien’s second-straight 69. Alabama native Janie Jackson finished sixth at -19 with Japan’s Ayaka Furue in seventh at -18. Linnea Johansson and Hye-Jin Choi tied for eighth at -17 after both carded 71s on the final day, with Bianca Pagdanganan and Dewi Weber in a tie for 10th at -14.
After a seventh-round 79, major champion Hinako Shibuno secured her Tour card on Sunday with a final 69 to finish T20 at -10. Other notables to earn their LPGA Tour for 2022 include two-time Solheim Cup Team Europe member Emily Kristine Pedersen (T14) and two-time LET winner Stephanie Kyriacou (T16). Four amateurs earned status should they turn professional and accept Membership – Vivian Hou (T20), Brooke Matthews (T30), Yu-Sang Hou (T30) and Gina Kim (T35). Players that finished outside the top 20 and ties also received 2022 Epson Tour status. Kim, who medaled at Stage I, is proud to see her hard work pay off after beginning her qualifying journey in August.
“It's just crazy to think how this thing started in August. Just to come to the end of the year, to be able to say, yeah, I got my LPGA status, it's a really rewarding feeling and I feel like all my hard work paid off,” said Kim. “Obviously I have some stuff I do need to work on, no doubt about that. But I do think I deserve a pat on the back for what I managed to do here.”
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