Pauline del Rosario of the Philippines lost her grip on the final round but still managed to secure a spot in the LPGA Q-Series on Friday.
The 25-year-old groped for the form that made her a contender all week, scoring a five-over-par 77 in the LPGA and Epson Tour Qualifying Series II in Venice, Florida.
But she still managed to finish tied for 25th and thereby secured a ticket to the LPGA Q-Series late next month where she will join fellow Filipinas Dottie Ardina and Bianca Pagdanganan in the hunt for the Tour full status.
Del Rosario double-bogeyed the par 4 14th, and bogeyed Nos. 2, 7, 10, 17 and 18 in the round where the only good things to show were her birdies on the fourth and eighth.
She tallied a three-under 285 at the Bobcat course miles behind the winner, Ingrid Lindblad of Sweden who posted a 67 for an 18-under 279 total.
Of the 188 players that teed it up on Tuesday, 41 players will have the opportunity to head to LPGA Q-Series in Mobile, Ala. this November.
The no-cut format made it a marathon for the field, with each player never truly being out of contention. Of the 41 that earned a spot in LPGA Q-Series, 11 players opened Stage II with an over-par round and battled their way back inside the top 40 and ties cutoff for LPGA Q-Series.
Lindblad led the way for the last three rounds at Stage II after posting a five-under 67 in the final round to end her week as medalist at 18-under, but she will not be heading to LPGA Q-Series later this year.
Amateurs are not permitted to compete at LPGA Q-Series, and Lindblad is a graduate student at Louisiana State University with plans to continue her collegiate career for one more year.
The World Amateur Golf Ranking No. 1 is in no rush to turn professional and will enjoy her last year at LSU after an impressive showing at Stage II.
“It’s my first real qualifying playing this week, so I talked a little bit to our coach for the Swedish team, and he was like, don’t treat it as qualifying. Just treat it as a tournament,” Lindblad said.
“At the beginning of the year, I’m like I am probably just going to go through the whole Q-Series and like peace out, but I was talking to my coaches, and I really like it at LSU. Like our coaches are awesome. This year, we have a really good team, so I just want to give it a chance to get another SEC and maybe a national championship.”
Epson Tour member Pinyada Kuvanun is heading to LPGA Q-Series after her third-place finish at Stage II. Kuvanun closed out her week with a 3-under 69 to get into double digits on the week at 11-under.
She will be making her second appearance at LPGA Q-Series, where she missed the cut by one shot in 2022. The Thailand native had a solid 2023 campaign on the Epson Tour, finishing 49th in the Race for the Card to earn her spot in Stage II.
