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Thursday, December 04, 2008

Vikki improves to joint 11th as Michele Wie
shares lead at LPGA Final Q School

Vikki Laing kept up the good work in today's second round of the LPGA Tour Final Qualifying School at Daytona Beach.
The Musselburgh exile added a two-under-par 70 to her opening round of 71 and, after 36 holes, she has improved to joint 11th place on three-under-par 141. Without wishing to tempt fate, the Scot has "only" to stay in the top 20 until the end of the fifth round - and she will be back on the LPGA Tour with full playing rights in 2009.
Michelle Wie, injury free and somehow looking more mature - well, she is older - than she used to be, showed her class with a 65 for 10-under-par 134, sharing the lead with Japan's Shiho Oyama who had a second-round 70.
Michelle is sticking by her vow not to speak to the media until after the tournament is over so we don't know if a lot of the credit for putting her back on the straight and narrow as a golfer is down to coach David Leadbetter.
Stacy Lewis, a member of the American Curtis Cup team at St Andrews this past year, is lying in third place on 134 after a 66. She hit the road running as soon as she turned pro and she hasn't stopped.
By contrast, Melissa Reid, one of the brightest young stars of the Ladies European Tour, has not carried her best form across the Atlantic with her. She had a 74 today but a two-round tally of 153 leaves her in joint 127th place, meaning she has to improve 57 places, and that's just to survive the Saturday evening cut.
So while is Michele cruising and Melissa struggling. Golf, as they say, is a game of confidence. Michele has it this week, Melissa does not.
The leading 70 and ties after four rounds will qualify for the fifth and final round.
HOW THEY STAND
T1 Michelle Wie 69 65 134
T1 Shiho Oyama 64 70 134
3 Stacy Lewis 69 66 135
T4 Mollie Fankhauser 67 71 138
T4 Amy Yang 67 71 138
T6 Janell Howland 72 67 139
T6 Lisa Strom 73 66 139
T8 Carolina Llano 70 70 140
T8 Sophie Giquel 72 68 140
T8 Mika Miyazato (a) 66 74 140
T11 Jeehae Lee 68 73 141
T11 Paige Mackenzie 72 69 141
T11 Anja Monke 75 66 141
T11 Lisa Ferrero 75 66 141
T11 Vikki Laing 71 70 141
T11 Audra Burks 69 72 141
T11 Anna Grzebien 71 70 141
T11 Kim Welch 73 68 141
T19 Carri Wood 74 68 142
T19 Jeanne Cho-Hunicke 71 71 142
T19 Samantha Richdale 72 70 142
T19 Charlotte Mayorkas 75 67 142
T19 Emily Bastel 72 70 142
T19 Jean Reynolds 71 71 142
T19 Jessica Carafiello 73 69 142
T19 Marcy Hart 72 70 142
T19 Jenna Pearson 71 71 142
T19 Ashleigh Simon 70 72 142
T19 Anna Rawson 71 71 142
T30 Chella Choi 70 73 143
T30 Beth Bader 73 70 143
T30 Tiffany Tavee 71 72 143
T30 Kristie Smith 72 71 143
T30 Angela Oh 72 71 143
T30 Ashli Bunch 71 72 143
T30 Christi Cano 73 70 143
T30 Louise Stahle 74 69 143
T30 Maru Martinez 70 73 143
T30 Chris Brady 72 71 143
T30 Sukjin Wuesthoff 74 69 143
T30 Nicole Hage 73 70 143
T30 Garrett Phillips 73 70 143
T30 Brandi Jackson 74 69 143
T44 Laurie Brower 72 72 144
T44 Onnarin Sattayabanphot 70 74 144
T44 Hannah Jun 74 70 144
T44 Sunny Oh 71 73 144
T44 Haeji Kang 75 69 144
T44 Angela Buzminski 76 68
T44 Stacy Bregman 72 72 144
T44 Nari Kim 73 71 144
T44 Dewi Claire Schreefel 74 70 144
T44 Angela Jerman 73 71 144
T44 Pornanong Phatlum 75 69 144
T44 Jennifer Gleason 73 71 144
T44 Eunjung Yi 70 74 144
T44 Erin Houtsma 71 73 144
T58 Jennifer Ackerson 76 69 145
T58 Tania Elosegui 79 66 145
T58 Patricia Meunier-Lebouc 74 71 145
T58 Lee Ann Walker-Cooper 72 73 145
T58 Sarah Oh 76 69 145
T58 Anna Nordqvist (a) 74 71 145
T58 Leah Wigger 70 75 145
T58 Porani Chutichai 73 72 145
T66 Jackie Gallagher-Smith 73 73 146
T66 Jaclyn Sweeney (a) 71 75 146
T66 Paola Moreno (a) 71 75 146
T66 Sun-Ju Ahn 78 68 146
T66 Allison Hanna-Williams 75 71 146
T66 Sarah Lynn Sargent 73 73 146
T66 Beatriz Recari 76 70 146
T66 Liz Janangelo 72 74 146
T66 Emma Cabrera-Bello 74 72 146
T66 Shinah Ham 73 73 146
T66 Kristina Tucker 76 70 146
T66 Misun Cho 75 71 146
T66 Tracy Hanson 74 72 146
T66 Miki Saiki 74 72 146
=============PROJECTED CUT-OFF POINT AFTER FOUR ROUNDS ====
T80 Naree Song 75 72 147
T80 Jenny Suh 72 75 147
T80 Megan Heckeroth 72 75 147
T80 Cindy Pasechnik 71 76 147
T80 Ashley Prange 77 70 147
T80 Beth Allen 74 73 147
T80 Marcela Leon 71 76 147
T80 Taylor Leon 78 69 147
T88 Song Yi Choi 77 71 148
T88 Martina Eberl 80 68 148
T88 Dana Bates 73 75 148
T88 Kelly Lagedrost 72 76 148
T88 Su A Kim 79 69 148
T88 Susan Redman 78 70 148
T88 Kristen Samp 75 73 148
T88 Sarah Kemp 71 77 148
T96 Yoora Kim 71 78 149
T96 Nicole Jeray 72 77 149
T96 Whitney Myers 72 77 149
T96 Jennifer Greggain 78 71 149
T96 Jessica Shepley 76 73 149
T96 Sara Brown 75 74 149
T96 Tanya Dergal 76 73 149
T96 Nontaya Srisawang 77 72 149
T96 Sophia Sheridan 73 76 149
T96 Seo-Jae Lee 75 74 149
T106 Simi Mehra 73 77 150
T106 Hanna Kang 73 77 150
T106 Mo Martin 77 73 150
T106 Hae-Jung Kim 76 74 150
T106 Gerina Mendoza 74 76 150
T106 Elizabeth Stuart 74 76
T106 Kim Williams 79 71 150
T106 Young-A Yang 70 80 150
T106 Briana Vega 81 69 150
T115 Andrea Vanderlende 73 78 151
T115 Moon Su 80 71 151
T115 Caryn Wilson 77 74 151
T115 Alison Walshe 79 72 151
T119 Selanee Henderson 80 72 152
T119 Jimin Jeong 80 72 152
T119 Katie Allison 79 73 152
T119 Hwanhee Lee 72 80 152
T123 Hana Kim 79 74 153
T123 Jean Bartholomew 73 80 153
T123 Sofie Andersson 76 77 153
T123 Miriam Nagl 75 78 153
T123 Candy Hannemann 76 77 153
T123 Melissa Reid 79 74 153
T123 A J Eathorne 76 77 153
T123 Lisa Meldrum 79 74 153
T131 Michelle Ellis 74 80 154
T131 Elena Kurokawa 76 78 154
T131 Stephanie Otteson 75 79 154
T134 Kate Golden 75 80 155
T134 Vicki Goetze-Ackerman 76 79 155
T134 Taya Battistella 79 76 155
T134 Lidya Ivana Jaya (a) 79 76 155
138 Amie Hartje 80 77 157
139 Violeta Retamoza 77 82 159

Day's report from the Golf Digest website
By RON SIRAK
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.--Q school is where dreams go to die. Of the 138 players who teed off Friday at LPGA International in the final stage of qualifying for a 2009 tour card--two have withdrawn--only the low 70 and ties will play Sunday for one of the 20 fully exempt cards, the others going home when 72 holes are completed Saturday.
Some have already given up the ghost, falling too far behind to have a realistic chance, yet they will play on, endure another two rounds because this is what they do: They are professional golfers, and whether or not they gain LPGA status that is how they will always regard themselves.
The players start arriving before dawn, which occurs about 6:30 down here (Florida) this time of the year, and in the dim light the parking lot is dotted with cars bearing those with early tee times, waiting for the practice range to open at 7. In dark cars the occasional face of an anxious participant is lit by the glow of a cell phone.
Lawnmowers rumble in the darkness, moving across the Legends and Champions courses like giant bugs, their headlights searching the pre-dawn sky for their path. The sounds of the mowers mixes with the clank of irons rattling in a bag being removed from the trunk of car.
Caddies and parents of Korea players squat on their haunches Asian-style behind the glowing tip of cigarettes as the players make parking-lot practice swings. Some ponder the reality that has already emerged.
"We're done," says a veteran LPGA caddie, looping for a player who has earned and lost a card multiple times. "We've got no chance, but we've got to play two more rounds."
For the pride of the player and the job security of the caddie, it's best the identity of both remain anonymous.
Among those for whom the dream remains very much alive are Michelle Wie, Shiho Oyama and Stacey Lewis, who tee off together at 10:16 Friday on the Legends Course, the more difficult of the two tracks. Wie and Oyama are leading at 10 under par with Lewis a stroke behind.
If the tournament had ended after 36 holes on Thursday there would have been an 11-way play-off among those at two under par for the final two cards. So assuming the scoring conditions remain the same--and they have been perfect for two days--it appears as if four under par will be the magic number.
Wie, Oyama and Lewis can play even par from here in and pretty much be guaranteed playing privileges for 2009. What will be interesting now as the three are paired together is if they try to win, or merely try to hold their position. That's part of what we will learn in Friday's third round.

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