DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Calgary’s Jennifer Ha is the latest Canadian to join the ranks on the LPGA Tour after finishing the qualifying tournament with a share of eighth at the Hills Course.
Ha—a former Team Canada member—closed the 90-hole stroke play event at 8-under par (70-74-69-67-72) to nab one of the Top-20 spots to earn full status in 2017. The 22-year-old finished five back of medallist Jaye Marie Green of Boca Raton, Fla.
Fellow Canadian and Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Augusta James also made the 72-hole cut at Daytona Beach.
The Bath, Ont., product finished in an 11-way tie for 44th at 3-over par (76-76-69-69-73) to earn conditional status (category 17) on tour next season.
James narrowly missed full status this year by way of the season-long Volvik Race for the Card money list, where she finished just outside the Top-10 (No.13) for a second consecutive season. She posted seven Top-10 results this past season on the Symetra Tour.
While three of the top four finishers are from the USA, a total of 13 different countries (USA, Iceland, Korea, Taiwan, Denmark, Canada, England, Spain, Israel, Sweden, Philippines, Japan and Thailand) are represented amongst the players that finished in the top 20 to earn category 12 status on the LPGA Tour for 2017. Further, four teenagers finished in the top 20 (Nasa Hataoka, Maria Parra, Angel Yin and Ssu Chia Cheng).
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