LPGA Q-Series: Robyn Choi secures medalist honors, achieving her LPGA dream

Robyn Choi, a 25-year-old from Australia, secured medalist honors at the LPGA Q-Series by delivering an impressive final round of 4-under 68. After enduring 108 challenging holes of competition, she claimed the top spot with a remarkable total score of 29-under at the Crossings Course, situated within the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Magnolia Grove in Mobile, Ala.

Beginning her final round, two shots back of So Mi Lee, the overnight leader with a score of 27-under par, Choi started with pars on her initial three holes. She notched her first birdie on the par-5 No. 4, building momentum with three consecutive birdies on Holes No. 8, 9, and 10. Despite encountering challenges on the par-5 No. 13 and par-4 No. 15, resulting in bogeys, Choi rebounded with back-to-back birdies on Holes No. 16 and 17 before concluding her round by signing her card for a 4-under 68.

After a stint on the LPGA in 2019, where she participated in 12 events and successfully made the cut in three, Choi briefly returned to the Epson Tour in the subsequent season. Since then, she has been a consistent performer, featuring in five seasons and impressively securing a cut in her last 27 appearances.

She concluded her 2023 season on the Epson Tour by securing the 12th position on the Money List, narrowly missing the opportunity to secure an LPGA card by just two spots. Since LPGA cards are awarded to the top 10 finishers, she returned to Q-School to continue her pursuit of earning a coveted spot on the LPGA Tour.

Mao Saigo of Japan and So Mi Lee, who held the overnight lead, both posted identical total scores of 26-under par, culminating in a shared second-place finish in the tournament. Notably, both Saigo and Lee are poised to make their debut as 2024 LPGA Tour Rookies in the upcoming season.

LPGA Tour veteran Mira Harigae, who has been on the tour since 2010, carded a final round of 5-under 67 to finish fourth at 21-under par.

Gurleen Kaur, hailing from Houston, Texas, and boasting a distinguished collegiate career as a four-time All-American at Baylor University, carded rounds of 70-68-67-67-70-68. She shared the T5 spot with Polly Mack from Germany, a 2023 LPGA Tour rookie, who carded rounds of 71-68-69-68-65-65. Both players concluded the tournament with a matching score of 20-under.

A total of six players finishing in the top 10 will be LPGA Tour Rookies heading into the 2024 season, including Canadian Savannah Grewal, a former Clemson University standout who started her journey to LPGA status through Stage I of the LPGA and Epson Tour Qualifying Tournament.

Joining Choi, 49 other players have secured LPGA status through the Q-Series this week, with 20 new names set to become part of the 2024 LPGA Tour Rookie class. Notably, those who finished within the top 20 and ties, meeting the cut line at eight-under par, have earned LPGA Tour status in Category 14. Meanwhile, players finishing in positions 21-45 and ties have secured LPGA Tour status in Category 15.