The drama at the Symetra Tour Championship, much like Q-School, is less about who wins and more about the last player to secure a card.
But in this particularly wild and wacky case, the last player to secure an LPGA card for 2020 didn’t even play at LPGA International.
Mind Muangkhumsakul got her pro-am time wrong on Wednesday and was forced to withdraw from the competition. She came into the finale 10th on the money list (the top 10 secure LPGA cards), $10,176 ahead of South Korea’s Min Seo Kwak.
According to a tour official, Muangkhumsakul thought the pro-am began at 9 a.m. and arrived at the course 20 minutes to the hour. With the 8 a.m. shotgun running late, play officially began at 8:17 a.m. Officials tried to get her out to the tee of her second hole in time (had she made it, Muangkhumsakul would’ve only been given a $500 fine). But she didn’t make that either and was forced to WD.
A third-year Symetra player, Muangkhumsakul finished runner-up three times this season, including two of her last three starts. The Thai player finished 2019 with $81,046.
“I feel excited for the LPGA,” Muangkhumsakul told the tour. “I’m really happy. I tried to get in the top 10, that was my three-year goal because the last year I got some status on the LPGA and I lost it, but this year I tried to get in the top 10. It’s really exciting, I would like to go back to Thailand and work hard and practice. It’s exciting to practice like I’m planning for next year.”
LPGA card winners
- Perrine Delacour, 25, Laon France – $125,042
- Patty Tavatanakit, 19, Bangkok – $117,518
- Jenny Coleman, 27, Rolling Hills Estate, Calif. – $104,840
- Ssu-Chia Cheng, 21, Taipei – $99,232
- Jillian Hollis, 22, Rocky River, Ohio – $98,044
- Julieta Granada, 32, Asuncion, Paraguay – $94,343
- Leona Maguire, 24, County Cavan, Ireland – $92,517
- Robynn Ree, 22, Redondo Beach, Calif. – $90,518
- Esther Lee, 24, Los Alamitos, Calif. – $87,360
- Mind Muangkhumsakul, 20, Banphai, Thailand – $81,045
