Amanda Blumenherst won LPGA Q-School on Dec. 7 at LPGA International.
Fans won’t have to wait long to see rookie Amanda Blumenherst in action on the LPGA. The good news: She received sponsor invitations to the season-opening events in Asia – Honda PTT LPGA Thailand and HSBC Women’s Champions. The bad news: The money from those two events won’t count toward the money list.
LPGA rules prevent a member competing on a sponsor exemption from earning official money at events with no cut. Even if she wins.
That means Blumenherst gets one tournament – LPGA Classic presented by J Golf – to earn enough money to qualify for the Kraft Nabisco Championship. She needs to finish in the top 30, a tough task for those playing catch-up to the Asian swing.
Blumenherst also received a spot in the 16-player Mojo 6 Jamaica LPGA Invitational. That’s unofficial money for everyone.
Let’s say, hypothetically, that the best player in college golf history comes out and top-10s at her first two events in Asia. Then she misses the cut in Carlsbad and wins the Mojo 6. Her name still wouldn’t appear on the LPGA money list.
Crazy, but true.
Comments
jimmyj (anonymous) says...
The world, long ago, quit trying to figure out the logic of women and their organizations. How that rigid thinking bunch continues to keep Laura Davies out of the LPGA hall of fame is a good example of their thought process . . mystifying.
February 1, 2010 at 2:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
golftracker (anonymous) says...
The money Blumenhurst or anyone else on an exemption earns in those events should not be official money. The LPGA is absolutely making the right call. The relative positions on the money list should not be influenced by a player being more "connected" than another. She does not have to accept the invitation if she does not like it. She could also wait and play events that do have cuts and the money earned would truly be "earned" by performance and not merely by the fact that a player was entered or invited to an event. Others that do not get "invited" would be much more severely hindered by changing the rule than would be gained by changing the rule. If a player doesn't like it, just say no to the offer or invitation but don't say yes and then whine about it.
February 3, 2010 at 6:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )