Twenty-two Duramed FUTURES Tour Players Earn 2008 LPGA Status

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Dec. 2, 2007 – Seven members of the Duramed FUTURES Tour were among the 17 players who earned fully exempt 2008 LPGA status today at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, while 15 Tour members earned 2008 non-exempt status. Tour member Jane Park fired a final-round 69 for a score of 343 (-17) to win the 90-hole tournament.

“It’s great to win and it’s also a relief that I got my full [LPGA] card,” said Park, of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., who was the wire-to-wire leader this week. “This is the start of a new beginning.”

Rounding out the Tour members who earned exempt status were: Su A Kim (66) of Seoul, Korea at 346 (-14); Carolina Llano (70) of Medellin, Colombia at 352 (-8); Becky Lucidi (69) of Poway, Calif., at 355 (-5); Meredith Duncan (73) of Shreveport, La., at 355 (-5); Danielle Downey (70) of Spencerport, N.Y., at 356 (-4); and Liz Janangelo (72) of West Hartford, Conn., at 356 (-4).

“I played a lot of Monday qualifiers just about every week this year, so that helped,” said Kim, a non-exempt LPGA Tour member in 2007. “This year, even during practice leading up to the tournament, I felt more comfortable here.”

Llano turned around a disappointing season on the Duramed FUTURES Tour in which she tore a ligament in her right ring finger and was sidelined for five weeks. Still unable to straighten the swollen finger, Llano displayed a patience this week that she gained while working with mental coaches and physical rehab specialists during her recovery period earlier in the season.

“I was well prepared and I worked hard this year,” said Llano, an All-American at Pepperdine University and a 2007 Duramed FUTURES Tour rookie. “There was a lot going through my mind yesterday [in the fourth round] but I was impressed with how quiet my mind was today.”

As a non-exempt LPGA Tour member this season, Lucidi had the fortune of being assigned LPGA veteran Juli Inkster as her “big sister.” It was Inkster’s e-mail to her fellow Californian that served as a key reminder for the entire week.

“She sent me an e-mail that told me to ‘focus on the mission,’ so that’s what I did all week,” said Lucidi, a University of Southern California collegian and former U.S. Women’s Amateur champion. “This was my fourth try at LPGA Q-School. I had a lot of expectations coming out of college, but I haven’t taken any shortcuts to get here. It just feels great to finally earn my full card.”

Duncan squeaked out an exempt card in spite of shooting one-over par today at LPGA International’s Legends Course, while a pumped-up Downey finished the day at two-under par.

But it was Janangelo’s dramatic last hole that had the former Duke University All-American on pins and needles waiting to find out if she had earned fully exempt status. Janangelo hit 16 greens in regulation today, then struck a “perfect 7-iron” to 8 feet from 153 yards on the 18th hole to set up a birdie. That birdie enabled the two-time 2007 season winner on the Duramed FUTURES Tour to earn 2008 exempt LPGA status on the number at 356 (-4).

“That’s a putt I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” said a visibly relieved Janangelo. “I got up to that last green and started smiling. I said to myself that this is why I play golf and I was smiling because I knew I was going to make that putt.”

But Janangelo also was on alert all week as the health of her paternal grandfather was failing back home in New England. She tried not to think about her grandfather’s illness and when today’s final round was complete, she and her mother embraced and the tears fell easily.

“It’s bittersweet that he couldn’t be here this week,” she said. “He was there when I won my first professional tournament at the Connecticut Women’s Open.”

It also was easy for Janangelo to become overwhelmed with emotion after a season in which she finished sixth on the Duramed FUTURES Tour’s money list. It was just one place out of earning her fully exempt 2008 card by finishing among the top five money winners.

“I was devastated about finishing sixth, but I also knew it was a good year,” said Janangelo. “I sort of caved in during the second part of the season, but I came back and focused on having good tempo. I put in the hard work. Playing on the Duramed FUTURES Tour this year really got me prepared for this week and all the hard work finally paid off.”

Another two-time winner this season, Taylor Leon of Dallas, was among the 15 Duramed FUTURES Tour members who earned conditional (non-exempt) LPGA status for 2008. The former University of Georgia collegian was tied for fourth going into today’s final round, but carded a four-over-par score of 76 today. She triple-bogeyed the 17th hole after encountering trouble in some palmetto trees. Leon fought back with a birdie on the 18th hole from 12 feet, but it wasn’t enough to secure her exempt status for 2008.

“I was playing good, but the back nine kind of ate my lunch today,” said Leon, who earned the sixth conditional card. “There are ups and downs and everything happens for a reason, although I don’t know what that reason is right now.”

Duramed FUTURES Tour members earning conditional status for 2008 are as follows: No. 5. Sarah-Jane Kenyon of Queensland, Australia 358 (-2); 6. Taylor Leon of Dallas 358 (-2); 8. Leah Wigger of Louisville, Ky., 360 (even); 10. Audra Burks of Altamonte Springs, Fla., 360 (even); 11. Eun Jung Yi of Murrieta, Calif., 360 (even); 14. Beth Allen of San Diego 360 (even); 15. Onnarin Sattayabanphot of Bangkok, Thailand 361 (+1); 17 Kristen Samp of Moberly, Mo., 361 (+1); 21 Ji Min Jeong of Kyungki, Korea 362 (+2); 25. Jeanne Cho-Hunicke of Longwood, Fla., 362 (+2); 27. Hwanhee Lee of Las Vegas 363 (+3); 31. Sofie Andersson of Angelholm, Sweden, 364 (+4); 33. Jenny Gleason of Clearwater, Fla., 365 (+5); 36. May Wood of Signal Mountain, Tenn., 365 (+5); and 37. Brandi Jackson of Greenville, S.C., 365 (+5).

For more information, visit LPGA.com.

Contact: Lisa D. Mickey, Duramed FUTURES Tour, at 863-709-9100, Ext. 2 or at lisa@duramedfuturestour.com.