Spain’s Belén Mozo earned the card to play the 2011 American Women’s Tour by qualifying in the top twenty, as she was eighth, in the final of the LPGA Tour Qualifying School, which was held at the Champions and Legends Course in Daytona Beach, USA, and was won by South Korea’s Aree Song.
Elisa Serramiá, the other Spaniard present in the competition, did not achieve the desired goal despite the fact that at the end of the third of the five days of competition she was in fourteenth position. Unfortunately, two final rounds of 78 and 81 strokes put an end to the Barcelona native’s chances.
Mozo, very regular throughout the tournament, always remained in the noble zone of the classification, with rounds of 68, 72, 72, 73 and 74 strokes that will allow him to play all the tournaments of the American Tour this season.
The Cadiz-born player, who turned professional last July, obtained a week later the card to play with full rights in the Women’s European Tour (LET), after finishing third in the final of the Qualifying School of the Tour, held at La Manga Club (Murcia) and won by the Swedish Caroline Hedwall. Two other Spaniards, Adriana Zwanck, eighth, and Laura Cabanillas, thirtieth, obtained the 2011 LET card. The latter managed to keep the card in extremis after a dramatic playoff with the Dutch Kyra van Leeuwen, whom she overcame in the fourth playoff hole to keep the last of the thirty cards at stake.
Belén Mozo has thus signed an extremely brilliant career in the amateur field, which includes, among other important titles, the European Individual Championship, the British Girls and the British Ladies Amateur.
Aree Song wins
LPGA Tour Q-School
Aree Song won the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, shooting a one-over 73 in wind, rain and cold for a two-stroke victory over 17-year-old Jessica Korda. The 24-year-old Song, from South Korea, finished at six-under 354 in the five-round event at LPGA International to earn one of 20 full 2011 Tour exemptions.
“Any time you enter a competition and come out on top, you feel pretty good,” said Song, of Seoul, who makes her home in Orlando, Florida. “(With this weather), I couldn’t hit it as close as the I did in the last four days, but I still hit it well.”
Korda, the daughter of former tennis star Petr Korda, closed with a 77. After playing the tournament as an amateur, she said after the round that she was turning pro. Because of the tour’s age restrictions, Korda will need to seek special permission from Commissioner Mike Whan to play next year. South Korea’s Jimin Jeong was third at three-under.
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