DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The second time was the charm for Jaye Marie Green. Actually, it didn't make any difference, because the first time was a charm, too.
In the fall of 2013, Green was a 19-year-old prodigy from Boca Raton, Fla., with a runner-up finish in the U.S. Women's Amateur on her resume (she lost to Lydia Ko in the 2012 final). She shot a 62 in the first round of the Final Stage of LPGA Qualifying (Q-School) that year, and went on to claim medalist honors with a 90-hole aggregate of 331 (29 under par), which remains the lowest score that has been shot in this event.
Green was back at the Final Stage of Q-School this year, after falling out of the top 100 on the LPGA money list (she was No. 112 in 2016).
And once again, she will be taking home the first-place medal. She didn't blow away the field this time, but she made a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole on the Hills Course at the LPGA International golf complex on Sunday to finish one stroke ahead of the runner-up, Olafia Kristinsdottir -- 347 to 348. Green closed with a 74, Kristinsdottir with a 73.
Kristinsottir, who has been playing on the Ladies European Tour since graduating from Wake Forest in 2014, started the final round two strokes behind Green. She was even par through seven holes, then birdied the eighth to pull within one of Green, and Kristinsdottir drew even when she parred the 10th and Green bogeyed it. Both players bogeyed the 11th.
A Kristinsdottir bogey at the 13th meant that Green was back in front, but she bogeyed the 16th, and they were tied again. Then Green came up with the deciding birdie at the 18th.
In the 18th fairway, she told her brother Matt, who was caddying for her, that it she made a birdie, she would pay him $1,000.
"I definitely wanted to win," Jaye Marie said afterward. "When i saw it going dead center, I was like 'Oh, my gosh. I did it.' I had to fist pump, which I never do. I think Matt was more excited about the $1,000 than the fact that I am going back to the LPGA."
Green is the first player to win the Final Stage twice since the event was moved to Daytona Beach in the early 1990s.
Kristinsdottir didn't mind having a share of medalist honors snatched away from her on the last hole. All she cared about was that she is going to be an LPGA member. The top 20 finishers from the Q-School receive Category 12 status. What that means is that they should get into roughly 18 or 19 LPGA events in 2017.
"Since I was a kid, I dreamed of reaching this level," she said, "and now I have."
She is the first player from Iceland ever to earn LPGA member status.
Angel Yen, a long-hitting 19-year-old from Arcadia, Calif., and Sadena Parks of Scottsdale, Ariz., tied for third, one shot behind Kristinsdottir, at 349. Parks shot 73 on Sunday. Yin was the only finisher in the top four who broke par; she had a 71.
Another veteran of the 2013 Q-School who made a return trip this year was Amy Anderson, 24, the 2009 U.S. Junior Girls champ from Oxbow, N.D. She cruised through the qualifying process three years ago, winning Stage II by six strokes and finishing fourth in the Final Stage. Then, in each her first two seasons on the Women's Tour, she finished in the top 80 on the money list and thereby retained her exempt status. But she slipped to No. 119 in 2016.
This time, Anderson's experience at the Final Stage of Q-School was considerably more harrowing. She made it but, basically, she was on the bubble from the first day to the last. Never more than a bogey or a double bogey away from falling out of the top 20.
After one round, her 71 had her in a 14-way tie for 21st place. She moved up into a tie for 18th with a second 71, and into a tie for 15th with a 70 on Friday. On Saturday, in the fourth round, she dropped out of the top 20 briefly, after a bogey at the 10th hole. But the former All-American from North Dakota State (and NCAA Division I record-holder for victories, with 20) birdied three of the last eight holes to get back inside the top 20, and into a tie for 13th. Even so, she was only two strokes clear of a four-way tie for 19th -- and this wasn't a qualifier from which the top 20 and ties advance.
If there was a tie for 20th, there would be a playoff.
On Sunday, Anderson was even par for the first 10 holes (one birdie, one bogey), and then she bogeyed the 11th. At that point, she was 5 under for the tournament, tied with four others for 14th, and there was a three-way tie for 19th at 4 under. She couldn't afford any more bogeys, and she didn't make any, rattling off six consecutive pars, and then, like Green, putting the icing on the cake with a birdie at the 18th. That got her back to even par for the day, and the resulting 72 gave her a five-day total of 354. She ended up in a tie for 12th with Laetitia Beck.
Through most of the final round, it appeared that there would be a playoff for 20th place at 356. Maybe a three-way or four-way tie for 19th, meaning a 3-for-2 playoff, or a 4-for-2. Who knew? But the pressure of Q-School (in essence, you're playing for a year of your life) caused a couple of late cracks in the armor, and so in the end, there was a clean cut. Pavarisa Yoktuan and and Karen Chung tied for 19th at 356, but they were the only two.
No playoff.
LPGA Tour Q-School
Final Stage (90 holes)
At LPGA International
Jones Course (par 72), Hills Course (par 72)
Daytona Beach, Fla.
Final results (the top 20 finishers will receive Category 12 exempt status for the 2017 LPGA Tour)
1. Jaye Marie Green, Boca Raton, Fla. 68-68-67-70-74--347
2. Olafia Kristinsdottir, Iceland 74-66-67-68-73--348
T3. Angel Yin, Arcadia, Calif. 74-67-69-68-71--349
T3. Sadena Parks Scottsdale, Ariz. 69-72-67-68-73--349
5. JeongEun Lee, South Korea 69-73-70-69-69--350
T6. Beth Allen, San Diego 71-72-68-68-72--351
T6. Ssu Chia Cheng, Chinese Taipei 73-66-69-72-71--351
T12. Amy Anderson, Oxbow, N.D. 71-71-70-70-72--354
What it took to make the top 20 -- 356 (2-way tie for 19th)
Those players finishing 21st through 45th will be partially exempt (Category 17)
What that took -- 363 (11-way tie for 44th)
Cut to top 70 & ties -- 290 (10-way tie for 61st)
Stage II (72 holes)
Oct. 20-23
At Plantation Golf & Country Club
Panther Course (par 72), Bobcat Course (par 72)
Venice, Fla.
Final results (the top 80 finishers advanced)
(a) - indicates players who haven't turned professional yet, but have the option of doing so if they make it through the Q-School
1. Marianne Skarpnord, Norway 69-68-69-71--277
2. (a) Bronte Law, England 69-70-74-69--282
3. Angel Yin, Arcadia, Calif. 72-71-72-68--283
What it took to advance -- 300 (9-way tie for 76th)
Stage I (72 holes)
Aug. 25-28
At Mission Hills Country Club
Dinah Shore Course (Par 72) Palmer Course (Par 72), Player Course (Par 72)
Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Final results (the top 80 finishers & ties advanced)
1. (a) Daniela Darquea, Ecuador 67-70-71-70--278
T2. Princess Superal, Phillippines 70-72-68-69--279
T2. Sarah Schmeizel, Phoenix 67-67-74-71--279
What it took to advance -- 294 (15-way tie for 78th)
T125, Sarah Detlefsen, Eagan 74-71-76-78--299
T130. Betsy Kelly, Forest Lake 75-74-72-80--301
Missed 54-hole cut (222)
T287. Katie Detlefsen, Eagan 72-80-83--235
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