Final Canadian Results:
5. Jennifer Kirby (-12) 71-69-69-71-68 – 348
T32. Maude-Aimée LeBlanc (-2) 71-73-73-71-70 – 358
T44. Lorie Kane (E) 72-73-73-72-70 – 360
T65. Erica Rivard (+5) 77-72-69-70-77 – 365
T70. Jessica Shepley (+8) 73-76-750-67-77 – 368
— MISSED CUT —
T71. Natalie Gleadall (+4) 73-73-71-75 – 292
T71. Stephanie Sherlock (+4) 73-74-72-73 – 292
T79. Sara-Maude Juneau (+5) 77-70-74-72 – 293
T102. Ashely Sholer (+8) 73-78-71-74 – 296
T122. Nicole Vandermade (+11) 78-74-79-68 – 299
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Paris, Ont. native and former Team Canada member, Jennifer Kirby, finished 5th at the LPGA‘s Final Qualifying Tournament Sunday to earn exempt status on the Tour for 2014.
Kirby took to Twitter shortly after earning her card.
Couldn’t be happier with this week! So excited to play the LPGA tour this year!! Thank you everyone for the amazing support!!!!!!!!!
— Jennifer Kirby (@kirbyjennifer) December 8, 2013
The 22-year University of Alabama alumnae tallied five solid sub-par rounds (71-69-69-71-68) to finish the five-day, 90-hole event at 12-under par.
Kirby joins fellow Canadians Sue Kim of Langley, B.C., Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Lorie Kane of Charlottetown and Rebecca Lee-Bentham of Toronto as full-time LPGA Tour members in 2014.
Kim and Sharp earned their way back onto the LPGA Tour via their play on the Symetra Tour, while Lee-Bentham finished in the top 80 of the Tour’s money list just one year after she won medalist honours at Q-School.
Kirby was the only one of the 10 Canadians who started the week to gain full (Category 12) status.
Maude-Aimee LeBlanc of Sherbrooke, Que. tied for 32nd at 2-under par. She will have conditional status next year.
Kane, a four-time winner on the Tour, finished tied for 44th. She was looking to improve her priority standing in order to get into more tournaments in 2014.
Jaye Marie Green of Boca Raton, Fla. completed the wire-to-wire victory to earn medalist honors. The 19-year-old finished 29-under with a 10 shot victory over South Korean Mi Rim Lee.
Green set the record for the lowest score at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament since it moved to a 90-hole event in 2004. Eight-time LPGA Tour winner Stacy Lewis set the previous record in 2008 when she posted an 18-under 342.
Green, who placed second to New Zealand star Lydia Ko at the 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, played on the Symetra Tour this season and tallied three top-10 finishes to end the season ranked 29th on the Volvik Race for the Card.
Finishing runner-up at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament was South Korea’s Mi Rim Lee, a two-time winner on the Korean LPGA Tour, who finished with a 3-under 69 and 19-under for the tournament.
Two-year LPGA Tour veteran Tiffany Joh finished third with a 15-under 354 total to improve her status for the 2014 season. The Californian, who celebrated her 27th birthday, said the solid finish was quite the present today.
Twenty-six additional players also earned 2014 LGPA membership and will fall in Category 17. Others who finished T49 and below and made the 72-hole cut earned Symetra Tour status.