Kelly fails to secure LPGA Tour card after dismal show

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia will not be represented on the US LPGA Tour for the first time since 2014 after Kelly Tan failed to regain her full playing status through the Qualifying School (Q-School).

The 23-year-old Kelly could only finish joint 130th in the 165-woman final stage of the Q-School, which ended at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Sunday.

Kelly carded dismal rounds of 76-79-71-74 for a 12-over 300 total to miss out on the final round cut on Saturday. A total of 71 players made Sunday’s finale but only the top 20 finishers secured their Tour cards.

Japan’s Nasa Hataoka won the 108-hole tournament with a 12-under 348 total.

Kelly lost her Tour card this season after finishing outside the top 125 of the Tour money list in September.

She’s ranked 149th after earning just US$25,966 (RM109,900) from a dismal campaign that saw her make just five cuts from 19 appearances this season.

This is in stark contrast to last year when she made US$153,762 (RM651,000) for 89th spot.

In her four seasons on the Tour, Kelly’s best result was joint fourth at the Marathon Classic in Ohio during her rookie year in 2014.

Kelly is the only second Malaysian to ply her trade on the world’s most prestigious women’s Tour after Lim Siew Ai.

Kelly has stated during the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia in October that she would remain in the United States to play in the second-tier Symetra Tour “if things don’t work out at the Q-School”.

The Symetra Tour serves as a gateway into the LPGA Tour as it rewards the top-10 money leaders at the end of the season with Tour cards.