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Thirty-Six Futures Tour Players Earn LPGA Cards

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Thirty-six members of the Futures Golf Tour earned LPGA Tour status for the 2005 season at this week’s LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, with 13 players grabbing exempt status and 23 collecting non-exempt status for next year.

Paula Creamer, the talented amateur from Pleasanton, Calif., who was
co-medalist at the Futures Tour Qualifying Tournament in November, clobbered
the field by five shots at 11-under-par 349 for the 90-hole event held at
LPGA International. Because she entered the week as an amateur, Creamer’s
winner’s check was split by Futures Tour member Young Jo of Suwon, Korea and
Futures Tour alum Lee Ann Walker-Cooper of Cary, N.C., who each collected
$5,500 for their efforts. Jo and Walker-Cooper tied for second at six-under
354.

‘It’s the end and it’s a new beginning,’ said Creamer, 18, of her opening
act as a professional. ‘I’m not really surprised about this week because I
came into this tournament wanting to win. Playing in [the Futures Tour]
qualifying a month ago was a good tune-up and it showed me that I needed to
tighten things up and work on my short game. That’s what I did before coming
into this week.’

Alternating on both the Champions and Legends courses before playing the
final round on the Legends course, Creamer posted rounds of 70-68-70-71-70.
But Jo’s second-round 66 tied as the low round of the week and put the
two-year Futures Tour member in position to make a charge for one of the
exempt cards to join best-pal Aram Cho on the LPGA Tour next year. Cho
earned her exempt status by finishing fourth on the Futures Tour Money List
and Jo, who finished 11th, advanced into LPGA Final Qualifying by finishing
among the Futures’ top 15. Ninety holes later, Jo had capitalized on that
opportunity playing in the final group with Creamer and LPGA Tour veteran
Beth Bader.

‘I was prepared because the Futures Tour helped me a lot,’ said Jo, who
celebrated after her round with Cho and Futures Tour member Sunny Oh. ‘I
never even thought about playing the LPGA Tour until I played the Futures
Tour. This week, I learned I have to play even better.’

For Futures Tour member Emily Bastel of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, earning an
exempt LPGA Tour card was even sweeter after losing her No. 5 spot in the
last event of the season to tournament winner Malinda Johnson. Bastel had
virtually locked up her LPGA card to automatically advance to the LPGA Tour,
but was bumped from fifth to sixth position when Johnson won the season’s
concluding event. Bastel’s determination to change her fortune was evident
with her opening round of 67 in this week’s five-round event.

‘Ever since the Futures Tour ended in August, I felt like I deserved to be
here,’ said Bastel, who tied for fourth at four-under 356 with Futures Tour
member Celeste Troche and LPGA Tour veteran Cathy Johnston-Forbes.

‘I had a lot of rounds in the 60s and I had a really good year, so I was obviously
disappointed not to finish in the top five and earn my LPGA card. In the
end, you take away the positives but at the time, it was devastating. That
helped me to be tougher mentally. I’m definitely a better player now than I
was last year this time, thanks to the Futures Tour.’

A non-exempt LPGA Tour member this year, Troche said she was relieved to
finally earn exempt LPGA status. ‘I did what I came to do,’ said Troche, of
Asuncion, Paraguay, who carded a 67 in the second round. ‘On the Futures
Tour, I learned about the rhythm of the competition. Now, it feels like
graduation -- like we’re going off to college.’

Futures Tour rookies Sung Ah Yim of Seoul, Korea and Bernadette Luse of
Orlando, Fla., tied for 10th at two-under 358. Yim’s nerves rattled to the
tune of five-over-par 77 in the opening round, but the 21-year old settled
down with a four-under-par 68 on the second day.

‘I was really nervous that first day and my caddie told me I was too
uptight,’ said Yim, who automatically advanced into the LPGA’s Final
Qualifying Tournament with her No. 7 position on the Futures Tour’s season
money list. ‘But playing this year on the Futures Tour, I improved my skills
and my mental game. To get this [LPGA Tour card], I’m very excited and very
happy.’

Luse played her final three rounds at five-under par to move into a share of
10th place. ‘It’s just a huge relief to get my LPGA card and this is a real
turning point for me right now,’ she said. ‘I started playing golf late at
age 15, and I guess I’m a late bloomer, but playing with the Futures was a
great way for me to learn my game.’

Two Futures Tour alums who previously earned their exempt LPGA cards
regained exempt status this week in the qualifier. Korea’s Birdie Kim, who
earned her LPGA card in 2003 as Ju Kim, carded a final-round 69 en route to
her one-under-par five-day total of 359 to tie for 12th with Tampa’s Beth
Bauer. Bauer posted a five-under-par score of 67 in the second round.

Among the eight players tying for 12th at 359 were Futures Tour members
Katie Allison of Mahwah, N.J., and Amy Hung of Taiwan. Allison, 24, called
getting her LPGA Tour card ‘pretty surreal.’

‘It was a marathon out there,’ she said. ‘I had to really focus on targets
and taking deep breaths just to get the job done. I’m thrilled that I made
it, but now the work begins.’

Allison, who played her first year on the Futures Tour this season, said she
learned ‘how to score and how to stay in it’ this year. She finished ranked
51st after 15 events. ‘Playing week to week really got me ready for LPGA
Qualifying and I have to say that my game is dramatically different now than
a year ago,’ she said. ‘I owe that to what I learned playing with the
Futures .’

Brittany Lincicome, the teen from Seminole, Fla., who tied Creamer last
month for medalist honors in the Futures Tour Qualifying Tournament, tied
for 20th at even-par 360 with Futures Tour members Kristin Samp of Moberly,
Mo., and Hana Kim of Los Angeles. Futures Tour member Jordan Cherebetiu of
Rapid City, S.D., finished 24th at one-over 361 to also earn her exempt 2005
LPGA Tour card.

‘I cried coming up the 18th fairway,’ confessed Kim, 22, who played
collegiately at Northwestern and UCLA. ‘I worked hard on the Futures Tour
this year and felt prepared coming in. To earn my way onto the LPGA Tour was
my ultimate goal of the year.’

Seven players played off three extra holes for the final six exempt cards
with Futures Tour members Mee Na Lee of Seoul, Korea, Dina Ammaccapane of
Phoenix and Joellyn-Erdmann-Crooks grabbing three of those cards.

‘It just feels good to finish the year not burned out,’ laughed
Erdmann-Crooks, who played full-time with the Futures from 1999-2003 and six
events last year.

Three 2004 Futures Tour tournament winners earned non-exempt LPGA Tour
status for 2005. Erica Blasberg of Corona, Calif., finished 4th non-exempt
at three-over 363, followed by Naree Song of Seoul, who finished 16th at
five-over 365, and Courtney Wood of Brentwood, Tenn., who finished 30th
eight-over 368.

Seven of the Futures Tour’s top-10 players and 12 of the top 15 earned some
type of LPGA Tour status for 2005. Ninth-ranked Kris Tamulis of Naples,
Fla., finished as fifth non-exempt at three-over 363 after being tied for
18th overall after four rounds. Tamulis’ four-over-par 76 in the final round
stole her chance of playing off for one of the final cards. Allison Hanna of
Portland, Ore., ranked 13th on the Futures Tour Money List, finished as 34th
non-exempt at nine-over 369. Eighth-ranked Kyeong Bae of Seoul, 10th-ranked
Seon-Hwa Lee of Chonan, Korea and 15th-ranked Michelle Murphy of Tacoma,
Wash., all missed the 72-hole cut.