The first event of the Epson Tour season has the Race for the Card standings looking exactly like you think they would look: in line with the leaderboard at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic.
There are a few names that jump out that are currently in the top 15, but first, this is how players currently stack up in the Race after last week’s event in Winter Haven, Fla.:
- 1. Valery Plata – 500 points
- 2. Ana Belac – 320 points
- 3. Cassie Porter – 230 points
- 4. Jenny Bae – 180 points
- T5. Alena Sharp – 121 points
- T5. Heather Lin – 121 points
- T5. Kiira Riihijarvi – 121 points
- T8. Kim Kaufman – 81 points
- T8. Jennifer Chang – 81 points
- T8. Brooke Matthews – 81 points
- T11. Sofia Garcia – 65 points
- T11. Crystal Wang – 65 points
- T13. 8 Players Tied – 50 points
Jenny Bae and Alena Sharp are two champions from the 2023 season who’ve got off to a hot start in 2024, despite neither of them playing in last week’s event before this year. Bae, a two-time Epson Tour winner in 2023, joined the Tour last year but did so after the 2023 Florida’s Natural Charity Classic. She went on to capture a top-five finish in her first start in 2024 with a final-round 69, her best score of the week. Sharp joined Bae in the top five in her first appearance at the Country Club of Winter Haven, playing consistent golf all week and recording three straight under-par rounds.
Crystal Wang put on the best performance out of the 2024 Epson Tour rookie class, finishing in a tie for 11th in her first start as an official member of the Tour. The 2023 Big Ten Player of the Year for the University of Illinois made herself known in the first round, posting a 6-under 66 to take the lead after 18 holes. Although the weekend did not pan out how Wang envisioned, the 23-year-old has put herself in a great position to start the season and could be a name to look for in the top 15 when the season starts winding down this fall.
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