Tullymore Classic
Tullymore Golf Club
Stanwood, Mich.
June 30, 2015
Storylines

STANWOOD, Mich., June 30, 2015 – The Epson Tour, the Road to the LPGA Tour, begins its second half of the season this week at the Tullymore Classic. The three-round event will begin on Friday, July 3, and run through Sunday, July 5, at Tullymore Golf Club.

The 144 player field will be competing for a share of a $100,000 purse with a top prize of $15,000. The top-10 on the year-end Volvik Race for the Card money list will receive their LPGA Tour cards for the 2016 season.

There will be a cut to the top 70 and ties following second round play on Saturday, July 4.

HOW THE EPSON TOUR WORKS: The ultimate goal for all Epson Tour professionals is to finish in the top 10 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.

Those that fi nish in the top 10, based on total money earned, will receive a full-time LPGA Tour card for the 2016 season. Since 2008, the Epson Tour has handed out 10 Tour cards after each season.

FOUR U.S. OPEN QUALIFIERS IN TULLYMORE FIELD: The U.S. Women’s Open, which will be played in Lancaster, Pennsylvania July 9-12 is the biggest event on the LPGA Tour schedule with the highest purse of $4 million.

Four Epson Tour members who are in the fi eld this week - Liz Nagel, Alejandra Llaneza, Lee Lopez and Haruka Morita-WanyaoLu - have qualified for the U.S. Open and will be teeing it up against the LPGA’s best next week at Lancaster Country Club.

MEG MALLON TO SERVE AS TOURNAMENT HOST: 18-time LPGA Tour winner Meg Mallon will be the honorary host of the inaugural Tullymore Classic. Mallon, who moved to Farmington Hills at age seven and played junior golf in Michigan, will attend the pairings party and compete in the pro-am on July 1.

“I’m honored that they asked and I’m excited to be a part of the Tullymore Classic,” Mallon said. “My first two years as a professional were spent on the Epson Tour and it means a lot to come full circle and be part of a Epson Tour event.”

Mallon had a decorated career on the LPGA Tour that included four major championships. Her career year came in 1991, when she won four times and was named the Female Player of the Year by the Golf Writers Association of America. Mallon won the U.S. Women’s Open twice in 1991 and 2004.

FOUR SPARTANS IN THE FIELD: Four Michigan State alums - Caroline Powers, Christine Meier, Liz Nagel and Laura Kueny - will be competing less than two hours from The Banks of the Red Cedar at this week’s Tullymore Classic.

A fifth Spartan, Allyssa Ferrell, also has a chance to get into the field as well as she is currently the second alternate.

ROLEX RANKINGS NO. 46 BROOKE HENDERSON IN FIELD: Rolex Rankings No. 46 Brooke Henderson will compete in her fourth Epson Tour event of the season this week at Tullymore.

“I’m really excited that I have the exemption to play out here now and have status and have a Tour to play on,” Henderson said. “I’ve been playing pretty well out here. I have a T2, a win and a third so I’m very happy moving forward.”

Last week’s Island Resort Championship was Henderson’s first as an official member of the Epson Tour. Following her victory at the Four Winds Invitational in South Bend, Henderson petitioned to waive the minimum age requirement and was granted Epson Tour membership by LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan.

Henderson is the highest ranked player to ever compete on the Road to the LPGA.

NEW NO. 1: By virtue of her T4 finish at the Island Resort Championship, Giulia Molinaro has taken over the top spot on the Volvik Race for the Card Money List with $38,285.

“It’s incredible to be leading halfway through the year,” said Molinaro, who has finished in the top 5 in three straight events. “It has been a great year so far, but we are only halfway home and there is lots of golf left to be played with great players so I’ll enjoy this moment for now and be back to working hard Tuesday.”

TOUR’S RAPID GROWTH: The Epson Tour has grown tremendously over the last two plus years. Since the end of the 2012 season, 16 new events have been added to the schedule. In 2015, there are seven brand new events.

Players will tee it up 23 times in 2015, the most tournaments in the last 27 years. The total purse of $2.73 million is the largest total purse in Tour history. The average purse of $118,695 is also the highest in the 35-year history of the Tour.

	2013 Season	2015 Season
Number of Events	15	23
Total Purse	$1.62 million	$2.73 million
Average Purse	$108,000	$118,695
72-hole Events	1	5
Number of States	9	14

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