DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A total of 108 players will take on the challenge that the Jones Course at LPGA International presents starting Thursday with the first round of the 14th annual Epson Tour Championship.
Three featured groups highlight the competition for the 20th and final event of the 2021 season.
Amanda Doherty, Rachel Rohanna, Morgane Metraux (No. 1 tee, 8:33 a.m.)
This trio features the current Nos. 8, 9 and 10 in the Race for the Card, led by Amanda Doherty (Atlanta, Georgia). The second-year rookie returns to the state where she competed collegiately for Florida State University and was a 2018 All-ACC selection. Doherty has played the weekend 14 times across 18 starts this season with seven top 10s including a career-best result of runner-up at the IOA Golf Classic pres. by RP Funding in May, earning $75,780 along the way.
Rachel Rohanna (Marianna, Pennsylvania) adds to the firepower of this featured group. The Ohio State University alumna is a two-time winner in her nine-year career on the “Road to the LPGA,” including the 2017 Epson Tour Championship. A 2015 Epson Tour graduate, Rohanna knows what it takes to get the job done. She’s having another solid season with three top-5 results in 18 starts and $74,067 earned.
Morgane Metraux (Lausanne, Switzerland) rounds out this grouping. Another Florida State University alumna, she was a three-time medalist for the Seminoles and ended her college career as one of four to ever record three or more wins. A rookie in 2018, this year is just her second competing on the Epson Tour. Metraux has collected $72,567 across 17 starts, highlighted by her first win as a professional at the Island Resort Championship, one of five top-10 performances in 2021.
Beth Wu, Bailey Tardy, Sierra Brooks (No. 1 tee, 12:42 p.m.)
She didn’t make her first start in 2021 until late April, but the second-year Epson Tour rookie Beth Wu (Diamond Bar, California) has taken advantage of every opportunity. It all started with a runner-up result at the Garden City Charity Classic, one of six top-15 finishes across 14 events played. Wu has made 10 cuts for total season earnings of $68,625, which is less than $4,000 outside the Race for the Card Top 10.
Hot on the heels of Wu at No. 11 in the Race for the Card is Bailey Tardy (Norcross, Georgia), the current No. 12 with $65,455. The University of Georgia product has strung together three top-20 finishes in her last four starts to climb up the money list. Tardy also collected her first professional win at the inaugural Copper Rock Championship in April. She finished No. 6 in the 2020 Race for the Card, as only the top five graduated to the LPGA Tour because of the shortened season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Florida native Sierra Brooks (Orlando, Florida) is another Race for the Card Top-10 hopeful. The second-year rookie has cashed $62,345 in 19 starts this season. Over her last eight tournaments played, Brooks has six top-15 results including a career-best finish of a tie for second at the Guardian Championship. She was a three-time medalist at the University of Florida and the first player in program history to win individual titles in two of her first three starts.
Isi Gabsa, Yaeeun Hong, Samantha Wagner (No. 1 tee, 1:15 p.m.)
The last featured group pits Nos. 14, 15 and 16 in the Race for the Card, starting with Isi Gabsa (Munich, Germany). A 2018 Epson Tour graduate, Gabsa has missed only one cut in 19 starts this season. Her resumé features seven top 10s including a tie for second at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in August. Gabsa finished in a tie for 11th at the 2018 Epson Tour Championship to secure her spot in the top 10 that year.
Yaeeun Hong (Seoul, Republic of Korea) is another second-year rookie on the Epson Tour. In her pro debut at the 2020 Florida’s Natural Charity Classic, Hong finished in a tie for third. It was the only event she played last season. This season, she has earned $60,935 thanks to nine top 15s in 18 starts including a career-best performance of a tie for second at the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout in Arkansas. Hong won the 2019 Australian Women’s Amateur Championship.
Florida native Samantha Wagner (Windermere, Florida) rounds out this trio. The fourth-year pro has found her stride this season with six top 10s and $57,388 collected across 13 cuts made in 17 starts. Her results include a career-best finish of a tie for second at the Copper Rock Championship. Wagner spent two years at the University of Florida and was named to the 2016 All-SEC Freshman Team. She qualified for and made her professional debut at the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open Championship.