After the fifth tournament of the 2021 Epson Tour season, the Race for the Card had some shifting among the top contenders upon the conclusion of the Garden City Charity Classic.
Ruixin Liu (Guangdong, People’s Republic of China) continues to maintain the No. 1 spot on the money list with the help of two wins and $67,220 in earnings. Moving up nine spots to No. 2 is Lilia Vu (Foutain Valley, California). She makes her Race for the Card top-10 debut thanks to her first Epson Tour win at the Garden City Charity Classic and has collected $41,808 this year. Checking in at No. 3 is Fatima Fernandez Cano (Santiago, Spain), who has three top-10s in four starts and season earnings of $38,031.
“It means a great deal [to be in this position], but there’s still a lot of tournaments left. I’m going to do my best to have the same mindset that I’ve had the past couple tournaments, just go out there and play my game,” said Vu. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself.”
Rounding out the first half of the group at No. 4 is Maude-Aimee Leblanc (Sherbrooke, Quebec), who earned a runner-up result at the Copper Rock Championship and has cashed $33,382. Sophie Hausmann (Nottuln, Germany) is No. 5. The “Road to the LPGA” rookie found the winner’s circle at the IOA Championship presented by Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in March en route to securing $33,053 so far on the 2021 season.
The inaugural Copper Rock Championship champion Bailey Tardy (Norcross, Georgia) stays in the top-10 after missing out on the weekend at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course in Garden City, Kan., dropping to No. 6 at $32,701. Haylee Harford (Leavittsburg, Ohio) follows the University of Georgia alumna with $23,818.
“I'm happy with the position I'm in after the first five weeks. I've been enjoying myself, learning a lot and I feel great about where my game is currently,” said Harford, who owns three top-10 performances in five starts. “I'm looking forward to keeping the momentum going in our next swing of events on the East Coast.”
Sophia Schubert (Oak Ridge, Tennessee) is No. 8 with $22,416 and close behind is Morgane Metraux (Lausanne, Switzerland) with $21,914. Completing the top-10 this week is Gigi Stoll (Beaverton, Oregon) with season earnings of $20,608.
At the end of the season, the top-10 players in the Race for the Card standings will graduate onto the LPGA Tour for the 2022 campaign.