The Epson Tour Championship tees off Thursday and by Sunday the ten players atop the Ascencus Race for the Card leaderboard will earn LPGA Tour status for 2023. A few of the biggest names on the LPGA Tour are products of the Epson Tour. Since its inception in 1999, 172 players have graduated from the Epson Tour and found success among the world’s best. Eight of the most memorable are below.
Celine Boutier
With two wins at the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women's Health Classic and the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge, and six more top ten finishes, Boutier finished third on the official money list to become a 2017 Epson Tour graduate.
Boutier quickly rose to the heights of the LPGA and earned the first win of 2019 at the ISPS Handa Vic Open, becoming the first French player to win on the tour since 2003. She earned her second win in 2021 with a -14 performance at the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer.
In 2022, Boutier has 10 top-10 finishes, climbed to No. 13 in the Rolex Rankings and looks poised to capture her third title at any moment. A third win would make Boutier the winningest French player in LPGA history.
Hannah Green
Green, a fellow Epson Tour class of 2017 alum, finished the qualifying tour just ahead of Boutier. Three wins at the Sara Bay Classic, Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout and IOA Golf Classic put her second on the money list and awarded her the Gaelle Truet Rookie of the Year award.
For her first LPGA Tour win, Green went head-to-head with former world No. 1 and defending champion Sung Hyun Park at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and won by a single shot. Her second tour win came just two months later at the AmazingCre Portland Classic.
Nelly Korda
Korda is the star of a stacked Epson Tour graduating class that included the likes of Ally Ewing and Madelene Sagstrom. She graduated in 2016 with one victory, the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge, and a ninth-place finish on the Ascencus Race for the Card money list.
Nowadays, Korda is far from ninth place. She is currently locked in a tight battle with Jin Young Ko and Atthaya Thitikul to recover her Rolex world No. 1 rank, which she held for 12 weeks at the end of 2021 entering 2022, after dropping to No. 3 this season. Korda has seven career wins on the LPGA Tour, four of which came in 2021 at the Gainbridge LPGA, Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give, KPMG Women's PGA Championship and Pelican Women's Championship.
Ally Ewing
Ewing joins Korda as Epson Tour class of 2016 alum. She had eight top-10 finishes and ended that season second on the money list to earn her LPGA Tour card.
Ewing is now a three-time LPGA Tour winner, taking home a title every year since her LPGA Drive On Championship win in 2020. In September, Ewing turned in a 22-under par finish – buoyed by five straight birdies in the final round of play – to win by one stroke at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G.
Madelene Sagstrom
The last Epson Tour graduate of 2016 who went on to become an LPGA Tour winner is Sagstrom. She notched her first victory just a few weeks before Ewing at the first event of 2020, the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio.
Sagstrom won three times on the Epson Tour – Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout, Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women's Health Classic and Chico's Patty Berg Memorial – and was named the Epson Player of the Year.
Mo Martin
Martin had a long tenure on the Epson Tour, playing in the qualifying tour from 2006 to 2011 and winning three times. En route to graduating in 2011, Martin won the Eagle Classic and finished third on the money list.
The Californian grabbed her first LPGA Tour victory in 2014 at the RICOH Women’s British Open. The major remains Martin’s sole win on the tour.
Ryann O’Toole
Just one year before Martin graduated, another Californian – Ryann O’Toole – earned her LPGA Tour card through the Epson Tour. O’Toole won twice on the tour at the Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City Championship and the Falls Auto Group Classic before graduating in 2010.
While O’Toole reached the LPGA Tour first, it took her until 2021 to grab her first win. She won the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open title at 17-unde par after carding a -8 final round.
Inbee Park
Park is unquestionably the most prolific Epson Tour graduate. She earned her LPGA Tour card after recording 11 top ten finishes on the Epson Tour in 2006.
In 15 years on the LPGA tour, Park has claimed 21 titles, seven of which are majors. Her last win came at the Kia Classic in 2021. She spent 106 weeks as the Rolex World No. 1 throughout her career and is a member of the LPGA Hall of Fame.
Park has not competed since the AIG Women’s Open in August due to injury.
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