Gabriela Ruffels
A University of Southern California alumna, Gabriela Ruffels finished outright fourth at the 2021 IOA Championship presented by Morongo Casino Resort & Spa. It still stands as her career-best finish on the Epson Tour. Ruffels returns to Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet Canyon coming off a tie for 12th in the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic. The Australian is one of two players in the IOA Championship field, along with Mi Hyang Lee, that will tee it up 40 miles down the road at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage next week for the Chevron Championship, golf’s first major of the 2022 season.
Lucy Li
In her third season on the “Road to the LPGA,” Lucy Li made her 2022 Epson Tour debut at the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic with a tie for fifth. One week prior, she opened her year by tying for 12th at the Honda LPGA Thailand. Li will make her third appearance in the IOA Championship, as she finished T38 in Beaumont in 2020 and 54th in 2021. The Redwood Shores native is one of 10 Californians in the 120-player field.
Weiwei Zhang
One of the hottest players to start the 2022 Epson Tour season, Weiwei Zhang has earned back-to-back T5 results at Florida’s Natural Charity Classic and Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic. Zhang finished in a tie for 35th at 2021 LPGA Q-Series to first earn LPGA membership as a 2022 rookie. The 25-year-old is a five-time winner on the China LPGA Tour and became the first player in CLPGA history to win four times in a season when she accomplished the feat in 2019.