The first Monday Qualifier of the season is in the books and two LPGA members – Vicky Hurst and Daniela Darquea – earned spots in the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic with a 65 and 67, respectively.
Samantha Troyanovich, Christina Yang and Madeleine Sheils came up one stroke short of joining Darquea in a playoff for the final spot.
Hurst and Darquea were the ninth and tenth alternates for the event, so the qualifier was their only way into the field. A total of 30 players competed in the qualifier.
Hurst has been a staple on Tour since her rookie season of 2009, but has struggled lately. She failed to finish in the top-30 in 20 starts in 2017, which affected her status on Tour.
"I did a good job today of just staying steady," said Hurst. "There are plenty of birdie opportunities on the course without too much wind. I really capitalized on the birdie chances and made some great putts."
Meanwhile, Darquea will make her second career LPGA start after chipping in for eagle at the last to earn the second spot in the field.
"I had a lot of fun on the course today," Darquea told LPGA.com. "Putting really helped me score low. I'm very excited to play in the tournament."
She played almost exclusively on the Epson Tour in 2017 where she finished 12th on the money list. Darquea finished just outside the top 20 at Final Stage, but earned high conditional status for the 2018 season.
Darquea is the first from Equador to play on the LPGA Tour. She played three years of college golf at Miami.
Monday, Tournament officials announced that Mariah Stackhouse, who is beginning her second season on the LPGA Tour, was awarded a sponsor's exemption. She finished 114th on the Tour's money list in 2017.
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