Carolina López Chacarra (-6) completed her masterstroke on Tuesday at the Q Series, the grand Final of the LPGA Tour School. The Madrid native signed off with a final round of 69 strokes and secured the card for the world’s best circuit. Spectacular. She finished her university degree less than seven months ago, turned professional just the other day, and is already rubbing shoulders with the elite of women’s golf. A prodigious progression.
Carolina has shown that her golf is forged in iron. She endured everything that could be endured and more during a very challenging week, prolonged by weather interruptions, constantly on the edge, in and out of the cards, until she finally stepped up and finished among the top 25 and ties.
Once again, her round, played between Monday and Tuesday, was not exactly a walk in the park. She started with a bogey, adding excitement and even more pressure, although by the time play was suspended due to rain, she had already managed to straighten things out. You need to be very strong-minded and have tremendous conviction in your game to overcome such a trial by fire.
She still had to finish the job today with the last seven holes of the fourth and final round. Carolina excelled. She played it safe. She played with the advantage she had and managed to finish the job with two great birdies on holes 4 and 8. The work was already done, and it was a matter of not throwing it away. She finished with a bogey on the 9th of the Crossings course, her 18th hole, but the card was already safely in her pocket. It didn’t matter. A mistake without consequences. The important thing was to avoid a high number.
As it stands, Carolina López Chacarra will play next year on the LPGA Tour. It’s true that the school category isn’t the best for playing all year; she’ll need to perform well in the early tournaments, but she’s achieved something that’s very difficult: she’s opened the door. Now, the next step will be to keep both feet in for as many years as possible. The Wake Forest golfer has shown she has the talent, dedication, and guts to bring much joy to Spanish golf in the coming years.
Thus, Spain will have six players with playing rights on the LPGA Tour next year. It’s said quickly. It’s an extraordinary number. Carlota Ciganda and Julia López, as the figureheads, will have full rights, Carolina the School card, Fátima Fernández Cano will play what she can with a medical exemption due to her hip surgery, and Azahara Muñoz and Carla Tejedo will also enjoy some tournaments due to their classification in the Race to CME Globe and the Epson Tour, respectively.
On the other hand, Carla Bernat, the other Spaniard who finished this School Final, has secured the Epson Tour card. It’s not what she wanted. She was aiming for the big LPGA card, but she will be able to gain experience on the second American circuit. It’s not a bad thing. She has enough ability to do very well and reach the LPGA next year with a much better category than the school. In this regard, there are voices suggesting that next year the LPGA school might be eliminated, and access to the world’s top circuit would only be through the Epson. Bernat finished with a PAR round for a total of +3.
The cut with the cards, top 25 and ties, closed at -5. The most notable names who secured LPGA rights are Helen Briem, who also finished in the top position of these Q Series, a coup by the German, Ryan O’Toole, Perrine Delacour, Polly Mack, Nastasia Nadaud, Chiara Tamburlini, Lauren Walsh, Carolina Melgrati, Ana Belac, Jodi Ewart, Mimi Rhodes, and the Major winner Hinako Shibuno. How the Japanese player struggled to get just the number required.
