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Bauer Exempt For 2002 LPGA Tour
Aug. 14, 2001
courtesy of SBC FUTURES Tour Media Relations
MORGANTOWN, W.Va., - Rookie Beth Bauer of Tampa, Fla., Angela Buzminski of Oshawa, Ontario, and rookie Jung Yeon Lee of Seoul, Korea, qualified August 13 as LPGA Tour exempt members for the year 2002 by finishing in the top-three on the SBC FUTURES Tour Money List. This marks the third time in the 21-year history of the SBC FUTURES Tour that its players received automatic exemptions onto the LPGA Tour.
Also today, players ranked fourth through 10th on the money list, received automatic entry into the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament to be held October 10th - 13th at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla. Those players, in order of finish, are Ju Yun Kim of Seoul, Korea, Jeanne-Marie Busuttil of Chantilly, France, Michele Fuller of West Palm Beach, Fla., Jenn Brody of L' Anse, Mich., Mayumi Nakajima of Nagano, Japan, Catherine Cartwright of Bonita Springs, Fla., and Miriam Nagl of Berlin, Germany.
This season Bauer has 15 top-10 finishes in 18 tournaments including four wins. Her first win came in the fourth tournament of the year, the California FUTURES Classic in Patterson, Calif. She proceeded to win the Colorado Women's FUTURES Classic in Westminster, Colo., the Aurora Health Care SBC FUTURES Charity Golf Classic in Sussex, Wis., and then last week she won her fourth tournament, the York Newspaper Company FUTURES Classic in York, Pa. Currently Bauer is setting a new SBC FUTURES Tour single season earnings record with $76,467. The previous record was $52,829 set in 1987 by Laurel Kean, a current LPGA Tour player.
"It is just a relief to have it over," said the 21-year-old Bauer, who was a member of the 1998 and 2000 U.S. Curtis Cup Team. "I was relaxed all week and it is just a good feeling to have my card. Two or three weeks ago I knew my position was good, but after the win last week I knew that I clinched it.
"Playing the SBC FUTURES Tour has been a blessing in disguise. It has been a great year for me as far as building my confidence by winning out here. Hopefully I can take this momentum into next year on the LPGA Tour."
Buzminski, who joined the SBC FUTURES Golf Tour in 1995 and plays golf left-handed, currently has nine top-10 finishes in 15 starts including three wins. She won two tournaments back-to-back, The Greater Lima FUTURES Open in Lima, Ohio and the JWA/Michelob Light FUTURES Charity Golf Classic in Decatur, Ill. Two weeks later she won her third tournament of the season, the Capital Region FUTURES Classic in Albany, N.Y. Her total earnings so far are $49,832 and she is ranked number two on the SBC FUTURES Golf Tour Money List.
"I am relieved that it is over and that I am going to the LPGA," said the 30-year-old Buzminski, who finished tied for sixth this week at the Betty Puskar FUTURES Golf Classic in Morgantown. W. Va. "My confidence was pretty high going into the second part of the season. After my win in Lima, I knew that I was going to contend for one of the LPGA Tour cards."
Lee, who was fighting back problems for the last few weeks, edged out fellow countrywoman Ju Yun Kim by $211 to receive LPGA exempt status for the 2002 season. This week Lee finished tied for 17th at the Betty Puskar FUTURES Golf Classic worth $1,113 while Kim finished tied for ninth worth $1,968. Currently Lee has nine top-10 finishes in 19 tournaments including two wins that came back-to-back, the Innerform Golf Challenge in Grand Rapids, Mich., and the FUTURES Golf Classic at Green Mountain National in Killington, Vt.
The 22-year-old Lee, who has $48,272 in season earnings this year, said, "I thought I was going to finish in fourth place so I went back to the hotel to pack to go back to Korea. I had no idea that I had passed Kim (Ju Yun) this week.
"For the last few weeks I was trying to just play one shot at a time. I was looking at the money list and it was making me very nervous so I tried to just play golf and not think of it."
Zayra F. Calderon, president and chief executive officer of the SBC FUTURES Golf Tour said, "Every one of the players on the SBC FUTURES Tour in their own right deserve to win one of the three exemptions and would have represented the SBC FUTURES Tour very well. This year's top-three players embody the great qualities of competitors and champions: dedication, perseverance and talent. They will certainly make their mark on the LPGA as our other 180-plus alumni have."
The SBC FUTURES Tour is recognized worldwide as the premier international women's developmental tour, and in 1999 became the "official developmental tour of the LPGA." By virtue of this relationship with the LPGA, the SBC FUTURES Tour provides its players direct avenues to qualify for the LPGA Tour. The Tour is committed to developing the skills and dreams of women golfers, establishing role models for youth and creating the LPGA stars of tomorrow. The SBC FUTURES Tour tournaments are located in a cross-section of American cities where there is significant community participation. In 2001, the Tour features 20 tournaments in 15 states across the United States from March to October with purses totaling more than $1.2 million. In addition, the SBC FUTURES Tour supports local charities in each of the tournament cities. Since 1989, FUTURES Tour events have raised close to $2 million for charitable organizations.
