After the third tournament of the 2020 Epson Tour season, the Volvik Race for the Card welcomes a few fresh faces to the top-10 thanks to their performance in the inaugural Founders Tribute at Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, Ariz. last weekend.
Ruixin Liu (Guangdong, People’s Republic of China) slides into the No. 1 position on the money list with $31,261 after a tied for 32nd result in the desert. She is only $15 ahead of Janie Jackson (Huntsville, Alabama), as each player has a win and multiple top-10s under their belt already this year.
“It feels pretty good being back on top, but $15 at this moment doesn’t give me any advantage going to the next event. I will just play my game and hopefully maintain this position,” Liu said. “Of course, I want to finish the year as No. 1 on the money list but due to my sesamoid injury, I could end my season at any time for treatment. I will see how I feel in Beaumont and then make a decision.”
Checking in at No. 3 is Bailey Tardy (Norcross, Georgia) having earned $17,334 across three starts. Then it is Sophia Popov (Heidelberg, Germany) adding her name to the mix following a tied for second finish and $10,258 pay day in Maricopa County. She climbed 21 spots thanks to her third cut made in as many events and has cashed $13,058 over that span. Kim Kaufman (Clark, South Dakota) rounds out the top five having claimed $12,835, courtesy of back-to-back top five performances.
“I wasn’t sure how my start would be in Battle Creek, but I played well and it gave me some confidence,” said Kaufman, who finished sixth in the Founders Tribute. “I worked so hard during the break and I have a lot of trust in all aspects of my game right now. My plan is to continue playing in as many Epson Tour events as I can when they don’t conflict with LPGA events. It feels great to see my name near the top of the money list and I hope to continue climbing.”
Alone at No. 6 is Daniella Iacobelli (Melbourne, Florida) with $11,771, even though she missed both the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship and Founders Tribute. Meanwhile, Fatima Fernandez Cano (Santiago de Compostela, Spain) used a solo fourth finish in the Grand Canyon State to jump a total of seven places and sit at $10,782 earned.
Casey Danielson (Osceola, Wisconsin) secured the “Move of the Week,” shooting 87 spots up in the rankings with a tied for second showing at Longbow Golf Club. The Stanford University alumna now has collective earnings of $10,764 this year. Lakareber Abe (The Woodlands, Texas) remains in the top-10 for another week, now at No. 9 with $8,805, and Dewi Weber (Groningen, Netherlands) finds herself at No. 10 with $7,401 and three top-20 finishes in 2020.
At the end of the season, the top five players in the Volvik Race for the Card standings will graduate onto the LPGA Tour for the 2021 campaign.
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