She learned by accident. On Tuesday, a weather system blew through Southeast Arkansas and sirens for severe weather blew at Mystic Creek Golf Club early in the afternoon. A Epson Tour official who was out getting a look at the course stumbled upon Casey Danielson on the 14th fairway and offered her a ride to the clubhouse. As she was loading her clubs onto the cart, the official said, “Congratulations, Casey,” to which the 26-year-old Stanford graduate said, “Thank you.”
A few minutes later, Danielson said, “Just curious, why did you congratulate me?”
And that’s how she found out she had officially locked up her 2022 LPGA Tour card.
“I knew I was close ever since Idaho (and the Circling Raven Championship),” she said. “Getting near the $90,000 mark let me know that it was a pretty good chance of being a lock. So, it’s been nice to be able to look around and soak up what it’s been like being out here on the Epson Tour. This is my fourth year out here. I’ve really come to enjoy it and I love my fellow players. It’s been great to soak all this in and not worry too much about outcomes.”
She hasn’t stopped smiling in two days at the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout.
“It’s a relief not having to worry about the money list,” Danielson said on Thursday as she put the finishing touches on her preparation. “Getting the news officially has made that feeling 10 times better.
“It’s going to be a big life change on the LPGA Tour. But I have a lot of time in the off season to think about that. So, other than dreaming about the future, I haven’t spent a lot of time being concerned about it. I’ll start planning my schedule and thinking about those things in October.
“I’m fortunate to have a lot of friends on the LPGA Tour that I can go to for advice. I’ve played in two regular-season events (on the LPGA Tour), two U.S. Women’s Opens, one AIG Women’s Open and a Women’s Scottish Open, which is co-sanctioned. So, I’ve seen my game (next to the best in the world) and I’ve seen the areas where I needed to improve. And I have worked hard in those areas. So, I’m excited to see how my game stacks up next year.”
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