USGA to change Women's Qualifying

USGA moving to single stage qualifying
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Associated Press
BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- With two of the LPGA Tour's marquee names missing from the field for the U.S. Women's Open, the USGA announced a change in its qualifying process for the 2010 event and explained how Michelle Wie and Natalie Gulbis missed out.

The USGA said Wednesday that it is moving from a two-stage qualifying process to a single stage.

Mike Davis, the USGA's senior director of rules and competition, said the change will help ensure the qualifying procedure is fair and balanced in terms of which players should and shouldn't have to play to qualify for the championship.

Currently, between 68 and 75 players are exempt into the field, and the USGA periodically reviews its exemption rules.

"We do that because we really want a fair balance between what players are good enough that they shouldn't have to play their way in through qualifying and then we want to keep that balance with all of our championships having a certain number that are out there that you can qualify for," he said.

"As long as you've got the handicap or the game to file an entry, you've got that dream."

The move to a single qualifying stage will be more efficient for the players and officials and help the USGA get qualifying sites, Davis said.

Davis prefaced his remarks by citing the absence of Wie and Gulbis, who failed to qualify under any of 10 criteria or receive a special exemption.

While the two have only one LPGA title combined, both are fan favorites and two of the most recognizable faces in women's golf. Wie ranks 12th in earnings in her rookie season with more than $435,000 in 11 events, and Gulbis is 33rd with more than $225,000.

Both tried and failed to qualify this year.

Davis said there was never any "serious consideration" given to giving Wie a special exemption.

The USGA changed its exemption policy for this year's championship:

•The low 15 scores and ties in the 2008 Women's Open earned a spot. Previously, the low 20 and ties clinched a spot the following year.

•The top five money winners on the Japan, European and Korean women's tours were exempt. That's up from three each.

•The top 50 money winners on the LPGA Tour from the previous season gained entrance, up from 40.

•The top 10 on the LPGA Tour money list as of the cutoff date before sectional qualifying automatically got in, down from the top 35. Davis said the reduction in spots was a result of only 10 LPGA events being played before the Women's Open.

The USGA also is looking at the world rankings as a form of exemption into the Women's Open, and has been doing so for a number of years, Davis said.

In men's play, the top 50 in the world rankings get into the U.S. Open.

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soxngolf said:

Also, the World Rankings have been out long enough, lets start to use them.

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ClairefromClare said:

Agreed, Soxy. You want to be in charge of USGA tournaments?

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Harry Longshanks said:

That's the part I don't understand. Does anyone dispute the "accuracy" of the rankings?

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Formula revisions
On August 2, 2006 the Rolex Rankings Board and Technical Committee announced following its bi-annual meeting two changes to the ranking formula.[2]

The elimination of the minimum event requirement. Players would no longer be required to participate in fifteen qualifying events to be included in the rankings and could be included after playing in as few as one qualifying event. This change would also have the effect of permitting amateurs who had played well in one event to be ranked (e.g., Morgan Pressel, who finished second in the 2005 U.S. Women's Open, or Michelle Wie from age 13).

The introduction of a minimum divisor. Where previously a player's point total was divided by the number of events she played over the previous 104 weeks, now the player's point total would be divided by the greater of (i) the number of events played or (ii) 35. Thus, players with 35 or more events over the previous 104 weeks would continue to use the actual number of events played as the divisor, but players with fewer than 35 events would use 35 as the divisor.
Many commentators saw the latter change as directed at Michelle Wie, who at the time was ranked second in the world despite having competed in only 16 women's professional events in the two-year period. However, the chairman of the Rolex Rankings Technical Committee defended the change as one designed to make the women's rankings more comparable to the Official World Golf Rankings for men, which use a minimum divisor of 40 events.

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