And those are the same two players who ended the year ranked first and second on the tour's money list. The Top 10 on that money list earn their LPGA Tour membership for 2011. Those players are:
1. Cindy LaCrosse
2. Jennifer Song
3. Christine Song
4. Jenny Shin
5. Gerina Mendoza
6. Angela Oh
7. Ryann O'Toole
8. Tiffany Joh
9. Hannah Jun
10. Pornanong Phatlum
Being in the Top 5 is what really matters; those from 6-10 receive a lower level of LPGA status. They do get to go straight to LPGA Q-School finals, and they'll need to take advantage of that and upgrade their status if they hope to play much on the LPGA in 2011. As an example, the Nos. 3 and 4 players from 2009, Misun Cho and Samantha Richdale, have each played 11 LPGA events so far in 2010. But the Nos. 6 and 8 players from the 2009 DFT list - Whitney Wade and Christine Song (yes, the same Christine Song who is No. 3 this year) - have each gotten into only one LPGA event in 2010.
You'll notice there are two Big Breakers on the list above, Mendoza and O'Toole. Shin is only 17 years old, but she turns 18 in October and so won't have to petition the LPGA to waive its minimum-age requirement.
LaCrosse had partial status on the LPGA in 2010, getting into two tournaments and making the cut in both. She's certainly a promising player after an excellent NCAA career. And LaCrosse was superb on the DFT in 2010, with three wins and 11 Top 10 finishes out of 15 starts.
The player here with the best chance to be a real breakout presence on the LPGA Tour is Jennifer Song, a U.S. Women's Amateur champ, U.S. Women's Public Links champ, member of the American Curtis Cup team, NCAA All-American who had some strong showings on the LPGA as an amateur and since turning pro. She earned her LPGA card despite getting into only nine DFT tournaments, but she was in the Top 5 in six of those.
What really bodes well for both Jennifer Song and LaCrosse are their scoring averages. Entering the last tournament, Song led the tour at 69.13 and LaCrosse was second at 69.53. In the last 11 seasons, going back to 2000, only one other player in Futures Tour history has posted a seasonal scoring average below 70: Lorena Ochoa, who averaged 69.267 in 2002.
So Song beat Ochoa's scoring mark, and LaCrosse also set a new DFT single-season earnings record with $94,578.
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