Written by: Anjali Mishra 

There’s a rule change coming to the LPGA in 2022 that will make it easier for up-and-coming stars to get on a hot streak. LPGA regulations will now allow a non-member who finishes in the top 10 in designated events to tee it up the next week, the LPGA confirmed. Previously, the LPGA offered only two spots for top-10 finishers who were non-members.The PGA Tour has a similar rule.

LPGA makes it easier to get tour starts

Through an example they stated, if a non-member Monday qualified for an LPGA event and finished in the top 10, she’d get to play the next event, too. The same would apply to someone competing on a sponsor invite. Given that there’s a limit (six) to the number of sponsor exemptions that a non-member can accept, the top-10 rule adds more opportunities for up-and-comers to compete and potentially earn a card without winning or going to Q-Series.

Yuka Saso celebrates her victory during the final round of the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open

This is basically a means of LPGA attracting top talent from various places who can come over to play one event on a sponsor exemption and if they play well, continue to stay on the tour. If a top Korean star earns enough money to qualify for full playing rights the following year, through earnings from such starts, she then becomes a permanent member of the LPGA Tour.

The new top-10 rule only applies to standard events, which means majors don’t count. Same for events that use qualifications beyond the priority list (such as Match Play, Dow, etc.).