Former CU golfer Robyn Choi falls just shy — by a single stroke over 5 rounds — of regaining LPGA Tour card at final qualifying
By Gary Baines – 12/10/2024
What a difference a year makes.
Last December at the LPGA Tour’s final qualifying stage, former University of Colorado golfer Robyn Choi not only earned an LPGA card but she won the Q-Series finals outright.
This year, things turned out heartbreakingly different. With the top 25 finishers and ties at final qualifying in Mobile, Ala., landing 2025 LPGA status, Choi finished one stroke shy of returning to the world’s top circuit for female golfers.
Choi, a native of Australia who played for the Buffs from 2016-18, was inside the top 25 after each of the first four rounds. But a poor finish to round 4 (3 over par for her last five holes) and a poor start to round 5 (3 over for her first five holes) proved very costly as she placed 27th in the 99-player field.
No doubt adding to the disappointment is that Choi’s showing in the final qualifying would have been good enough to earn an LPGA card last year — and in recent years — as the top 45 finishers and ties had been the Q-Series standard for earning LPGA Tour status. But in February, it was announced that that number moving forward would be the top 25 and ties.
Choi, who has played on the LPGA Tour regularly in 2019 and ’24, fell out of the top 25 at final qualifying with a 1-over-par 73 that spanned Monday and Tuesday due to a rain suspension on Monday. Actually, Choi went bogey-free for the 12 holes she played on Tuesday, going 2 under par. But the 26-year-old needed one more birdie to regain her LPGA Tour status.
As it was, Choi finished at 5 under par for 90 holes. Over the five rounds, she made 19 birdies, 10 bogeys and two double bogeys.
This year, in 20 starts on the LPGA Tour, Choi made 10 cuts, with a best showing of 16th place in her season opener, the LPGA Drive On Championship in January. She finished 111th on the 2024 LPGA money list with $149,527.
Choi has been a formidable player on the Epson Tour as a pro, posting 16 top-10 finishes, including three runner-up showings. As an amateur, she qualified twice in Colorado for the U.S. Women’s Open — in 2017 and ’18.
Another former LPGA Tour player with strong Colorado ties also competed in the LPGA Tour final qualifying in Alabama. But two-time Inspirato Colorado Women’s Open champion Becca Huffer missed the 72-hole cut, finishing in 80th place.
Here are the round-by-round scores for players with significant Colorado connections at final qualifying:
Mobile, Ala. Dec. 5-10 (Top 25 Finishers & Ties Earn 2025 LPGA Tour Cards)
Failed to Earn 2025 LPGA Card
27. Former CU golfer Robyn Choi 70-67-73-70-73—353
Missed 72-Hole Cut
80. Becca Huffer of Monument 74-77-70-71—292
For all the scores, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com