Wigger Earns Non-Exempt Status for 2008 LPGA Tour

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Daytona Beach, FL Former Virginia golfer Leah Wigger placed 25th at the 2007 Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Final Qualifying Tournament (Q-School) Sunday to earn non-exempt status for the 2008 LPGA Tour. The top 17 finishers at Q-School earn their tour card and exempt status. The next 35 highest finishers are non-exempt and will have opportunities to play on the LPGA Tour.

Wigger, who is eighth on the non-exempt list, will have the opportunity to participate in Monday qualifiers for open LPGA tournaments. In the event a competition field is not filled by exempt players, she can receive a spot in the field with her non-exempt status.

The LPGA Q-School is a five-day, 90-hole tournament played at the LPGA International Legends and Champions courses in Daytona Beach. Wigger posted rounds of 72, 73, 73, 72 and 70 to complete the tournament at even-par. The final exempt players to earn their tour cards shot 4-under.

“It was nerve wracking,” Wigger said. “The most important thing was that I wanted to stay consistent and post consistent scores. I didn’t want to shoot 77 one day and have to shoot 67 the next day to make up for it. The final day I was four under for my final nine holes and I was very proud of finishing that strong with this much pressure.”

Since graduating from Virginia last spring, Wigger played professionally on the Duramed Futures Tour from June to September. She posted one top-10 outing.

Wigger had to advance out of one of two LPGA Sectional Qualifying Tournaments to make it into the field at Q-School. In addition to 65 at-large qualifiers, there were 62 current LPGA Tour members who were trying to improve or retain their playing status for 2008. The field also included players who finished sixth through 15th on the final 2007 Duramed Futures Tour money list.