Ryann O’Toole didn’t imagine she would put this on her December itinerary, but there she was playing golf in Alabama this past week trying to salvage her LPGA Tour card. It was a wise decision.
The 38-year-old O’Toole, a UCLA alum who first gained recognition as a competitor on Golf Channel’s “Big Break,” has won one tournament on tour, and she has the chance to add more titles after shooting a bogey-free 65 with seven birdies on Tuesday in the final round of LPGA Q-Series Final Qualifying in Mobile. In the event shortened from 90 holes to 72 because of a day lost to bad weather, O’Toole finished tied for third at 11 under and was the top American qualifier. The top 25 and ties earned their tour card, with 31 golfers being the final total at Robert Trent Jones Trail Magnolia Grove.
O’Toole has 20 career top-10s, but she made the cut in only half her 16 starts in 2025, with no top-10s, and finished 137th on the CME Points Rankings.
“The last time I was here [at Q-Series] was 2014, and I told myself after that week, I never want to have to be back,” O’Toole said. “But you never know what happens, and here I was back having to re-qualify. It’s stressful, it’s a grind, it’s mentally and emotionally draining. Then this week, with just the weather, I mean it being freezing, the delays, the rain, every single morning was early. … It became a physical grind.
“I just think there’s so much emotion that goes into this that it is a tough week. With 15 years on tour, there are mixed emotions going into it. I wasn’t sure if I was even going to decide to go back to Q School or if I was just going to start the next chapter of my life. But at the same time it would be really weird to start January 1 and go, ‘What do you mean I don’t have full status? What do you mean? I’m not a professional on the LPGA?’ That wasn’t OK for me.”
German golfer Helen Briem earned her LPGA Tour card in impressive fashion. She shot a four-under 68 to earn medalist honors at 13 under. Briem, 20, moves to the LPGA after having played on the Ladies European Tour.
“Right now, I’m a bit lost for words. I entered this week with not a lot of expectations,” said Brie. “But, overall, I’m really happy that I am able to play LPGA next year, and that’s really cool.”
Major winner Hinako Shibuno, arguably the most popular Japanese golfer, got her tour card back again, too. The 2019 AIG Women’s British Open champion made it on the number at five under after closing with a 72. Shibuno, 27, struggled on the LPGA this season, making just 10 cuts in 23 starts while notching only one top-10 finish.
Another veteran to re-earn her card is former European Solheim Cup player Jodi Ewart Shadoff. The 37-year-old, who won her lone LPGA title in 2022 and has top-10 finishes in three of the tour’s five majors, shot 71 and was among the final eight players who tied for 24th.
Among the notable players who missed getting their cards was 17-year-old Floridian Gianna Clemente, who turned pro this year, advanced through Second Stage and fell three shots off the cut. Kim Kaufman, 34, who battled breast cancer this year and finished chemotherapy in the summer, finished at four over. Among the past college stars who didn’t get their cards were 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion and Auburn alum Megan Schofill (even par), 2024 NCAA individual champion Adela Cernousek of Texas A&M (16 over), USC’s Amari Avery (one under) and Wake Forest’s Rachel Kuehn (eight over).