Canada's Savannah Grewal has re-earned her LPGA Tour card for 2025 and will take plenty of lessons into her second season as a pro.
Grewal, of Mississauga, Ont., finished tied for 48th on Sunday at The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican 鈥� the final full-field event of the LPGA Tour season 鈥� and ended the year at No. 97 in the Race to CME Globe standings. The top 100 earn LPGA Tour cards for next year.
鈥淚 hit the ball, for the most part, pretty good 鈥� just made some mental mistakes the first two rounds. I learned from that, especially Saturday,鈥� Grewal said from Bellair, Fla. 鈥淛ust happy to have made the cut and hopefully keep my Tour card.鈥�
Grewal was just three shots back of the lead through two rounds last week at the Lotte Championship but struggled over the weekend, shooting 74-76, to drop into a tie for 54th. She needed to make the cut this week at the penultimate event of the season and did it on the number.
Grewal rallied to shoot a 4-under 66 on Saturday but gave it all back Sunday after a 4-under 74. It was still enough to solidify a second year in a row on the LPGA Tour.
鈥淚 just tried to stay really calm, especially in the first two rounds, just knowing I had to make the cut. I just tried to stay really present,鈥� Grewal said. 鈥淚 made triple bogey on my 18th hole in the first round because I did not stay present. Other than that, I felt like I did a pretty good job of staying calm.鈥�
Grewal鈥檚 best result came in her second event of the year, the Blue Bay LPGA, where she finished tied for fourth. She struggled to put two good rounds together after that, however, missing nine straight cuts at one point. But she found the weekend in her last five tournaments in a row, which proved to be the difference.
Grewal, a pre-med graduate from Clemson University, earned LPGA Tour status for this season via a tie for 10th at the LPGA鈥檚 Q-Series finale last December.
She admitted she 鈥渨asn鈥檛 in a great spot鈥� mentally this year but is eager to improve upon that for 2025.
鈥淎s long as I can stay present and confident, I can be just fine next year,鈥� Grewal said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 been my biggest takeaway.鈥�
Nelly Korda captured The Annika on Sunday for her incredible seventh victory on the LPGA Tour in 2024. Grewal finished 15 shots back of Korda鈥檚 winning total.
Hamilton's Alena Sharp also made the cut at The Annika. She finished tied for 43rd and ended up No. 123 on the Race to CME Globe.
Four Canadians 鈥� Yeji Kwon of Port Coquitlam, B.C., Monet Chun of Richmond Hill, Ont., Maddie Szeryk of London, Ont., and Josee Doyon of St-Georges-de-Beauce, Que. 鈥� will aim to follow in Grewal鈥檚 footsteps and earn LPGA Tour status via the finale of LPGA Q-Series Dec. 5-9.
The LPGA Tour wraps up its 2024 campaign at the CME Globe Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla., next week.
Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont. will be the lone Canadian in the field that features only the top 60 in the Race to CME Globe standings. Henderson, thanks to eight top-10s this year, is No. 14.
Korda 鈥� who has already locked up Player of the Year honours 鈥� will enter the season finale No. 1 in the standings. Up for grabs is the biggest first-place prize in women鈥檚 golf, US$4 million.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2024.
Adam Stanley, The Canadian Press
