New LPGA Qualifications

The LPGA Tour has announced new qualifications for status on Tour for 2009. You can take a look at the specs on the LPGA site. Some of the big things to note are:

• There is no longer a money list exemption for the Top 90, now it's top 80.
• Now 10 cards are available for players on the Futures Tour (as predicted earlier this season, particularly as the LPGA Tour gears to become a more global tour and turn the Futures Tour into an American based B-league).
• Also, there is a battlefield promotion from the Futures Tour.
• Non-member winners can become exempt in better priority position - Ji Yai Shin, anyone?

The Constructivist over at Mostly Harmless has some analysis of his own that's a good read as well if you're curious about the broader implications. On the whole, though, I like these changes and think they're intended to head in the right direction for Tour membership.