[Duramed FUTURES Tour]

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Nov. 30, 2009 - It's time to go back to school - LPGA Q-School, that is. Starting in Wednesday's first round, a total of 55 current members of the Duramed FUTURES Tour will be in the 106-player field at this week's LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament.

The 90-hole qualifier will be comprised of players from 20 countries and 29 U.S. states hoping to earn or keep LPGA membership status for the 2010 season. Players who qualified from the LPGA's two sectional tournaments, as well as top-15 finishers on the 2009 Duramed FUTURES Tour who do not already have LPGA status, have advanced into the Q-School Final.

This year's qualifying tournament will feature such Duramed FUTURES Tour hopefuls as former Duke University All-American Amanda Blumenherst of Arizona, winner of the 2008 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship, and Californian Tiffany Joh, a recent UCLA grad who is a two-time winner of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship.

In addition, two former NCAA Women's Golf Championship individual winners, Maria Hernandez (2009) of Spain and Purdue University, and Dewi Claire Schreefel (2006) of The Netherlands and the University of Southern California, also will be in the field for the first time.

Two 2009 Duramed FUTURES Tour tournament winners will be in this week's field, including Schreefel, who won her first professional tournament at the ING New England Golf Classic in Bloomfield, Conn., and Canadian Lisa Meldrum of Montreal, Quebec, who won the iMPACT Classic in Richmond, Va.

Tour rookie Pernilla Lindberg of Bollnas, Sweden, also will be in this week's Q-School field. Lindberg posted five top-10 finishes in 10 events this season after graduating from Oklahoma State University and led the 2009 Tour in scoring with an average of 70.87 strokes per round.

Blumenherst won the California sectional qualifier in September to advance into this week's final stage, while Duramed FUTURES Tour rookie Stephanie Connelly of Pasadena, Md., was the medalist at the LPGA's Florida sectional in October. Joh won the Duramed FUTURES Tour's 90-hole qualifying tournament in early November, but qualified this week with her tie for fourth at the Florida Sectional.

Duramed FUTURES Tour members who automatically advanced into the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament (skipping the sectional events) based on their 2009 season earnings are: No. 8 Christine Song of Fullerton, Calif.; 9. Alison Walshe of Westford, Mass.; 10. Schreefel of Diepenveen, Netherlands; 11. Lindberg of Bollnas, Sweden; 12. Gerina Mendoza of Roswell, N.M.; 13. Danah Ford of Indianapolis; 15. Meldrum of Montreal, Quebec; 16. Jenny Suh of Fairfax, Va.; 17. Nontaya Srisawang of Chiang Mai, Thailand; and 18. Liz Janangelo of West Hartford, Conn.

Sofie Andersson of Angelholm, Sweden, ranked 20th in season earnings, advanced into the final stage with her tie for 18th at the LPGA's Florida Sectional. Andersson was a 2007 tournament winner on the Duramed FUTURES Tour and a member of the 2008 LPGA Tour.

A total of 22 Duramed FUTURES Tour alums also will be in the field, including eight former LPGA card winners (players who automatically earned LPGA status by finishing among the top season money winners).

The five-day qualifier will be played on both the Legends and Champions courses at LPGA International, with the field cut to the low-70 players and ties after 72 holes. Players advancing into the final round will compete on the Champions Course this Sunday for the final 18 holes of play.

At the conclusion of play, the top 20 players will earn Priority status in Category 11. A playoff will determine the 20th position in the event of a tie. Players finishing in positions 21-30 will earn Priority status in Category 16, followed by players finishing 31st through 40th, who will receive Priority status in Category 20.

For complete scores each day of the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, please visit duramedfuturestour.com and LPGA.com.