Five more Epson Tour players graduate to LPGA, including U.S. Women's Open Cinderella

Five more players on the Epson Tour have locked up LPGA cards for 2026. The tour has announced that Riley Smyth, Laetitia Beck, Hailee Cooper, Minji Kang and Sophia Schubert join the list of those who have mathematically secured status for next season.

That’s now a total of 10 players who have earned cards this season, with only one event remaining on the schedule. The top 15 of the Race for the Card standings earn status, though where a player finishes within the top 15 matters. Those who finish in the top 10 earn Category 9 status, while those finishing 11th-15th earn Category 16.

There's a significant difference between Category 9 and 16, with members finishing Nos. 81-100 on the previous season points list; the current season reshuffle; and the top 25 from Q-Series, among those listed in between.

A total of 69 players remain mathematically eligible to earn an LPGA card for 2026.

Two-time winner Melanie Green currently leads the standings. Other players who previously locked up their cards include teen Yana Wilson, Gina Kim, Briana Chacon and Erika Hara.

The card ceremony will take place on Oct. 5 following the Epson Tour Championship in Indian Wells, California.

Cooper, who will be a rookie in 2026, has eight top-10 finishes this season, missing only one cut in 17 starts. The former Texas A&M player tied for seventh at the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills, where she earned $358,004. That’s more than twice what she’s made on the Epson Tour this season ($122,049).

“I wanted to do this since I was a little girl, so it was surreal when Jody (Brothers) came and told me,” said Cooper in a release. “It was like my dreams had come true. And the season's not over yet, but it was a really cool feeling.”

Former Virigina player Riley Smyth will also be an LPGA rookie next season after winning twice in 2025. Smyth played two seasons on Epson before graduating.

“It feels absolutely unbelievable,” she said.

Beck became the first player from Israel to compete on the LPGA in 2011. She returns to the tour after losing her card in 2024, as does Kang and Schubert.