Emma Talley spent Saturday and Sunday climbing the leaderboard at the LPGA’s Marathon Classic.
The Caldwell County High School grad finished just one shot out of the Top 10, being one of eight players to tie for 11th place at 9-under-par. Talley was briefly in the Top 10 during Sunday’s final round at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio.
The finish was the highest of the season for Talley and earned her $26,717. That moved her from 94th to 82nd on the LPGA Tour money list.
However, Talley just missed qualifying for the 2019 AIG Women’s British Open. The Marathon Classic marked the last chance for LPGA players to earn a full exemption into the 2019 British Open, with the top five players not already qualified earning a spot. Talley missed the British Open exemption by just one shot. However, there is still a qualifier that Talley could play in to try to get into the field for this year’s British Open.
Tiffany Joh, Linnea Strom, Pavarisa Yoktuan, Jennifer Kupcho and Mariajo Uribe punched their tickets to the season’s final major championship with top-12 finishes on Sunday.
Players will be competing on the Marquess’ Course at Woburn Golf Club in Buckinghamshire, England this year, competing for a share of the $4.5 million purse, a $1.25 million purse increase announced by the R&A earlier this week.
Back to the Marathon Classic, Talley recorded rounds of 70, 68, 69 and 68 in Ohio to record her 9-under total.
Talley opened Sunday’s final round with a bogey on No. 1, but went on to record four birdies and 13 pars the rest of the way.
Sei Young Kim won the event at 22-under-par. Lexi Thompson was second at 20-under with Stacy Lewis third at 16-under.
Talley has earned just under $109,000 this year on the LPGA Tour.