Nasa Hataoka earned an LPGA Tour berth on Sunday, making her eligible to play in the majority of tournaments on the U.S. women's golf tour next season.
The 17-year-old finished in a five-way tie for 14th place with a total score of 5-under-par 355 in the final stage of the qualifying school for the U.S. LPGA Tour, in which a field of 157 players competed for 20 full cards and 25 partial cards.
"It was really tough. I feel like I've aged 10 years (this week)," said Hataoka, who became the first amateur and youngest player to win a major tournament on the Japan LPGA tour at the Japan Women's Open in October.
Hataoka, one of four teenagers who finished among the top 20, entered the fifth and final round at Daytona Beach course in fourth place but struggled with four straight bogeys from No. 9 and a double bogey on No. 14 for a 6-over 78.
"I didn't know how to stop the bad momentum. If I had kept calm today I wouldn't have made those mistakes. I'm not happy with the result, but glad that I made the cut," she said.
"I need to be harder on myself. I learned all over again how challenging the sport can be. I don't want to play golf for a while. I just want to sleep now," she said.
U.S. golfer Jaye Marine Green finished atop the leaderboard with a 13-under 347. Maria Parra of Spain, Angel Yin of the United States and Ssu Chia Cheng of Taiwan are the other three teenagers who secured full playing rights for next season.
