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Last chance Back against the wall, Bowman earns her LPGA card
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- For Elizabeth Bowman, the final stage of LPGA Q school, held last week at the LPGA International, was the ultimate get-off-your-rear-or-do-something-else situation. With 58 cards -- 18 exempt and 40 nonexempt -- available to the 130-player field, the odds of securing one seemed good. But Bowman had seen it all before. This was the seventh attempt at what she calls the biggest hurdle in her life. Bowman had reached the finals five previous times but had only made the cut once. Still, one time is all it usually takes. Not for Bowman, however. In 2000 she shot a final-round 78 and was one of only three players who did not move up to the big leagues.
In the final round Bowman fired a 4-over 76, which wouldn't have been the end of the world had Audra Burks not shot a 63 to finish second in the tournament. After the smoke cleared, Burks had nudged Bowman out of third place on the money list by a mere $154. The difference was one stroke during that final round by either player -- one stroke that would haunt Bowman for some time. "That was really tough to swallow," Bowman said. " I always thought my best shot of making the tour was finishing in the top three, and when I missed out by such a little margin I thought I might never make it." The missed chances bothered the 30-year-old Bowman to the point that she finally had had enough. About halfway through this year's Futures Tour campaign, she decided that this would be her last go-round. "Toward the latter part of this season, I really came to know that this was going to be it," said Bowman, who began to brainstorm ideas to put her communications degree to use. "I was either going to qualify for the tour this year or I was going to find another avenue. And when I made that decision it actually was kind of a relief. I said, 'Wow, my life is really going to change.' I was either going to play on the tour or do something else." This newfound determination propelled her to medalist honors at the first-stage qualifying site in Palms Springs, Calif., with a personal best 17-under par. "Before the Palm Springs qualifier, I had a dream that everything was going to be all right," Bowman said. "In my dream I remember having my arms raised in the air as a sign of victory. It was a very calm feeling." The start of Q school was anything but calm. After rounds of 75, 74 and 76, Bowman's professional golf career was hanging on by a thread. She had made the three-day cut on the number and would need to shoot even par or better to keep her dream alive. "I came here thinking about winning, but after the first couple of days and barely making the cut, some of those bad feelings started creeping into my head," Bowman said. "But then I said to myself this morning, 'I'm walking away with a card here no matter what.'" Bowman backed up her belief with the low score of the day, a 4-under 68. As she lined up her six-foot birdie putt on the final hole, she turned to her caddie/boyfriend, Brad Benson, and said, "Can you believe I have a putt to shoot 67 in, of all places, the finals of Q school -- the same tournament that I have struggled in so much?" She finished the event in a tie for 24th place. For the first time Bowman was going to the Ocean Deck Club, the night club in Daytona Beach where all the Q school graduates head after the final round to drink and be merry. "Normally, I'm the one sitting here at the scoreboard congratulating all of my friends while trying to keep my emotions in check," Bowman said after her round. "I'm really going to savor going out tonight and finally being able to celebrate." Tom Hanson, a regular contributor to Sports Illustrated's Golf Plus section, is a longtime caddie on the LPGA Tour. Click here to send him a question or comment.
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