Thailand's Gulyanamitta wins LPGA qualifier

Thailand's Junthima Gulyanamitta fired a four-under par 68 in Sunday's final round to pass American Christine Song and win the 90-hole LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament by two strokes. Gulyanamitta, a 23-year-old who formerly played at Purdue University, finished on 10-under par 350 while Song, a 20-year-old who began the day with a four-stroke lead, fired a 74 to settle for second on 352. Gulyanamitta, whose sister and caddie Russy Gulyanamitta is a former LPGA player, birdied the par-3 third and par-5 fifth holes and began the back nine with another. After a double-bogey stumble at the par-4 12th, the Thai standout birdied the par-5 13th and par-3 14th and closed with another birdie to secure the triumph. Winning brought bragging rights but every player was shooting for 20 spots that brought coveted full playing rights for the 2012 LPGA Tour. American Liz Salas was the only one of nine who tied for 20th to claim such status. American Jennie Lee was third on 356, one stroke ahead of England's Jodi Ewart and Americans Karlin Beck and Dori Carter. Others from outside the United States who booked full LPGA berths for next season include Canada's Maude-Aimee Leblanc and Rebecca Lee-Bentham, Finland's Minea Blomqvist, Mexico's Tanya Dergal, Spain's Elisa Serramia and Japan-born Ayaka Kaneko.