Meet the 5 Players Who Have Already Secured Their 2026 LPGA Cards

With just three events left in its season, players the Epson Tour, the LPGA's qualifying tour, are looking to seal their fate for 2026.

Epson's season long competition, Race for the Card, rewards the top 15 players with LPGA playing status for the following season. From 1999-2002, LPGA Tour cards were awarded to the top 3 individuals on the season's money list. And for years after that, playing status was determined by a money list but at the beginning in 2024, 15 LPGA cards were distributed via a points based system.

To put it simply, those with the most amount of points, automatically qualify and won't have to compete in Qualifying School (Q School) later in the year. The remaining cards are reserved for the top 25 players and any ties during the final stage of Q School.

But five players have already secured their status for next year.

Gina Kim

Kim was a standout at Duke. She won the 2021 ACC Individual Championship and was named an All-American for the 2020-21 season, and was a member of the 2019 National Championship winning team.

But her pro career hasn't been the easiest.

The 25 year old will be returning to the LPGA Tour in 2026, regaining her status after losing her card following the 2024 season. She first earned LPGA Tour status through the Epson Tour top-10, finishing eighth on the Official Money List in 2022.

In 2025, she's collected five top-10 finishes, including three wins this season and is currently third in the Race for the Card points list.

Melanie Green

The 2025 Epson Tour rookie has officially graduated to be an LPGA Tour rookie in 2026.

After playing collegiate golf at the University of South Florida, the 23 year old turned pro and what a season she's had.

On Epson, Green has accumulated one win, and seven other top-10s—for reference, there are only 20 events on the tour's schedule. In 16 starts, she has 12 made cuts, and of her made cuts she hasn't placed worse than T-42—which was at her very first Epson Tour event.

"I think my dad ruined it a little bit, because he’s a big numbers guy," Green said after it was official that she mathematically qualified for her LPGA status.

"He had been telling me, 'You need just a little bit more... a little bit more.' And then once we got to the point, he said we could breathe a little bit more. But it still doesn’t take away the fact that Mr. [Jody] Brothers is coming up to you saying, ‘It was great to have you here, but you’ll be going on to the LPGA next year.’ It was awesome."

Briana Chacon

After two seasons on Epson, the former University of Oregon player has secured her card.

"Being on the LPGA has been a lifetime goal and dream of mine, ever since I started playing golf when I was a little kid," Chacon said. "To finally achieve this goal is just the world to me, and I’m just super excited and super grateful for what’s to come."

She was was an Epson Tour rookie in 2024 and earned one victory that season. But this year, she grew into her own, earning five top-10 finishes in 2025, including two wins.

Chacon will be an LPGA Tour rookie in 2026.

Erika Hara

Japan's Erika Hara became the fourth Epson player to secure her LPGA card for the 2026 season after she clinched her first Epson victory a couple weeks back.

And man, has the 26 year old been balling. The Epson rookie hasn't missed a cut in 2025, and as a result she has a remarkable nine top-10 finishes, including her win.

But despite the recent success, her time as a professional golfer has seen its challenges. She turned pro in 2018, when she was just a teenager, and Hara spent several seasons competing in Japan before giving the LPGA Qualifying Series a go.

On the JLPGA, Hara won the 2020 Japan LPGA Tour Championship, as well as the 2020 and 2023 editions of the Japan Women’s Open Golf Championship. Coming stateside, she failed to earn her LPGA status through Q School, and had to fight to to get back into a good place.

Seeing her compatriots playing so well on the LPGA motivated her, "Many fellow Japanese players are winning this year in the U.S., and that affects me a lot," said Hara. "That made me want to win more and more in the U.S."

RELATED: We Seriously Need to Talk About Women's Golf in Japan.

Yana Wilson

Rounding out the first few Epson Tour graduates is Yana Wilson.

Currently holding the top spot in the Race for the Cards points, Wilson is already making her mark. Opting out of college golf and turning pro late last year, the 19 year old has been giving Epson her all, and it's showing.

In 16 starts, she is the first rookie to two wins in 2025. She also earned nine top-10 finishes this season en route to securing her status.

After securing her card, Wilson said, “It feels pretty cool. I mean, there's still more work to be done." She's a certified dog for that.

Wilson went on to say, "I have other goals in mind that I want to achieve, so, you know, job not done. I think I had a pretty good chance, but I didn't really have my expectations too high. I didn't play my best last year, just in the amateur golf tournaments and some professional events that I ended up playing, so I was really just trying to focus on staying consistent the entire year."

Remember the name. She'll be one to watch in 2026.