The Tribune

BATTLING winds gusting up to 40 miles per hour, Nicole Broch Larsen of Denmark and Anne Catherine Tanguay of Quebec, Canada, each shot a 1-under 71 yesterday and earned the two qualifying berths for this week’s Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic. They finished one stroke ahead of Emily Tubert of the United States in the field of 29 players.

Raquel Riley of The Bahamas, who competed in the 2015 edition of the season opener on the LPGA, shot 81 at the wind-whipped Ocean Club Golf Course on Paradise Island. Heavy rains also hampered the qualifier, which was suspended for 2 hours, 40 minutes because of dangerous weather conditions.

“It’s been a long afternoon,” said Broch Larsen, 23, who in 2015 was named the Player’s Player of the Year on the European Ladies Tour. “I knew it was a good score in these conditions, but it’s nice to know that it was good enough to get in. We kind of expected bad weather, so I was just prepared for it and tried to play my best and enjoy the challenge. The conditions were unbelievable, but I managed my game pretty well and I’m really proud of my round today.”

“My mindset was good today, and that allowed me to hit good shots,” said Tanguay, 25, in her second year on the LPGA. “Some of those shots were crazy. I never aimed so far left or so far right before. It was very difficult. But the LPGA staff did a great job with course setup.”

Larsen and Tanguay complete the field of 108 players for the fifth Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic, which begins Thursday. Ariya Jutanugarn, the No. 2 player in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, and Hyo Joo Kim, the defending champion, headline the list of competitors.

Four of the top 10 players in the Rolex Rankings and 10 of the top 20 from the 2016 LPGA money list are entered. In addition to Jutanugarn, the other top 10 players in the field are No. 5 Lexi Thompson of the United States, No. 6 Sei Young Kim of South Korea (the 2015 Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic winner) and No. 8 Brooke Henderson of Canada.