Kristen Gillman glanced at a leaderboard on the 16th green at the Epson Tour Championship and knew that she needed to make something happen. She promptly hit an aggressive 6-iron on the par-3 17th to 8 feet and made the birdie putt. On the par-5 18th, she hit a 4-hybrid from 196 yards to 5 feet and drained the eagle putt.
The birdie-eagle finish secured the 10th and final LPGA card for 26-year-old Gillman, who shot 64 in the final round at the LPGA International Jones Course in Daytona Beach, Florida.
“I feel like it hasn’t really sunk in,” said Gillman, who was back at the course Monday for a pro-am. “I’ve been on the outside looking in all season.”
A two-time U.S. Women’s Amateur champion (2014 and 2018), Gillman came into the final event of the Epson Tour season No. 13 on the money list. The top 10 earn full LPGA status for 2024.
Gillman’s $12,177 payday gave her $95,701 in season earnings, which comes out to $1,700 ahead of Becca Huffer, who finished 11th.
Gillman was one of two players who played their way into the top 10 in Daytona. Auston Kim surged from 15th to third on the money list by winning the Epson Tour Championship with back-to-back rounds of 65.
Kristen Gillman celebrates with the Robert Cox Trophy after winning the U.S. Women’s Amateur. (Steven Gibbons/USGA)
It wasn’t that long ago that Gillman, an Alabama grad, was one of the best amateurs in the country. She first earned her LPGA card at the inaugural 2018 LPGA Q-Series with a T-13 finish. In her rookie season on the LPGA, Gillman qualified for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship and finished 43rd on the money list with $492,466.
The high didn’t last, however, as Gillman, currently 455th in the Rolex Rankings, found herself playing a full schedule on the Epson Tour in 2023 trying to make her way back to the LPGA. Gillman said confidence was the main ingredient she lacked in recent years. She felt like she was hitting it well enough, but couldn’t score.
“A lot of it is whatever you make it to be,” said Gillman of tour life. “You can make it seem a lot harder than it actually is. The more you’re out there, it’s easier to get in your head.”
At the Epson Tour Championship, Gillman said she only missed three greens in 72 holes and says her ball-striking is back where it was when she was among the best amateurs in the world and a strong LPGA rookie.
About 18 months ago, she went back to work with swing coach Justin Poynter, and while she had her boyfriend, mini-tour player Trevor Bailey, on her bag in Daytona, Gillman used a push cart for most of the season, grinding it out on her own.
The Texan felt her confidence finally start to shift after a runner-up showing in August at the French Lick Resort Charity Classic. She’d go on to finish the season with six consecutive top-15 finishes. She placed in the top 4 in her last three starts.
“If anything I’m better just mentally,” said Gillman of her form heading back to the LPGA.
“You learn a lot playing professional golf. I’m excited to get out there again and put in play what I’ve learned.”
