VIKKI FAILS BY ONE STROKE AFTER
FOURTH-ROUND 68 IN FLORIDA
Vikki Laing found the form that made her such a first-class amateur player when she shot a four-under-par 68 in the fourth round of the LPGA Final Qualifying School at Daytona Beach, Florida on Saturday.
Incredibly, after her disappointing earlier scores of 78, 75 and 75, the 25-year-old from Musselburgh failed by only one tantalising shot - one more putt holed would have done it - from figuring among the 75 players with totals of 295 (seven over par) who qualified for the decisive fifth and final round.
At the end of that, only the top 15 will gain full playing rights on next year's LPGA Tour. For the next 35 after that, there is the debatable consolation prize of excempt status which, in effect, means they will get into only the tournaments that the majority of card-holders are prepared to miss.
On the same eight-over-par mark of 296 was England's Samantha Head who shot four consistent rounds of 74, 73, 75 and 75 but almost missed out by one stroke.
Kathryn Imrie from Dundee - the first Scot ever to win on the LPGA Tour - failed to make it with 74, 74, 74 and 75 for 297.
Successful Ladies European Tour player Gwladys Nocera from France never recovered from an opening round of 80. She subsequently scored 71, 77 and 71 for a total of 299.
Jo Clingan from Gloucester finished on 300 with 74, 77, 75 and 75.
Irish-Australian Rebecca Coakley will be in action on Sunday after a fourth-round 76 to make it through with nothing to spare on 295. But, she starts the last day in joint 70th place and somehow has to get herself up in the top 15 - a very tall order indeed.
Twice British women's open amateur champion Louise Stahle (Sweden) is on 293 after a very good fourth-round 69. She is sharing 50th place.
At the top of the leaderboard, we have two South Koreans. Eighteen-year-old amateur In-Kyung Kim from Seoul opened up a six-shot lead with a brilliant fourth-round 66 for 14-under-par 274.
Hye-Jung Choi, also from Seoul, had a 68 to be in second place on her own on 280.

LEADING FOURTH-ROUND TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
274 (am) In-Kyung Kim (SKo) 67 73 68 66.
280 Hye Jung Choi (SKo) 67 70 75 68.
282 Carrie Wood 72 70 73 67, Katherin Hull 71 70 72 69, Maru Martinez 70 69 73 70, Paige MacKenzie 68 74 68 72, Angela Park 70 67 71 74.
Other qualifiers:
293 Louise Stahle (Swe) 71 78 75 69 (jt 50th).
295 Rebecca Coakley (Ire) 71 76 72 76 (jt 70th).
NON-QUALIFIERS included
296 Vikki Laing (Sco) 78 75 75 68, Samantha Head (Eng) 74 73 74 75.
297 Kathryn Imrie (Sco) 74 74 75 75.
299 Gwladys Nocera (Fra) 80 71 77 71.
300 Jo Clingan (Eng) 74 77 74 75.