Dec. 2, 2009

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Young-A Yang's 3-over 75 performance led four former Lady Vols looking to earn their LPGA Tour membership or improve their status for the 2010 season on Wednesday during day one of competition at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament.

Yang is tied for 59th, while other former UT women's golfers Jessica Shepley and Nicole Smith are tied for 77th after carding 77s and Angela Oh is tied for 95th after shooting a 79 at the par-72 Legends and Champions Courses at the LPGA International.

The top 70 players and ties among the 106-player field will move on after 72 holes to Sunday's final 18-hole round.

The top 40 finishers in the tournament will earn membership on the 2010 LPGA Tour.

The top 20 players will earn Priority in Category 11 membership, while players finishing 21st through 30th will receive Priority in Category 16 and places 31st through 40th will receive Priority in Category 20.

Oh tied for 40th at the Final Qualifying Tournament in 2008 to earn her LPGA Card, while Shepley and Yang also competed at the Final Qualifying Tournament a year ago.

Smith will be taking her first shot at obtaining LPGA membership. She wrapped up her four-year Lady Vol career in 2009 as a three-time All-SEC Second Team award winner.

All four former Lady Vol stars will be teeing off from the Champions Course for Thursday's second round. Shepley starts at 8:26 a.m., Smith at 8:48 a.m. and Yang and Oh at 9:32 a.m.

Results and other information on the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament can be found at LPGA.com