Entering the Korn Ferry Tour Championship in 18th position with 30 PGA TOUR cards on offer, Vilips responded to a nervy 75 in Round 1 with rounds of 70-71-70 to finish tied 20th and end the year 19th on the points list.

It continues a remarkable rise for the former child prodigy who grew up in Melbourne before moving to Perth and who only graduated from Stanford College in June.

He collected an exemption on the PGA TOUR Americas at the completion of his college career through the PGA TOUR University Ranking yet made just two appearances before taking a step up to the Korn Ferry Tour.

Affectionately known as ‘Koala Karl’, Vilips posted top 15 finishes in each of his first four Korn Ferry Tour starts, culminating in a victory at the Utah Championship.

Porter’s grip on one of 15 LPGA Tour cards was far less tenuous entering the Epson Tour season finale.

Starting the week 11th in the Race For The Card standings, Porter had to dig deep to hold hopefuls at bay.

A 5-under-par round of 66 in Round 3 elevated Porter from 42nd to 22nd on the Tour Championship leaderboard, a 2-under 69 in the final round enough to end the week 17th and claim the 10th of the LPGA Tour cards on offer.

By moving inside the top 10, Porter receives the Category 9 exemption category while those who finish 11-15 earn the Category 15 exemption category.

“I am actually really struggling to believe it,” said Porter.

“Even when I finished on 18, I had no idea… In my brain, I was like, Oh, there’s no way I’m making top 10. Obviously, I’m so excited for top 15, but I was like, there’s no chance.

“As things progressed, we moved up into 10 and I’m stoked. I can’t believe it. Hopefully it sinks in soon.

“I’ve dreamed about this since I was a little girl, so for it to be real so soon, I’m stoked.”

A member of the Golf Australia Rookie Squad, the highlight of Porter’s second season on the Epson Tour was her breakthrough victory at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in June.

The 22-year-old from the Sunshine Coast turned professional in 2021 and in 2022 won the Melbourne International on the WPGA Tour of Australasia.

Elsewhere this week, 50-year-old Brad Kennedy was tied for third at the CAN Championship in June, Greg Chalmers was outright third at the Constellation Furyk and Friends on the PGA TOUR Champions and Maverick Antcliff’s tie for seventh was the best of the Aussies at the typhoon-affected Mercuries Taiwan Masters.

Results

PGA TOUR
Sanderson Farms Championship
The Country Club of Jackson, Jackson, Mississippi
1          Kevin Yu                       66-66-66-67—265
T11      Ryan Fox (NZ)               67-66-68-69—270
MC       Tim Wilkinson (NZ)       74-73—147
MC       Aaron Baddeley           73-77—150

DP World Tour
Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
Old Course St Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland
1          Tyrrell Hatton               65-68-61-70—264       €739,482.05
T12      Kazuma Kobori (NZ)     70-70-67-65—272       €64,502.72
T19      David Micheluzzi          64-70-70-69—273       €50,023.79
T25     Daniel Hillier (NZ)         63-69-70-72—274       €39,366.54
T43      Sam Jones (NZ)            67-71-67-71—276       €20,444.50
T54      Cameron John              62-68-74-73—277       €13,919.66
MC       Daniel Gale                  68-74-66—208
MC       Kade McBride               69-69-71—209
MC       Brett Coletta                69-68-73—210
MC       Jordan Zunic                70-69-71—210
MC       Matt Jones                   72-70-71—213
MC       Lachlan Barker              76-68-71—215
MC       Matthew Griffin            76-73-69—218
MC       Jak Carter                     75-78-66—219

Asian Tour
Mercuries Taiwan Masters
Taiwan Golf and Country Club, Chinese Taipei
1          Jbe Kruger                   68-71-69—208 $US200,000
T7        Maverick Antcliff          73-71-68—212 $25,000
T13      Andrew Dodt               71-69-74—214 $13,000
T26      Todd Sinnott                74-71-72—217 $8,800
T31      Scott Hend                   71-73-74—218 $7,716.67
T37      Jed Morgan                 69-73-77—219 $6,880
T42      Brendan Jones             69-75-76—220 $6,450
47        Kevin Yuan                   71-74-78—223 $5,900
MC       Deyen Lawson             72-76—148
MC       Aaron Wilkin                72-76—148
MC       Zach Murray                74-74—148
MC       Jack Thompson            75-76—151
MC       Sam Brazel                   74-77—151
MC       Justin Warren               73-78—151
MC       Harrison Crowe            81-75—156

Japan Golf Tour
ACN Championship Golf Tournament
Miki Golf Club, Hyogo
1          Takumi Kanaya             68-68-65-63—264       ¥20m
Won in sudden-death playoff
T3        Brad Kennedy              67-71-63-66—267       ¥5.2m
MC       Michael Hendry (NZ) 75-73—148

Ladies European Tour
Aramco Team Series Presented by PIF – Shenzhen
Mission Hills Resort (World Cup Cse), China
1          Celine Boutier              66-68-66—200 $US67,970.25
T26      Kelsey Bennett             70-71-71—212 $5,256.37
T37      Kirsten Rudgeley          71-72-72—215 $3,262.57

Korn Ferry Tour
Korn Ferry Tour Championship
French Lick Golf Resort (Pete Dye Cse), French Lick, Indiana
1          Braden Thornberry       71-72-70-66—279      
T20      Karl Vilips                     75-70-71-70—286      

Epson Tour
Epson Tour Championship at Indian Wells
Indian Wells Golf Resort (Players Cse), Indian Wells, California
1          Heather Lin                  67-63-71-67—268
T13      Amelia Garvey (NZ)      66-68-71-68—273
T17      Cassie Porter                70-70-66-69—275
MC       Fiona Xu                      73-72—145

Challenge Tour
D+D REAL Czech Challenge
Royal Beroun Golf Club, Beroun, Czech Republic
1          Benjamin Follett-Smith 63-62-63-64—252       €43,200
MC       Hayden Hopewell        68-68—136
MC       Connor McKinney        73-67—140

LET Access Series
Iberdrola Calatayud Ladies Open
Gambito Golf Calatayud, Spain
1          Ellie Gower                   73-65-68—206 €7,200
MC       Laura Hoskin (NZ)        78-75—153

PGA TOUR Champions
Constellation FURYK & FRIENDS
Timuquana Country Club, Jacksonville, Florida
1          Rocco Mediate             67-66-71—204 $US315,000
3          Greg Chalmers             69-69-68—206 $151,200
T10      Steven Alker (NZ)         70-68-70—208 $46,620
T15      Rod Pampling              68-70-71—209 $35,700
T34      Stuart Appleby             70-73-69—212 $12,642
T45      John Senden                70-68-77—215 $7,770
T50      David Bransdon           79-68-69—216 $6,090
T53      Steve Allan                   73-75-69—217 $5,145
T65      Michael Wright            76-76-69—221 $2,327
T65      Cameron Percy             72-74-75—221 $2,327

Sunshine Tour
SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun Sibaya
Umhlali Country Club, Ballito, South Africa
1          Luke Jerling                  66-66-68—200
MC       Austin Bautista             75-74—149