Christine Song leads LPGA Q School

Daytona Beach, FL – Christine Song fired a six-under 66 round lead of the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament.

Amateur Stephanie Kono, a senior at UCLA, is alone in second place at five- under 67. Thidapa Suwannapura is third at four-under 68, followed by Brittany Johnston, who is fourth at three-under 69.

LPGA Q School is played over five rounds and two courses. For the first four rounds, golf rotates over the Champions Course and Legends Course at LPGA International.

There will be a cut after 72 holes for the low 70 and ties. The final round will take place at the Champions Course, then it gets really interesting.

The low 40 and ties receive LPGA Tour membership for 2012. For the remaining players who make the cut, they will earn some type of status on the Futures Tour.

Song, who made only three cuts in 10 starts on the LPGA Tour in 2011, began on the 10th tee on the Champions Course Wednesday and parred her first five holes. She birdied the par-four 15th, but parred her last three to make the turn at one-under par.

Song three-putted the second hole for her only bogey to fall back to even.

"That three-putt bogey got my head back together and after that, I went crazy," said Song, 20, who finished 126th this past season on the LPGA Tour money list.

After the three-putt bogey, Song birdied three in a row from the third. She parred No. 6, then closed her round with three consecutive birdies to get into the clubhouse with the lead.

Ginger Howard, Angela Oh, Whitney Neuhauser, Jodi Ewart, Minea Blomqvist, Jacqui Concolino, Mitsuki Katahira and Stephanie Na share fifth at two-under 70.

NOTES: Birdie Kim, the 2005 U.S. Women's Open champion, shot a one-over 73 on Wednesday...Reigning U.S. Women's Amateur champion Danielle Kang carded a 72 in round one...Amateur Brianna Do, the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links winner in 2011, struggled to a six-over 78 at the Champions Course.