After the morning wave of the Dream First Bank Charity Classic concluded, fans found some familiar names at the top of the leaderboard. Epson Tour veteran Kum-Kang Park leads with a 66 (6 under par), but we should look out for Australian Cassie Porter and Georgian Madison Young.
Just three weeks ago, at the start of the four-week Midwest circuit, Porter claimed her first Epson Tour victory at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship. The win catapulted the 21-year-old into the top five of the Race for the Card standings, where she has remained ever since. Today, the Australian shot an opening 3-under-par 69 at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course, tying her for fifth place and making her the first athlete to win twice in 2024.
“It’s a tough tour so that would be an honour,” Porter said. “Gabi (Ruffles) obviously did it three times last year so that would be pretty special for me as an Australian looking to follow in another Australian’s footsteps. But to be honest I try not to think about it. Winning twice helps in the race for the card but ultimately we’re just playing golf. It’s a new day; hopefully I can keep my form up.”
Young has also put herself in a good position to take home her second trophy in 2024. The 27-year-old won the Casino Del Sol Golf Classic in May, her first career title. The Kennesaw State University graduate is one place behind Porter in the Race for the Card rankings and shares fifth place with the Australian in Garden City, Kansas, so there will be an interesting 36 holes to play this weekend.
Porter and Young are only 199,045 and 243,118 points behind the current Race for the Card leader, Fiona Xu, who has 1,031,500 points. With Xu not competing this week, a win for either of them would guarantee the top spot and allow them to approach the remaining eight tournaments with more confidence.
