Gabi Ruffels has been officially crowned the queen of the 2023 Epson Tour, becoming the first Australian to win the Order of Merit.

Ruffels' 14th-place finish at the Epson Tour Championship in Florida completed a season in which she won three times in 13 events and won $US159,926 in prizemoney, more than $10,000 clear of second-placed Natasha Andrea Oon.

Hannah Green's second-place finish on the Order of Merit in 2017 was Australia's previous best finish, Ruffels now looking forward to joining the likes of Green, Minjee Lee and Grace Kim on the LPGA Tour in 2024.

"When I first started playing Hannah and Minjee were the top, even in amateur golf," said Ruffels.

"To see what they've done at pro level, I can only aspire to do the same.

"It's going to be fun playing alongside them next year and all the other Aussies that are doing well, too."

Ruffels also paid tribute to Karrie Webb, the seven-time major champion whose scholarship she received alongside Grace Kim in 2020.

"As an amateur I won her Karrie Webb Scholarship, and so I was able to stay with her for a week and get some funding from her," said Ruffels, the 2019 US Women's Amateur champion.

"She's always there, watching us all. She is one of the first people to congratulate all of us Aussie girls when we win.

"We're so grateful for her and we know we can ask her any questions and she's always there and great to all of us."

While it was a day of celebration for Ruffels, it was heartbreak for Robyn Choi.

Also in the US, Sarah Kemp’s 15-year search for her first LPGA Tour victory will continue, but the veteran Australian completed her week in Indiana at least calm in the knowledge that she has a chance of reaching the Tour Championship.

Kemp, 37, shot a closing 69 at The Colony in Texas but the 54-hole deficit she conceded to South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim was too much for her.

Ultimately Kim also shot a 69 to win by four shots.

The former Australian junior champion finished fourth – her third top-10 finish of the season and the 12th of a career that dates back to the 2009 season in America.

Her best-ever finish on the main tour was tied-second at the 2019 Vic Open at 13th Beach.

The top 60 players on the tour’s points list will qualify for the CME Group Championship in Naples, Florida next month, worth $US7 million.

Kemp began the week ranked 72nd and is headed for the Asia swing to lock up her place in the field for the season-ender, a group that already will include Minjee Lee, Hannah Green, Grace Kim and possibly Stephanie Kyriacou.

“I'm definitely having one of my better years for sure,” she said. “I didn't play well last week but I wasn't too worried about it.

“I looked at my stats and they were some of the better ones this year than previous years, so just keeping it together and having a better attitude than I have in the last few years.

"Sometimes I think I have been trying a little too hard and wanting it a bit too bad, which is not a bad thing, but I think it sort of turned around and hurt some of my game at one point.”

It was a good week too for Kyriacou, who was fourth at the Aramco Series event in Hong Kong that was reduced to 36 holes due to a typhoon.

Results

Epson Tour
Epson Tour Championship
LPGA International, Daytona Beach, Florida
1    Auston Kim  71-64-65-65–265 $US37,500
T14  Cassie Porter 72-68-66-67–273 $3,643
T14  Robyn Choi  69-67-70-67–273  $3,643
T14  Gabriela Ruffels 68-66-68-71–273 $3,643
T38  Hira Naveed  71-70-67-71–279 $1,553
MC  Amelia Garvey (NZ)  71-71–142

LPGA Tour
The Ascendant
The Colony, Texas
1    Hyo Joo Kim 64-68-70-69–271 $US270,000
4    Sarah Kemp 67-71-69-69–275 $93,285
T13   Sarah Jane Smith 71-70-71-69–281 $28,092
T31   Hannah Green 69-73-73-71–286 $11,945
T49  Karis Davidson 73-71-74-71 – 289 $6,207
T67  Su Oh 73-69-75-78 – 295 $3,777
MC June Song (a) 72-74 – 146

Ladies European Tour
Aramco Series
Hong Kong GC
1    Xi Yu Lin 69-66–135 $US71,239
4   Stephanie Kyriacou 69-68–137 $19,234
T11  Kirsten Rudgeley 71-72–143 $8,667
T49 Momoka Kobori (NZ) 74-74–148 $2,168

LET Access Series
Lombardia Ladies Open
Golf Club Varese, Italy
1    Sofie Kibsgaard Neilsen 66-73-69–208 $8,000
9   Kelsey Bennett 71-72-73–216 $1,300
T35 Kristalle Blum 75-71-78–224 $511
MC Amy Walsh 76-75–151
MC Victoria Fricot 84-80–164