The Epson Tour closes out its 2026 season this week at the Epson Tour Championship at Indian Wells, set for October 1-4 at the Players Course at Indian Wells Golf Resort. With LPGA Tour cards, Q-Series positioning and a $100,000 winner’s check all on the line, here are four names to watch as play begins.

Kate Smith-Stroh

Kate Smith-Stroh arrives at Indian Wells fresh off one of the toughest finishes of her season. At the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout, Smith-Stroh forced a three-way sudden-death playoff after watching a 20-foot eagle putt on the 72nd hole slide by inches, then survived the first extra hole with a two-putt birdie before Kary Hollenbaugh beat her with an eagle on the second to win the title. The runner-up finish pushed Smith-Stroh’s Epson Tour career top-10 total to 12 and left her sitting 14th on the season-long Race for the Card — barely inside the top 15. A University of Nebraska product from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, who joined the Epson Tour in 2022, Smith-Stroh is still chasing her first career win, and with such a thin cushion, this week will decide whether she climbs into the top 10, holds her spot in the top 15, or has to fight for next season’s LPGA Tour status at Q-Series this November.

Anne Chen

Anne Chen returns to Indian Wells as the defending champion, having closed out the 2025 season with a five-hole sudden-death playoff win over Sophia Schubert to claim her first Epson Tour title and an LPGA Tour card for 2026. The 2024 Duke graduate and Sugar Land, Texas, native chose to keep competing on the Epson Tour for part of the 2026 season, and now heads into the title defense sitting 18th on the Race for the Card — outside the automatic-card cutoff — needing a big week in the desert to climb back inside the top 15 for a direct route into the top 15 to reclaim her LPGA Tour card outright for 2027.

Megan Streicher

A 2026 rookie out of Cape Town, South Africa, Megan Streicher enters the season finale looking to cap a breakout debut year. A two-time All-American honorable mention and three-time All-ACC selection at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Streicher set the program’s single-season scoring record (71.32) and still holds the Tar Heels’ 18-hole scoring mark. She was a member of the inaugural LCAP graduating class and enters Indian Wells with four career top-10 finishes and $49.4K in earnings as she looks to push into the top 15 on the Race for the Card or set up a run at LPGA status through Q-Series.

Maria Fassi

Maria Fassi comes into Indian Wells with momentum from playing in University of Arkansas alma mater territory at the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout, Fassi backed up a rough opening round with a 5-under 67 in the second round to get back to even par, crediting her ability to stay patient on a demanding course: “It’s a tough golf course. Really anything can happen. I’ve been really good about hitting my targets and just kind of being OK with a 30-foot putt sometimes.” With the season finale now in the desert, Fassi will look to carry that form into a push up the Race for the Card and into top-35 or top-15 position.

RACE FOR THE CARD UPDATE

Here’s where the top 15 stand on the season-long Race for the Card entering the Epson Tour Championship: