It stands as a pathway or purgatory. Sitting one rung below the promised land, secondary tours the world over are the equivalent of quicksand: The longer you stay there, the harder it is to get out.

Queenslander Cassie Porter had two top-10s and finished 54th in the Race for the Card standings in her rookie season on the Epson Tour in 2023, the primary pathway to the LPGA Tour.

It gave her the grounding to push ahead in her second season, a year in which she broke through with a one-stroke victory at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Battle Creek, Michigan.

From that moment forward, Porter was in position to secure one of the 15 cards to the LPGA Tour in 2025 yet wasn’t guaranteed until after the final round of the Epson Tour Championship.

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 tied for 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 on the LPGA Tour next year while those who finish 11-15 earn the Category 15 exemption category.

A third-place finish in the opening event of the season was the ideal start to 2024 for Porter, who had two additional top-10s along with her victory to join fellow Aussies Hannah Green and Gabriela Ruffels as recent graduates of the Epson Tour.