By DON O'BRIEN

Herald-Whig Sports Editor

Emily Powers has the satisfaction of knowing she has a job waiting for her when she graduates from the University of Kansas next spring.

Instead of pushing papers in some office cubicle, Powers will get to play golf for a living. On Friday, Powers secured a spot on the Duramed Futures Tour by finishing 45th at the tour's qualifying school in Lakeland, Fla.

"I'm super excited for this opportunity," Power said after shooting a 1-over 73 on Friday to finish the 90-hole qualifier with a 10-over 370 total.

The top 30 players from the qualifying school earn full status on next year's tour. Powers isn't sure where she'll finally wind up as some players at the school will also try to qualify for the LPGA through its qualifying school. With every player above her that qualifies, Powers will move up the chart.

The Duramed Futures Tour is a developmental tour for the LPGA. The top 10 players on the Futures Tour's season-ending money list are awarded an LPGA Tour card. More than 500 members of the tour have moved on to the LPGA and tour alums own 345 LPGA wins and 37 major titles.

Powers said she'll turn professional after her spring seasons is done at Kansas. A week of steady play earned her the right to breathe easy for her final semester of collegiate golf.

"I'm actually pretty happy with what I shot," she said. "A lot of holes could have been better, but I didn't have any bad rounds. Some people had one bad round, which took them right out of it."

A group of 286 golfers started the week. Powers made it through each cut. She had her worst round of the week during Monday's opening round with a 4-over 76. From there, she shot 72, 75, 74 and 73.

Powers doesn't have any plans to try to qualify for the LPGA right now.

"That's a $5,000 entry fee," she said. "I'm not going to try that until I know I can make it."

— dobrien@whig.com/221-3365