FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Morgan Pressel's commitment to change this summer didn't come without a mighty struggle, but she's on the verge of showing it was all worth it.

She won last week's Kapalua LPGA Classic for her second career LPGA Tour title.

Though her year has been marked by frustration, her appeal never dimmed. The proof is on pages 5 and 12 of the newest Golf World magazine, where large photographs of her dominate full-page ads for American Express and Ralph Lauren.

The headline over Pressel in the American Express ad is particularly relevant. Are you taking your game to the next level?

While the question is directed at the reader's cardholder status, it's also one Pressel asked herself as a player this season.

Her answer was a commitment to significant changes to her swing and putting stroke in a bid to become a larger factor in the game's most meaningful championships.

Pressel, 20, began working late this summer with a new swing coach, Adam Schreiber, who helped Anthony Kim emerge as a force on the PGA Tour. With West Palm Beach's Martin Hall the only swing teacher she ever knew coming into this season, Pressel's move is noteworthy in what it says about her commitment to gain distance. She also made substantial changes in her putting with another new coach, Ron Stockton, son of two-time PGA Championship winner Dave Stockton.

The problem in making substantive changes is that there's often a painful learning curve.

After qualifying for the ADT Championship in each of her first two seasons on tour, Pressel has yet to qualify for this season's Nov. 20-23 event at Trump International in West Palm Beach. Thirty qualifiers from the LPGA Playoffs make it, plus two wild-card qualifiers. Pressel remains an LPGA factor at No. 23 in the world rankings but has endured her toughest season, missing three consecutive cuts late in the spring and failing to record a top-10 finish in the past four months.

"It's a work in progress, that's for sure," Pressel said before the tournament began. "Some pretty big changes that are going to take a little bit of time and quite a bit of work, but I'm getting closer to the swing."

Pressel is trying to improve her 157th rank on tour in driving distance.

Pressel won the Kraft Nabisco last year, becoming the youngest woman to win a major.

Pressel ranks 25th on the second-half ADT points list with four events left to qualify. She needs to finish among the top 15 to qualify. She's $102,358 behind Candie Kung, who holds the final qualifying spot.

Pressel also could qualify for one of two wild-card spots. The wild cards go to the highest ranked players on the money list who aren't already qualified. Pressel's seventh on that list.