After a very exciting first five tournaments, the LPGA will be staging its first Major Championship this week. Here are some details:
Course: Mission Hills Country Club, Dinah Shore Tournament Course
Location: Rancho Mirage, California
Defending Champion: Stacy Lewis
Winning Score: 66-69-71-69=275 (-13)
Final Field: 116 players
Par: 72
Yardage: 6702 Yards
Purse: $ 2.0 Million
The Kraft Nabisco Championship had the strongest field of any tournament in 2011. My strength of field rating of 73%, makes it the strongest tournament so far this year. Since it is a major championship, all player of the year points earned will be doubled.
There will be 20 hours of live television coverage. Here is the schedule:
Mar 29 12:00-3:00 PM ET GC
Mar 29 6:30-9:30 PM ET GC
Mar 30 12:00-3:00 PM ET GC
Mar 30 6:30-9:30 PM ET GC
Mar 31 4:30-8:30 PM ET GC
Apr 01 4:30-8:30 PM ET GC
Rolex Ranking Mover of the week:
Jiyai Shin moves from #8 to #6, Sun Young Yoo moves from #45 to #37. Song-Hee Kim, who began last season ranked #9 in the world, has now dropped to #42.
Titleholders Update:
Sun Young Yoo, Jodi Ewart, and Se Ri Pak become the latest to qualify.
Hard to believe stat of the week:
Ai Miyazato's 69.06 scoring average leads the LPGA so far this year. Yani Tseng's 69.15 ranks second. Yani has 3 victories, Ai has none.
Sybase Matchplay Championship Update:
The four highest ranked players on the 2012 money list, that haven't already qualified, will be added to the Sybase field. With 3 more tournaments to play, here are the leading contenders for those four spots:
1- Jenny Shin - $188,834
2- So Yeon Ryu - $174,334
3- Jessica Korda - $165,000
4- Caroline Hedwall - $122,143
5- Julieta Granada - $108,967
6- Mina Harigae - $72,711
7- Amanda Blumenherst - $66,260
8- Jodi Ewart - $65,664
In desperate need of help:
After the first five events of the season, the following four golfers have to be the most disappointing on tour.
1- Song-Hee Kim - 77.11 per round average.
2- Christina Kim - 75.71
3- Michelle Wie - 75.38
4- Tiffany Joh - 75.38
Other Tidbits:
Maria Hjorth missed the Kia Classic cut this past weekend; she had made 27 consecutive cuts. Mika Miyazato also missed the cut after making her last 18.
Shanshan Feng has played 12 rounds of golf on the LPGA this year. She has yet to shoot a round over par. She has finished in the top five in all three events she has played in.
Tony Jesselli's 2012 Player of the Year update:
1-Yani Tseng - 92.96 points
2-Ai Miyazato - 45.08
3-Jiyai Shin - 35.92
4-Shanshan Feng - 34.17
5-Caroline Hedwall - 29.25
6-Angela Stanford - 27.46
7-Jenny Shin - 27.11
8-Na Yeon Choi - 26.21
9-So Yeon Ryu - 26.10
10-Stacy Lewis - 25.34
Update: Here are Thursday's and Friday's Pairings.
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1 comment:
The LPGA website has changed, so now the final field link is
I didn't realize that JJ played in the Kia. She pretty much stunk up the joint, but she wasn't alone in that. I hope she, and some of my other faves, find their form this week.
It seems the only way to get the better Koreans to play here is for them to win an LPGA event, so I'll be pulling for Ha-Neul Kim this week.
-Dan
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