Japanese star Ai Miyazato aiming to win P&G NW Arkansas 2010
Ai Miyazato is still at the top of her game with the LPGA tour shifting to Arkansas this week. The P&G NW Arkansas 2010 will still have this exceptional woman at its apex. Along with being able to rule the board, Miyazato is also on top of the world rankings where one might carefully ignore her tour to Canada as she finished at the 15th place.
Miyazato earned the number one position for the world’s ranking of women golf from Cristie Kerr after her previous win on the LPGA Tour. The 22nd of August win this season placed her on the top position at the board with her third victory. Kerr stayed at the second spot behind Miyazato after which Jiyai Shin improved her position by one place to the number three, shifting Suzann Pettersen to the number four spot.
Miyazato reached the top of the rankings with her wins but the golfer still needs to reach the top of the money list. She is currently under the leader Jiyai Shin who holds the lead by US$ 60,000.
The final eight events of the year will see Miyazato and Shin battling it out for the money. The race however has a very tight format this season since Miyazato and Yani Tseng stand as multiple winners along with several other consistent golfers. Miyazato has had five wins this season and is the only winner for this leg along with Tseng.
Taking Shin under consideration, she is in the money race as well but has a rather large gap to fill with the leaders. Shin is separated with a total value of US$ 110,000 from the top five positions at the top.
Ai Miyazato, Na Yeon Choi, Christian Kerr, Tseng and Suzann Pettersen stand as the top five women in the money list whose earnings rank over $1 million for 2010.
All of these six outstanding golfers will be appearing at the Pinnacle Country Club this week. Shin stands with the defending title in her hands and she will be appearing in Arkansas to regain victory which she achieved last year in a play-off. The Pinnacle Country Club is famous for its layout. It was built in 1989 and has a total yardage of 6238. This club was designed by American professional golfers Bruce Lietzke and golf course designer Don Sechrest.
Na Yeon Choi has been tipped to win this event and if this does happen, it will be her second win of the season. Choi has been playing with remarkable consistency and has managed to finish at the top ten on the last two events where she has participated. If she wins the second tournament of the year, it won’t be much of a surprise since it would only add to her consistent ability to win. Choi’s record this season has been steady as she attained the runners up position on four occasions along with one third place finish. Other than that, Choi won in Ohio at the start of the season.
One cannot forget to mention Seon Hwa Lee who was defending the title that she won against Jane Park and Meena Lee last year.
Only three of the five top ranked players took part in this tournament as Lorena Ochoa and Pettersen did not play which is obviously going to affect their rankings. Among many talented women golfers, Michelle Wie also appeared in the event. She missed the cut one week before the P&G NW Arkansas at the Canadian Open but had her hopes high for the event in Arkansas. Wie has had a rather vague first LPGA since the nightmare of her opening round which still haunts her. Wie didn’t make it to the weekend but a much better performance is expected from her this week.
Several Australians will be appearing at the green fields as well who were led by Lindsey Wright last year. This time round, Katherine Hull, Sarah Kemp, Karrie Web, Anna Rawson, Sarah-Jane Smith and Michelle Ellis will enter this season, who have all qualified after Monday.
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