LPGA Tour Championship, six in the spotlight (Part 1)
The Grand Finale of the LPGA Tour will commence today at The Grand Cypress in Orlando Florida. This season ending tournament is the determining factor for many end of the year awards.
Where awards come in, so do the players who are up for it. Along with the first prize win of $225,000, awards such as the Vare Trophy, Rolex Player of the year and money title winner are on the line.
With nine of the ten top-ranked payers in the World, the tournament surely promises some exciting golf. Out of all the 120 players in the field, six ladies are especially in the spotlight. These include Na Yeon Choi, Cristie Kerr, Jiyai Shin, Suzan Pettersen,
Yani Tseng and Ai Miyazato.
Jiyai Shin:
This 22 year old golfer already has 34 wins, out of which eight are on the LPGA circuit. In her previous eleven tournaments, Shin has finished in the top ten six times. Currently second on the money list, Shin is really hoping to lead the list this year
as well.
Last year she topped the list but is now only $34,790 short of Na Yeon Choi, who is leading the list. With such a grand prize for the winner, Shin has a great chance to beat Choi and hence can become the leader once again.
As for the Rolex rankings award, Shin did head the rankings for quite some time this year but as of new it is Yani Tseng, who is at number one. Just recently, Jiyai won the Muzino Classic and claimed her second victory of the season. Shin beat the now top
ranked Tseng as she posted a 5-under 67 for a two stroke victory. This was her second Muzino title, as she had also won in 2008. This win significantly contributed to Jiyai’s place in the money list and hence made the competition even tougher.
Yani Tseng
Second up is Yani Tseng. Tseng would have gotten the Rolex Player of the Year Award if it wasn’t for the Championship this weekend. Currently, Tseng leads the point race by 188 points. It was the major titles such as The Kraft Nabisco and Women’s British
that hoisted this talented lady from Taiwan to lead the 2010 Player of the Year Race.
She also won in September when she defeated Michelle Wie to take the NW Arkansas Championship title. This top spot that currently belongs to Tseng has been juggled between Shin, Kerr, Pettersen, Choi and Tseng herself. After Lorena Ochoa retired as number
one, all the ladies have had a chance to be a number one.
Yani’s lead in the list is in jeopardy since a win at the Championship will give the players 30 points. This is crucial, since second in the list is Ai Miyazato with nine points lacking. A 30 point benefit could hence make any of the top five the player
of the year. With such a prestigious award at stake, Tseng surely hopes she plays well enough to secure her place at the top and be the first Vietnamese to earn the award.
"Everybody is crazy about this title, too, and now I'm trying not to look at the Taiwan news, because I don't want to confuse anything," says Tseng, "Actually I like somebody ahead of me and I can chase, but now after the British Open, I feel like I need
one more step up. I feel like I've improved myself, too".
2010 has been an exciting season for the players and now fans hope it ends on a good note. All the ladies are feeling the pressure since this tournament could completely change the face of all the award lists. The remaining four players will be discussed
in the next part.
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