LPGA Tour Championship: A very decisive event
The LPGA Tour Championship will start tomorrow at the Grand Cypress Golf Club in Orlando. With the Tour finale being the most crucial tournament of this LPGA season; it has gotten all the ladies eager to tee off tomorrow. The season ending event will not
only offer the first place prize of $225,000 but will also announce the winner of the player of the year award. With the total purse of $1.5 million dollar, the Tour Championship has nine of the top 10 ranked players in the world competing against one another.
This 72 hole field will be cut down to 70 players depending on their scores after 36 holes. After 54 holes, only 30 player will remain in the running. In 2009, the Tour Championship was won by Anna Nordqvist as she posted a 65 in the final round and won
two strokes clear of Lorena Ochoa. Where last year, she won at the Houstonian Golf and County Club in Richmond, the talented woman will be defending her title in Orlando, Florida this year.
Along with putting an end to a truly exciting season of LPGA, this tournament will also be a deciding factor for all the races that have been going on all year long. Following the championship, the LPGA Money list title winner, Vare trophy winner and Rolex
Player of the Year winner will be announced.
The hottest competition in the race for the money list is between Na Yeon Choi and Jiyai Shin. Currently, Choi is leading with a sum of $1,814,558.00 and is really hoping for her first money list title. On the other hand, Shin has high hopes for securing
a consecutive honor. Last year, it was Shin who won the list with accumulative earnings of $1,807,334 after playing twenty five events. She defeated Cristie Kerr for the title last year as Kerr was only $287,612 behind.
Choi is not only leading the money list, but is also ahead in the point’s race. The talented golfer is leading the Vare Trophy contest with an amazing scoring average of 69.77. In that, Na Yeon is in competition with Cristie who has an average of 69.86.
With the margin being only a mere .09, both the players will definitely have to give their best shots in order to win the trophy.
Last but most definitely not least is the Rolex Player of the Year Award. An honour any golfer would definitely love to have has gotten four of the best women golfers struggling. Along with Choi and Kerr, Yani Tseng and Ai Miyazato are in the race. Yani
Tseng is leading the race with a total of 188 points. With a nine point benefit over her competitor, Miyazato who has 179 points. Choi is in third place with 174 points and Kerr with 173 points. Jiyai, with 170 points, is out of the race for the player of
the year award.
If it weren’t for the Championship this weekend, Tseng would have gotten the player of the year award. That is because a win at the Championship will give the player 30 points due to which any of the top five players can take the award away from Shin.
Out of all the ladies, Choi seems like the strongest candidate. Leading the LPGA money list and the Vare trophy contest, she also has a nice chance to be the player of the year. 2010 would definitely be an amazing season for the South Korean player if she
were to sweep all three honours.
Along with awarding the champions, the tour finale will also give opportunity for players to make the cut. The top 125 players on the money list will retain their playing status for the 2011 LPGA Tour. With so much up for stake, the players and the golf
fans are eagerly waiting for the LPGA Tour Championship to tee off tomorrow.
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