About rookies and a new season

The five most stressful rounds of the LPGA were over on Sunday. The Q-School brought some surprises, but perhaps the biggest one is that in this next season there will only be one South Korean rookie, compared with 14 from the U.S., all of them led by Jessica Korda, who was, until a few days ago, the top amateur.

17 year old Korda became a pro golfer after playing the last round of the Q-School.

Jessica Korda: she's one of the rookies you need to keep track on. She led the Q-School until Sunday, but faltered with a 5 over round, which put her as the runner-up. Her achievements include being part of the U.S. squads that won: 2009 Junior Solheim Cup, 2010 Curtis Cup, Copa de las Americas 2010; individually, she earned the 2010 Southern Amateur shooting and 2006 Czech Atlantic Amateur Championship. In addition, Korda managed to qualify three times to the U.S. Women's Open. Recently, the LPGA waived the minimum age requirement (18 years), so that Korda could join the tour.

Shasta Averyhardt: the Jackson State graduate never imagined she would win nine titles in her college days, since she temporarily abandoned golf and chose to play volleyball. However, at her high school senior year she decided to give golf another shot. Averyhardt became professional in 2010 and joined the Futures Tour, that same year she got into the U.S. Women's Open. She''ll be the first African-American golfer on the LPGA after a decade and the fourth in history. Laree Sugg was the last black player in the tour (2001).

The economic crisis and the problems that LPGA has experienced this years, as a result of poor coverage and lack of a key figure, have delayed the 2011 calendar. It is to be launched until the first week of January and seems that so far it only has confirmed 22 events, however, the commissioner and executives are confident that this number can be expanded till 26.

THE NOTE: former world number one, Annika Sorenstam, announced through her Twitter account (@ANNIKA59), that she's pregnant. The new family member will arrive between June and July.