The rankings: upside down

The days when golf was dominated by Annika Sörenstam and Tiger Woods are over; a long time ago -at least that's how it feels- both used to tease each other about majors. Today, things are completely different...

Woods hasn't recovered his mental side of the game due to his infidelity scandal, which came to light on November 2009, after he crashed his SUV in Isleworth; meanwhile, Sörenstam left the LPGA in 2008 to pursue two of her biggest dreams: creating her personal brand -ANNIKA- and starting a family. This brought changes in the world rankings.

In women's golf, it was Mexican Lorena Ochoa who assumed the top position, and managed to stay there for 3 years, before leaving the LPGA.

When Ochoa left, the Pandora box opened. After 11 months, we've seen 4 players atop the rankings - three Asian and one from the USA-. Still, non of them has stayed there for more than 15 weeks in a row. They are: Jiyai Shin (South Korea), Cristie Kerr (USA), Ai Miyazato (Japan) and Yani Tseng (Taiwan).

This seems to be expanding rapidly. After 5 years of dominance, Woods left the first place of the Official World Golf Rankings in October 2010, and ever since, men's golf has had an open season. Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer have had the privilege to lead golf, but haven't consolidated up there.

Throw Luke Donald in there, who has a 0.28 point difference with Westwood, and you'll get another guy on track to take over the first spot.

It's clear that the 'Monarchy' has come to an end, but far from being a mishap, it happens to be quite a treat for fans. For the first time in years, there's a range of possibilities ahead, there are no clear favorites, which brings excitement to the table, and to prove it, you have the first two majors of 2011: The Masters and the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Tweet of the week:

Anyone remember when media outlets were slagging the @LPGA for not having one definite #1 player? We are SUCH trendsetters, @PGATOUR!! -@TheChristinaKim-

LPGA off to a hot start

The top women's golf tour couldn't be happier with the way the season started. World number 1, Yani Tseng, won the season-opener, Honda HSBC Thailand; while veteran and HOF, Karrie Webb, grabbed the HSBC Women's Champions.

Yani Tseng not only took home the first trophy, she did it the same way as in the last 3 events she's won in 2011, coming from behind. The Taiwanese showed that closing strong is one of her specialties; she left Michelle Wie on the way with a 3 stroke advantage. Tseng's victory strengthened her status as the best golfer in the world and stretched her winning streak to five tournaments.

One week later, Australian Karrie Webb made her experience prevail and pushed Japanese Chie Arimura to 2nd place, even when she had lead for 3 rounds. Webb shot a 69 final round, 13 under overall. With this victory, Webb has 37 LPGA titles and 51 as a pro.

Although the LPGA has been dominated by youngsters in recent years, veterans are still in the fight. Regarding nationality, South Korea keeps dominating, but they're not the only players shinning, here is the top 10 of both tourneys with players' nationality and age:

Honda LPGA Thailand

1. Yani Tseng - Taiwan, 22.

2.  Michelle Wie - United States, 21.

3. Karrie Webb - Australia, 36, and In-Kyung Kim - South Korea, 22.

5. Paula Creamer - United States, 24.

6. Juli Inkster - United States, 50.

7. Amy Yang - South Korea, 21.

8. Maria Hjorth - Sweden, 37; Ariya Jutanugarn - Thailand, 15 (amateur); Catriona Matthew - Scotland, 41; Suzann Pettersen - Norway, 29, and M.J. Hur - South Korea, 21.

HSBC Women's Champions

1. Karrie Webb - Australia, 36.

2. Chie Arimura - Japan, 23.

3. Yani Tseng - Taiwan, 22.

4. Sun Young Yoo - South Korea, 24.

5. Morgan Pressel - United States, 22.

6. Na Yeon Choi - South Korea, 23.

7. In-Kyung Kim - South Korea, 22.

8. Catriona Matthew - Scotland, 41.

9. Stacy Lewis - United States, 26, and Cristie Kerr - United States, 33.

With start studded leaderboards, the LPGA was going through great momentum, but 18 days between the HSBC Women's Champions and the Founders Cup will certainly make media and fans to draw attention elsewhere, while players in a hot streak, like Webb and Tseng, might comeback not as hot.

The note: Sun Young Yoo, Morgan Pressel and Na Yeon Choi grabbed a spot at the season-ending Titleholders, after their results in the HSBC Women's Champions.

Tseng leads women's golf

The 2011 LPGA season started with a first class event, the Honda LPGA Thailand, which was held last weekend at the Slam Country Club with a 1.4 million dollar purse. The player to follow, from day one, was Yani Tseng, since she started the season as world number 1.

The 22 year old has achieved what many player never accomplished in their careers. Tseng has won 3 out of 4 LPGA majors; the only one she's missing is the U.S. Open, nevertheless, she has had good results, -last year she posted a top 10 in Oakmoant.

To the Kraft Nabisco Championship, LPGA Championship and Women's British Open, Tseng ha added three more crowns at the LPGA Corning Classic, P&G NW Arkansas Championship and, most recently, the Honda LPGA Thailand.

The later was important because not only secured her another week as the best in the world, she also won for the fourth consecutive time. Yani kick-off 2011 in the Taiwanese tour, where she won the Ladies Open Taifong. Later, she participated in the Ladies European Tour, taking away the first two tourneys -ISPS Handa Women's Asutralian Open and ANZ Ladies Masters RACV- after coming from behind.

Tseng went to Thailand hoping to grab the first title of the LPGA season; the first day it was In-Kyung Kim who took the lead, after posting a 9 under round and leaving Yani 3 shots behind. However, she kept it cool and as in previous tournaments, she recovered lost ground and railed to win the title, leaving behind Michelle Wie, Karrie Webb and Paula Creamer.

"Nini" will have a shot to win her 5th event in a row this week, when the tour stops in Singapore for the HSBS Women's Champions. This also represents a chance to keep a larger advantage between her and South Koreans Jiyai Shin and Na Yeon Choi; American Cristie Kerr, and Norwegian Suzann Pettersen, which are looking to take Yani down from the first spot of the Rolex Rankings.

The note: Yani Tseng, Michelle Wie and Karrie Webb secured their way to the season-ending Titleholders.

2011, the LPGA and its players

The new LPGA campaign promises more excitement than in 2010, not only for the new tournaments and formats, but for the players who will contend for the top spot of the Rolex Rankings and the awards given by the tour.

Like every year, there will be a rookie class that will fight for the Rookie of the Year Award. American favorite is Jessica Korda, who was runner-up in the Q-School and at age 17 became professional to play on the tour.

Korda will be joined by Americans (14), South Koreans (3) and Japanese (3) players, plus one from each of the following countries: Australia, Canada, England, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Wales.

The newcomers will contend with the best of the world, a task difficult to achieve, especially since the top 5 of the rankings, Jiyai Shin (1), Yani Tseng (2), Cristie Kerr (3), Suzann Pettersen (4) and Na Yeon Choi (5) haven't slow down for a while.

Shin and Tseng have already seen action this year, after playing in the season opener of the Ladies European Tour. Both were part of the ISPS HANDA Women's Australian Open field, and it was Tseng who took the trophy home, plus enough points to move up from fifth to second place in the Rolex Rankings. Shin finished T2, which ensured her stay, for 15 weeks in a row, as world number one.

It's also important to keep an eye on Ai Miyazato (6) and In-Kyung Kim (7), both won in 2010 and made clear that when they're "on fire" there's no way to stop them.

We'll also see Paula Creamer's resurrection; she's finally healthy, after two complicated seasons, due to a stomach virus, that struck in 2008 and 2009, and a surgery in her left wrist, in 2020, which pushed her to kick-off her season on June, but paid off, when she won the U.S. Women's Open.

Michelle Wie will remain in the public's taste, despite continuing her studies at Stanford University, which sometimes interferes with her schedule, but hasn't put her outside the winners' circle, last year she lifter her second professional trophy, in the CN Canadian Open.

Finally, we can't leave outside the Asian contingent, which has proved to be the strongest group on the tour, not only because each year it brings more member to the LPGA, but also because it has better results.

Near the end

The 2010 LPGA season is almost over and up until now there have been 17 champions. This hasn't happened for several years. From 2003 to 2008 Lorena Ochoa and Annika Sörenstam dominated women's golf largely.

In 2009 someone else draw attention to the tour, South Korean Jiyai Shin, who not only won the Rookie of the Year honors, but also came one point short of grabbing the Player of the Year award, a situation that was defined in the last tournament of the season.

While some players have already shown they had the talent necessary to have a place among the best, Shin was the first to shoock Lorena's reign, who in turn supplanted Annika in 2007.

With their retirement, the LPGA was left without a leader, but soon resurfaced with great diversity, which goes from Michelle Wie and Paula Creamer, who have already won this year and are also favorite for their physical appearance, to Yani Tseng, Shin Jiyai and Ai Miyazato, Asian players with personality and enormous talent, and finally to Cristie Kerr, U.S. veteran who has already savored the glory of being the best in the world. 

With six tournaments remaining, there is a lot at stake. From October to December the most prestigious titles have yet to be defined:

Player of the Year: Yani Tseng, Ai Miyazato, Cristie Kerr, Na Yeon Choi, Shin Jiyai and Suzann Pettersen.
Vare Trophy: Na Yeon Choi, Cristie Kerr and Suzann Pettersen.
Money List: Jiyai Shin, Na Yeon Choi, Yani Tseng, Ai Miyazato, Cristie Kerr and Suzann Pettersen, all with more than $ 1.3 million dollars.

After Ochoa's retirement, everyone thought the tour would be in crisis, but everything points to a new era, which has been accepted by the fans, as they have more than one option in each event, which has brought emotion rather than uncertainty.

The best are back (2)

World's best golfers are in Portland, Oregon, to play the Safeway Classic. The tourney should be very interesting, since players 5 to 2 are fighting to get the first position of the Rolex Rankings and a win might boost any of them to the top. Meanwhile, number 1 will do her best to increase her advantage.

5. Yani Tseng: the Taiwanese player won two majors in a single season, something no one had accomplished since 2005. She's only 21 years old and has become one of Asia's most promising golfers. Yani has won every season since she became a LPGA member, back in 2008.

4. Suzann Pettersen: won her first title in 2007, she finished that season with five victories including a major, the LPGA Championship. This year she's been runner-up four times, one of those came after losing to Se Ri Pak in the Bell Micro Classic playoff.

3. Jiyai Shin: went through an appendectomy in June but came back in style and won the Evian Masters played in July. The South Korean golfer has already been atop the Rolex Rankings and, this season, has won more money that anybody else on tour, $1'211,252 dollars.

2. Ai Miyazato: had an amazing season opening and won the first two events of this year's schedule (Asia) and quickly grabbed a couple more (Mexico and USA), that's why she became the player to follow as well as the best golfer in the world (two times).

1. Cristie Kerr: in 14 seasons as a LPGA member, she's collected 14 titles, including two majors. This year she's already won at the LPGA Championship and the LPGA State Farm Classic. She's one of only two United States' players to make the Rolex Rankings top 10.

Finally, it's important to mention that, since Lorena's retirement, no golfer has been able to stay atop the Rolex Rankings for more than 11 weeks; Ochoa managed to do so for 158 weeks.

Major challenge

This week, Oakmont Country Club will receive, for the second time in history, the world's top ladies golfers so they can test their abilities in the US Women's Open.

There's no other course that has hosted as many US Opens; Oakmont has hosted eight men's tourneys and two women's, including this year's. Player such as Ben Hogan, Jack Nickalus, Ernie Els and Angel Cabrera are some of the golfers that have achieved excellence there.

Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it has few tree, more than 200 bunkers and fast and undulated greens, making the short game a priority. Besides, it's been selected as one of the top five courses of the world for the last 50 years, according to Golf Digest.

With this background, it'll be interesting to see how the ladies adjust their games to excel in this 6,500 yards course. Oakmont will be played as par 71 this week, different from 2007 when the men played it as a par 70 of more than 7,000 yards; Angel Cabrera won his first major that year after a 5 over par overall, holding off Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk, who shot 6 over par.

The winner of the 65th US Women's Open will shoot over par, that's almost a fact, so anyone who aspires to see its name on the champion's trophy will have to be very precise with the tee shots and bring her short game as sharp as ever, since the green's speed might go as fast as 13 points in the Stimpmeter scale, which is important since the ladies are used to putting in greens of 12 points.

The course conditions might give some advantage to players like:

Song-Hee Kim: leader of greens in regulation (GIR).

Anna Nordqvist: co-leader of putts per green in regulation.

Cristie Kerr: first place of scoring average and co-leader of putts per green in regulation.

Besides, don't lose track of veteran Juli Inkster and youngsters such as Michelle Wie, Brittany Lincicome, Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel.

Changes atop

One week after Ai Miyazato took over the Rolex Rankings, there's a new leader around. Cristie kerr not only won her second major -LPGA Championship presented by Wegmans- with an amazing 12 stroke advantage after 68, 66, 69 and 66 rounds, she also became the best golfer in women's golf.

Kerr grabbed the lead from the first round and never let it go.

Until now, Cristie's season is one of the most consistent on tour, even when it's been tarnished by Miyazato, who has four victories so far. In 2010, Kerr has five top 5 finishes, in other words she's managed to do so in 55% of the times she's played this year. This statistic includes her to crowns: LPGA State Farm Classic and LPGA Championship presented by Wegmans.

Kerr's numbers are impressive and leads several stats, such as putts per green in regulation (GIR), scoring average (69.40), rounds under par (80%) and rounds in the 60s (56%); she's, along with Miyazato, the only player to win more than once this season.

Kerr became a LPGA member in 1997, but she had to wait six years to become a first time winner; thus, in 2002, she grabbed the Longs Drugs Challenge title. Next season she didn't have as much luck, even when she was runner-up two times. It was 2004 when she made clear she was here to stayafter winning three times. Ever since she's won at least once every year in the LPGA:

Cristie's consistency has taken her to the highest level and is, for sure, a crowd's favorite. Furthermore, with only 32 years old, other tour players consider her as a veteran, due to her experience and temperament.

Now it's just a matter of time to see how the she handles the pressure and if she can hold off Ai Miyazato and Jiyai Shin, since they are 0.12 and 0.88 percentile points away from her, respectively. 

The note:

Cristie Kerr is the fifth golfer to take over the first position of the Rolex Rankings since they were unveiled in 2006; besides, she's the only US player to accomplish the feat.

Sörenstam vs Ochoa?

Even when this time the venue won't be a Mexican beach, the greatest female golfers of the past decade will face-off in a Skins game later this year.

Sörenstam topped the Rolex Rankings from February 2006 to April 2007; Ochoa did it from 2007 to 2010.

Lorena and Annika will compete in the 3rd. edition of the Notah Begay Challenge with other world known golfers such as Cristie Kerr, Suzann Pettersen, Morgan Pressel, Anthony Kim, Camilo Villegas, Vijay Singh and Rickie Fowler.

Previously, this tourney featured PGA members only, nevertheless this time teams will be mixed and each hole is set to be played in the best ball format with a purse of 400 thousand dollars; besides, benefits go to help fight obesity and diabetes among Native American youth.

The event will take place August 31st. at the Atunyote Golf Club at Turning Stone, located in Verona, New York. The course was designed by Tom Fazio and features 7, 482 yards; furthermore, it0s one of the 8 courses that receives the FedEx Cup season.

Third stop

After one month of inactivity, the LPGA players are back to continue with this year's schedule. This is the first tournament that they'll play in US soil, since the first two tournaments were celebrated in Asia. So, expect coverage for all and lots of fans following their favorites.

This is an inaugural event and will be played in California.

As expected, the field includes the best of the best, 17 of the top 20 Rolex Rankings players will dispute the title. There's also a 1.7 million dollars purse which will be distributed among those who make the cut.

Nevertheless, there are four players that have good chances of taking it away:

Ai Miyazato: the Japanese won the first two tournaments of the year and seems like she's on fire! Ai has climbed through the Rolex Rankings and is already number 3; less than a point from Jiyai Shin (2) and two from Lorena Ochoa (1). Miyazato's momentum might stretch, unless someone steps in.

Cristie Kerr: in Asia, she made clear who's the best North American around. Her game is solid and balanced, that's why she has played 87% of this season's rounds under par. Kerr was 4th in the Honda PTT LPGA Thailand and runner-up in the HSBC Women's Championship; playing in the USA should giver her a good advantage.

Suzann Pettersen: she's by far the best European in the Rolex Rankings and is considered to be number 4 thanks to her performance. This year she's had two top 5 and was close to winning the season-opener, but Ai Miyazato's brilliant final round left her as runner-up. Pettersen is second in the Money List and her short game is better than ever.

Yani Tseng: a year ago "Nini" was number 2 in the Rolex Rankings, today she's 5 and not happy about it. In Asia she gained the confidence lost in 2009, so it wouldn't be rare to see her lift a trophy this season. Yani's approaching shots are very accurate.

Those who might surprise, for their experience and talent, are Lorena Ochoa, even when she hasn't had a great season she becomes dangerous when she finds momentum, and Jiyai Shin, who just needs a couple of good shots to get into contention.

What an honor!

The victorious US Solheim cup team was invited into the White House. The players were excited to meet Barack Obama at the Oval office.

Beth Daniel, who captained them last September, was also among the group.

While in Washington D.C. they visited some of the most famous monuments, including sites like the Pentagon and the 9/11 Memorial. While Commissioner Michael Whan stud by their side from beginning to end, it was Juli Inkster who couldn't make the trip since she was in Hawaii for personal reasons.

The excitement filled every one fo them and so they shared through their Twitter accounts, Paula Creamer assured "what a great trip.....meeting the President of the USA and being in the Oval office. Lots of fun".

Meanwhile, Christina Kim, one of the most cheerful and outgoing players of the LPGA uploaded several pictures and said "meeting the President yesterday was such an amazing experience. I was trulyhonored to experience what few have ever done".

All players wore matching suits to their White House visit.

Nail biting!!!

The last season’s tourney was cut to 54 holes after a terrible washout in Texas. On Friday play was suspended several times until it was announced that it wasn’t going to be possible to continue. Saturday was a bummer since no one played at all, which left almost everybody without even starting the second round. Finally on Sunday the players finished what was supposed to happen on Friday. Today the third round was played and what a season ending tournament it was!

This event replaced the ADT Championship which was played in Florida. 

The LPGA Tour Championship was especially important since Lorena Ochoa, Jiyai Shin and Cristie Kerr were fighting to take home the Player of the Year Award, which wasn’t presented officially during the Gala. The only thing that happen during the ceremony was the acknowledgment to the First-Time Winners, except for Michelle Wie who not only withdrew but also couldn’t accept the Rolex she was supposed to receive since she has a sponsorship with Omega, and of course the Rookie of the Year Award given to Jiyai Shin.

Lorena Ochoa was thefirst round leader after firing a 66, but a couple of mistakes on her next 18 holes put her a bit far from the top. Still, today she stayed patient and calm, even when she bogeyed 17 she managed to birdie 18 and finish as runner-up.

Shin wasn’t as sharp as in previous rounds, she had a tough time on the green, which is pretty unusual for a golfer who has a tremendous short game; she tied for 8th.

The winner was Swedish rookie, Anna Nordqvist, who grabbed her second LPGA victory after winning the McDonald’s LPGA Championship last June. This result gives Anna more confidence and also lets everybody know she has what’s needed to compete in this tour.

So, Lorena Ochoa became a four time Player of the Year and also took home the Vare Trophy for lowest score in the season. She closed 2009 in style after having a tough year, nevertheless she has another commitment ahead: her wedding. She’ll get married December 5 with Aeromexico’s CEO, Andrés Conesa. Let’s hope in 2010 she can comeback as strong and dominant as she used to be in 2007 and 2008.

Looking for a Commissioner

It’s been 110 days since a group of players sent a letter to the Board of Directors asking for the resignation of Carolyn Bivens. On July the 13th. she left the tour so the LPGA could find someone else to try to recover what had been lost for quite a bit: sponsors.

Bivens was named Commissioner in 2005, and became the
first woman to assume the position.

The pressure from players like Lorena Ochoa, Cristie Kerr and Paula Creamer gave everyone the sense that the “new kid in the block” should be someone who could not only lead but be a passionate and capable of giving the tour some peace of mind.

The LPGA Board of Directors decided to hire Marsha Evans, who had led the Red Cross and the Girl Scouts of America. The former Navy member became the Interim Commissioner, while golf legend, Annika Sörenstam, was named Advisor to the Board of Directors.

After all the movements and 3 months of expectations, it seems like the wait is finally over and there are two prospects for the job:

Jonathan Ward: he has nothing to do with golf or even sports. Actually it’s been said that he didn’t fill one of the requirements set: “ideal experience”. Never the less, he’s the Senior Advisor for the investment firm  Kohlberg & Co; and he has served to the Board of Directors of Sara Lee since 2005. Sources say that  55 year-old Ward didn’t have help to get the interview, he did it by himself.

Peter Bevacqua: until a few days he was the toughest contender and his odds went sky high when Donna Orender from the WNBA announced that she had no interest what so ever in taking the job. Bevacqua is the current Chief Business Officer for the USGA and has been working there for 9 years, which gives him a plus since he knows golf a and has strong ties to people involved in the sport.

No matter who’s “the chosen one”, the thing is there’s a huge challenge ahead and the tour is at it’s worst crisis ever. The lack of capital and sponsors makes it’s 60 year history shake.Some sources even assure that some of the so-called committed events haven’t signed a contract, which puts them in limbo.

Scratch another one!

The LPGA keeps losing events and things aren't precisely in great shape. This year they started the season without two great tournaments, the Fileds Open and the Ginn Tribute; a couple of months ago the Kapalua LPGA Classic, which was supposed to take place in October withdrew from the schedule, this situation led to the "resignation" of Comissioner Bivens, the truth is some players decided it was time for her to leave.

Of course there were others who followed the Kapalua, such as the Corning Classic, which won't retuned in 2010, marking the first time this happens since its arrival 30 years ago.

Now the event which won't comeback is the so called "fifth major" of the season, the Michelob Ultra Open, that has been a premiun tournament since it's inclusion in 2003 mainly because of 2 reasons: great field and great purse, actually one of the biggest of the LPGA. Some of the former champions include Cristie Kerr (2009), Annika Sörenstam (2008), Suzann Pettersen (2007) and Karrie Webb (2006).

Seems like next year the tour will have to survive with 18 tournaments, unless something happens. This situation is clearly tough, especially for a sport which is very close to make it's Olympic comeback!