Evian Masters, final day

The last round of the Evian Masters was amazing and the icing on the cake was Ai's seventh LPGA title.

Japanese sports world has brought some happiness and relieve to a country which was devastated several months ago by a tsunami and an earthquake. Ai is one of the most concern Japanese athletes, therefore she'll donate some or even all of her winner's check, which only shows how devoted she is to her country.

Back to golf, the tourney was a complete success and now I understand why players speak so highly of it. All of them displayed their A game and proof of it was the star studded leader board we had on Sunday: Miyazato, Pettersen, IK Kim, Lewis, to name a few.

Competition was fierce, but Ai showed that her mental side is one of the strongest on tour and held off Stacy Lewis in-style. Add her parents' company to the picture and you'll have one more reason to be unstoppable.

People showed how much they love her, while Japanese reporters burst into joy, which is pretty understandable since they have followed Miyazato closely from her rookie season on the LPGA, back in 2005.

Now, about all that surrounds the tourney, people is amazing, everybody is so welcoming and the whole town surrenders to the event. Volunteers, organizers, restauranteurs and hoteliers show their appreciation to everyone who visits Évian-les-Bains to get a glimpse of the world's best women golfers.

I'm sure that in 2013, when this tournament becomes a major, it'll be huge and will surely become one of the favorite and most memorable Grand Slams.

Finally, thank you all for reading the blog, as well as the adventures of this who writes!

Evian Masters 2011, days 4 and 5

Second round, done! It's gonna be quite a tough weekend, full of emotions and with pretty odd weather conditions, which will surely make the girls play they're best. Outside the ropes, the LPGA Global Media Awards...

On Friday I followed Matthew, Recari and Creamer. Matthew is one of those players that makes it two, three, four birdies in a row, when she's hot there's no way to stop her!

Reacari had a double bogey on the first hole, kind of a nightmare, she four putted; nonetheless, she fought till the end but couldn't make the cut.

Creamer can be pretty inconsistent at times, specially with the putter, but she's getting there people, it's just matter of time. Whe she finds the way to make it work, well, beware, seriously!

Now, the LPGA Global Media Awards were great. Paula Creamer, Azahara Muñoz and Juli Inkster were there. Actually, Inkster was given the Media Appreciation Award for being such a trooper with media and making our work a lot easier!

In the Player Profile category, Bill Fields won the award with "The young and the restless" published on Golf World. In Column/Blog, Golfweek's senior writer, Beth Ann Baldry won with "Dollars and Degrees".

It was an awesome night, all of the hot shots were there, both from the Evian Masters and the LPGA. Here's a complete list of winners.

The third round was awesome too, lots of emotions and a pretty crowded field. The back nine will define the winner; it's possible to birdie the last four holes, but you must have a super approach shot or you'll leave with a bogey!

I followed Cristie Kerr and Paula Creamer and I have 2 conclusions: 

1. Cristie is amazing with the putter, if there's anyone out here who knows how to play on the green, that's her.

2. Paula might be in trouble around the green but a good chip and run may take her to red numbers, she's pretty good with the short game.

I might brag more about it and give you my thoughts, but there's a lot of places you'll fin that, like this one, so let me tell you something else...

The Evian Masters people took me to the gala dinner, it was amazing, with players, sponsors, LPGA and LET people, and a pretty small press group.

The menu was awesome: entree buffet, lamb for the main course and another buffet, this time: desserts. Great ambiance, lots of laughs and to seal the deal: fireworks.

I have no doubt that in 2013, when this event becomes a major, they'll spare no expense, although, I'm not sure how that could be possible, because it's already superb!

2011 Evian Masters, day 1

Lots of movement in the Evian Master Golf Course, actually in all the city! This little and picturesque town goes nuts when the LPGA comes to visit. Banners and flags with the tourneys logo line up all over the place.

The ideal thing is to catch a flight to Geneva, Switzerland, there you can take a taxi or ferry all the way to Évian-les-Bains; others prefer to fly to Paris, where they take a train to Geneva, Either way, press members, players and caddies are transported by the organizers, both from the airport and the train station all the way to their hotels. There's a lot of place to stay and for all budgets.

If you go to Evian from Geneva by car you should be there in an hour, tops. When you cross the frontier you won't see any kind of officials or checkpoints, you just go through as you owned the place, although there's a tool booth1(.70 euros / 2.41 dollars)

You won't get any sign directions on the road to get to Évian until you're actually 10 minutes away (lots of posters and banners will lead you there). In downtown expect to see all kind of goodies of the tournament, decorating the shop windows, as well as the hotel and restaurant entrances.

Lots of vans, or courtesy cars as they call them officially, around the place, and as I said earlier, they transport media members, players and caddies, this time, from their hotels to the course and vice-versa.

Now, as for the players, they are all here people so there's a lot of activity for being a Tuesday; some of them have been since Sunday! It's been raining a lot, not hard but constantly, nevertheless, players suck it up and keep it going, like Yani Tseng, who's here with her mother. Speaking of Yani, she's very relaxed and is hitting the ball pretty solid

Another gal who brought mom and dad with her is.... yes, you guessed correctly: Michelle Wie. Whom I saw at the putting green and let me tell you people, she wasn't sinking much, but she said "the course is in great shape, regardless of the soggy conditions".

Alison Nicholas is also here and she's watching the Euros pretty closely, and how wouldn't she? The Solheim Cup is around the corner (September 23- 25).

It seems like tomorrow's weather conditions should improve, it hasn't stop raining since early in the morning and it's chilly. Anyways, we have to wait and see if rain becomes a factor, meanwhile, expect quite a show!

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-

The first LPGA major is almost here

Everything is set for the 40th anniversary of the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the first Grand Slam of the season. After four tourneys, the best women golfers are ready to visit Rancho Mirage, CA.

This will certainly be a tournament to remember, it will have more than 30 entertainers from music, TV and movies. Of course it'll display a star studded field, with 23 of the top 25 players of the Rolex Rankings.

Expect to see an Asian leader board, probably led by world number one Yani Tseng, who aside from being the defending champion, has had a stelar year so far. For starters, she won her first four tourneys, one in Taiwan, two in Australia (Ladies European Tour) and one more in Thailand (LPGA), and has two top 5 finishes and a T19 in her last three appearances in the LPGA.

South Korean Jiyai Shin will also be a serious contender for the title, even when she started with three ties (35, 11 and 29), last weekend she showed why she's one of the best players, as she finished runner-up at the Kia Classic, one stroke back from German Sandra Gal

Keep an eye on Australia's Karrie Webb, who has already won twice in 2011, at the HSBC Women's Champions and RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup; and also in Michelle Wie, who has two top 10 finishes in three events.

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.

2011, the LPGA and its tournaments

The 2011 LPGA season is about to start, after 3 months of absence, which brought uncertainty, changes and surprises, the world's best golfers will become active in 9 days.

The announcement of the 2011 schedule was weird; commissioner Michael Whan disclosed it in January, contrary to previous years when it was ready by end of the previous campaign. This decision was made due to the economic problems the tour faced.

Three weeks after being announced, the Tres Marías Championship was postponed for security reasons. Morelia, Michoacán, the host city, has experienced episodes of violence and clashes between federal police and criminal groups

Although the 2011 schedule lost an event, the commissioner said Waggle Room he expects to add two more tourneys during the year.

The season kicks off in Thailand, February 17, and ends on November 20 in Orlando, Florida. The decision to "compress" the calendar was taken to a large extent by the players, who asked to close the season before Thanksgiving.

So far the calendar has long rest periods, as in April and May, when the tour will have no activity from April 3 to May 1 (Kraft Nabisco Championship-Avnet LPGAClassic) and May 1-19 (Avnet LPGA-Sybase Match Play Championship), to name a few.

2011 also brings one of the most exciting events in women's golf, the 12th edition of the Solheim Cup, which will take place in Ireland, giving some advantage to the European squad and the chance to regain the trophy they won for the last time in 2003, when Catrin Nilsmark captained the victory with the help of a dominant Annika Sörenstam.

Another highlight is the event that will honor the founders of the LPGA and will help the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program, with the intention of raising funds for promising young stars.

Finally, the tournament which will close the year, the Titleholders, has an innovative format. The field will display the top 3 of each tournament in the schedule, ensuring the appearance of the best players.

It seems like the LPGA is giving some glimpses of what it just to be; surely we'll see the it in better shape sooner rather than later, which will be possible thanks to its members, who are giving fans and viewers, in general, a show rarely seen, they are battling to get the first spot in the Rolex Rankings, and precisely about those golfers we'll talk about tomorrow...

Innovations in the LPGA

Yesterday afternoon, commissioner Michael Whan unveiled the 2011 LPGA calendar. There was a lot of speculation around it because normally it's announced some time before the new season arrives, but with the sponsors coming and going, the calendar was delayed, and for the first time in a decade,it was released until January.

Click on the image to open the schedule

In 2011, women's golf fans will enjoy the Solheim Cup, an event that faces the U.S. and European teams. As every two years, the venue is changed and this time Killeen Castle, located in Ireland, will be in charge of testing both teams, as is tradition, the tourney will be held in September.

One of the surprises included in the schedule is the Taiwan LPGA Championship, to be held in October as part of the Asian swing, it is precisely in that month, that the tour makes stops in South Korea, Japan and Malaysia.

The big news came from the hand of the Founders Cup, an official tournament in which competitors will donate their earnings to the LPGA Foundation, devoted to raising funds for the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program. It will also be the perfect time to honor those who built what is now the most competitive women's tour in the world.

The Titleholders will be the season-ending event, and the fans will have the chance to see the best players of the year, which will be possible since the field will consist of the top 3 golfers of each tournament, if a member repeats, then the subsequent players will be taken into consideration.

The LPGA will have 25 official events (one more than in 2010) and 2 unofficial, in addition to the Solheim Cup. The season will kick-off in Thailand, with the Honda LPGA, on February 17th and end in Orlando, Florida, with the Tittleholders, on November 20th.

The note:

15 year old, professional golfer, Alexis Thompson, will meet on Monday with Commissioner Michael Whan with the hope that she'll be granted with 12 exemptions to play LPGA events. Thompson can not aspire to become a member of the tour, at least for now, since she doesn't meet the minimum age requirement (18 years).

Everything under the sun

Many things have happened in golf in the past few days... Tiger Woods' season was quite a mess, Kia Motors America extended its sponsorship contract with the LPGA and more, so keep reading and find out what's been going on.

The first sectional qualifier of the LPGA Q-School took place in Rancho Mirage, California. After four rounds, only 30 from the 112 players on the filed advanced to the final stage. Colombian Eileen Vargas earned medalist honors after shooting 10 under overall.

Tiger Woods left the 2010 season earlier than expected, his last event was the BMW Championship. For the first time in his professional career he didn't have a single victory and missed the final stage of the FedEx Cup.

The USA squad will try to defend its title at the 2010 Ryder Cup to be held in Celtic Manor, Wales. Euro player, Lee Westwood, might miss the tourney due to injury; meanwhile US members Tiger Woods and Rickie Fowler made the event through Corey Pavin's picks.

Kia Motors has shown its trust in the LPGA with an extension of its sponsorship contract. Now, the company will move the Kia Classic to Los Angeles, California. This marks the first time the tour stops in the area since 2005.

Former world number one, Lorena Ochoa, will be part of a new reality show, exclusive for Latin American golfers. The show will be aired in 2011 in the Super Golf Star channel (Galleon Holding PLC). The winner will secure a place for the Lorena Ochoa Invitational.

Taiwanese Yani Tseng managed to come from behind and defeat Michelle Wie at the P&G NW Arkansas Championship. Tseng has three victories this season, tops the "Player of the Year" points race and is second in the money list with over 1.4 million dollars in earnings.

Making a racket

The crisis struck the LPGA hard, after the sudden departure of sponsors and tournaments, such as the Leon Classic, seemed like come back was going to be more than complicated; nevertheless, lately, the tour has had some sparkles of what it used to be a couple of years ago; but not everything is as good as it seems and, for better or worse, the CN Canadian Women's Open brought a lot of stuff.

Good stuff:

Michele Wie, the girl that has been in the limelight even before she came to the LPGA, grabbed her second title. The first time she did so was in Mexico, at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, held in Guadalajara, Jalisco. In that tourney, Wie defeated fellow US player Paula Creamer by 2 strokes. Now, Michelle came 3 shots ahead of Kristy McPherson, Suzann Pettersen and Jee Young Lee.

Even when the 20 year-old went winless for 7 months, missed one cut and didn't win the Rookie of the Year honors in her first season, the LPGA trusted her young guns, especially after Lorena Ochoa's sudden retirement. Moreover, it needed a US player back in the winners' circle as soon as possible, since it's a US based tour. All of a sudden, Paula Creamer and Michelle Wie got the message and they gave their people a couple of titles. 

Bad stuff:

Yes, South Korean players Shi Hyun Ahn and Il Mi Chung are having difficulties. They hit the wrong ball in the last hole of the first round and were DQ, but this ain't over yet, cause after some investigation and statements from the caddies were done the issue has grown bigger and bigger. Tim Hegna, Ahn's caddie, noticed his player hit the wrong ball and suggested her to talk to Chung before she putted, but Ahn didn't do it, at least that's what Hegna told to Waggle Room. When they finished, both players went into the scoring tent and later Ahn told Hegan "don't say anything".

Meanwhile, Chris Benz, Chung's caddie, told Golfweek that he mentioned the incident to Donna Early, the third looper in the group, but Il Mi wasn't aware of the situation, at least not until she finished her round. Benz assured that Hegna said it wasn't his job to talk about the issue, which was denied by Tim after declaring that Benz was compromised to keeping his mouth shut.

At the end this whole thing seems like "Chinese whispers" and the tour is hoping to clarify when did the players know they had hit the wrong ball as soon as possible in order to make a ruling. Let's hope this is just a misunderstanding, because if they cheated they'll be hardly criticized by fans and media.

Making the turn

This month the LPGA will welcome the second half of the 2010 season, which executives and fans are waiting for impatiently since the tour wasn't as spectacular as expected and brought some bad moments during its first part.

Tournaments:from February to May there were 9 events, compared to 17 that will be played from June to November. From those disputed in the first semester, the most interesting were the Kraft Nabisco Championship, first major of the year, and the Tres Marías Championship, which was Lorena Ochoa's farewell as an active member of the tour.
Thus, the second part of the schedule will certainly make the ratings raise, since the top players will dispute the remaining Grand Slam tourneys -LPGA Championship, U.S. Women's Open and British Open- as well as the prestigious Evian Masters.

Lorena Ochoa: her decision to leave the game was shocking because, even when Jiyai Shin became world number 1 -after a very consistent 2009 season- it's gonna be tough for the LPGA to find another player with Ochoa's charm. Perhaps the youngsters, such as Paula Creamer, Michelle Wie, Brittany Lincicome and Anna Nordqvist, can take Lorena's legacy, but their game hasn't been as mature as it should be to become the boss in the most competitive women's golf tour.

Erica Blasberg: the decease of the 25 year old North American shook the LPGA and its members in a very particular way. The cause of death is still unknown, therefore there have been lots of theories about ex-Wildcat's relationships and way of living off the course. With this background, it will take at least 3 more weeks for the coroner to release further information.

Paula Creamer: she's, by far, one of the favorite golfers around and, even when she's one of the most devoted players of the tour, the Pink Panther hasn't seen action in 2010 after going through surgery in her left hand, as a result of an injury that had been bothering her since last year. Now it's just matter of weeks before she comes back and makes her debut at the ShopRite LPGA Classic.

Asian players: once again it was pretty clear who leads the tour. The golfers from the Far East won 7 of the 9 tournaments played from February to May, after displaying quality and consistency on the course. Besides, they lead the top 5 of the Rolex Rankings: Jiyai Shin (1), Ai Miyzato (2) and Yani Tseng (4). It's gonna be very interesting to see their performance in the remaining events, but it's almost a fact that they'll continue to dominate.

The best of the season is still to come, so expect lots of emotions and many youngster winners because the average age of those who have lifted a trophy in 2010 is 24.7 years.

10 of 2010

In 3 days the 2010 LPGA season will kick off; therefore it's time to talk about those players who will be serious contenders to win one or more tournaments out of the 26 events that are already scheduled. Their expertise, curriculum and talent put them as this season's figures.

1. Lorena Ochoa: this year the Mexican has assured that she only  has golf on her mind; we have to remember that world number 1 had a tough 2009, mainly because she was focused in her personal life, specifically on her wedding, which led her to fight for the POY award  until the last event. Now, Ochoa needs to prove that she has what it takes to continue to reign in the LPGA; even when she's made clear that she wants to win 10 tourneys, the feat looks quite complicated due to the competitiveness of the tour. Nevertheless it wouldn't be odd to see her lift more than three trophies.

2. Jiyai Shin: the 21 year old has 30 professional victories under her belt: 20 in the KLPGA, six in the LPGA, two in the Ladies Asian Golf Tour and one in the JLPGA. And if that wasn't enough, Shin is less than two percentile points away from Ochoa at the Rolex Rankings. In 2009 she took home three tittles: HSBC Women's Championship,  Wegmans LPGA and P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship, she posted 12 top tens, won the ROY award and topped the Official Money List.

3. Paula Creamer: the "Pink Panther" couldn't win last year  since she caught a rare stomach virus and dealt with a thumb injury, which led her to WD or DNS four times. Anyways, the American earned more than 1 million dollars, posted 10 top tens and  claimed the first position in GIR. The last time Creamer had a win less season was in 2006, but she came back with a triumph in 2007 at the SBS Open and claimed five victories in 2008.

4. Anna Nordqvist: she's one of the LPGA's young promises; after being a non-exempt member, the 22 year old Swedish devoted herself to compete in Monday qualifiers. In her fifth event, the McDonald's LPGA Championship, she surprised with her short game and strong mentality; eventually she won the major and got her exempt card. In November she hold back a ferocious  Lorena Ochoa to claim the season ending LPGA Championship. Anna is considered to be the next Annika Sörenstam.

5. Michelle Wie: after several trips, she managed to win the Lorena Ochoa Invitational last year. Besides, she was part of the victorious 2009 Solheim Cup team after Beth Daniel picked her as one of her wild cards. Her appearance in that event was crucial since she won three out of four matches and tied one. Until now, Wie is considered as one of the players that must assume the tour's leadership to keep it safe and in one piece.

6. Ai Miyazato: the greatest figure of the Far East claimed her first victory in 2009, after almost four seasons of constant fighting. Miyazato lifted the Evian Masters trophy, but she had already shown what she was made of. The Japanese super star completed eight more tourneys in which she posted six top tens. Without hesitations, last year she posted her best season as a LPGA member and will be a threat in 2010. Remember, she has 15 victories in the JLPGA.

7. Na Yeon Choi: another strong South Korean; she has seven professional victories: five in the KLPGA and two in the LPGA. Choi joined the tour in 2008 as non-exempt, but her talent led her to qualify to almost every single tournament of the schedule and was runner-up for the ROY award, behind Taiwanese Yani Tseng.  Her great performance gave her exempt status for 2009, year in which she earned more than 1.3 million dollars after winning the Samsung Championship and the Hana Bank COLON Championship. Besides, she was second in birdies and fifth in eagles; she managed to post 11 top tens and was seventh in scoring average.

8. Mariajo Uribe: she's one of this season's rookies and leads the Latin American contingent. The Colombian has always displayed magnificent skills; nevertheless, it was in the 2008 U.S. Women's Open when media started to look closely at her after she tied for 10th, ahead of players like Cristie Kerr and Annika Sörenstam. Last year she received a sponsor's exemption to play the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, where she tied for eighth along with Brittany Lang y Yani Tseng.

9. Jean Reynolds: last season she finished second in the Duramed FUTURES Tour Money List. Nevertheless, the American  set people talking after grabbing the lead of the 2009 U.S. Women's Open, which she maintained for three rounds; eventually she lost focus and finished tied for 17th in front of Paula Creamer, Crisie Kerr and Brittany Lincicome. It was precisely at that tourney where she amazed everyone with her impeccable short game and sharp iron control. During her time at the Futures she won twice and posted 10 top tens.

10. Amanda Blumenherst: she represented Duke University; as a Blue Devil she became the only golfer to win the NGCA Award three consecutive years and received the LPGA Foundation Award for the second time. In 2006 she got a sponsor's exemption to play the U.S. Women's Open, where she tied for 10th. Two years later Amanda won the U.S. Women's Amateur. In September 2009 she participated in the CVS Pharmacy LPGA Challenge finishing fifth. In November she became medalist of the Q-School and earned her card as an exempt player.

There's no doubt that these golfers will be in the limelight; they have what it takes to grab some titles at the most competitive women's golf tour. For now, those who are going to play in Thailand and Singapore are already there to embrace a new season, one that will be for sure the toughest of the LPGA history.