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.

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.

¡Habemus golf!

Just as it was expected, last Friday the IOC approved the inclusion of golf into Rio de Janeiro 2016 program. The news buried other sport’s hopes, such as baseball, softball, squash, karate and others.Golf debuted in Paris 1900 and the last time it was part of the Olympic Games was in St. Louis 1904.

Golf’s comeback isn’t a surprise, the International Golf Federation used as many resources as it had and had the best players in the world to speak on behalf of the sport:

Here’s a time table with the highlights of the process:
11/14/08: Ty Votaw (PGA) and Peter Dawson (R&A) talked with the Olympic Program Committee.

12/22/08: a questionnaire was sent in order to contend for a spot.

02/16/09: the document was sent back to the IOC.

06/15/09: Annika Sörenstam, Colin Montgomerie, among others, talked to the Executive Board of the IOC.

08/13/09: the Board recommends golf for its inclusion into the 2016 Program.

10/09/09: Michelle Wie, Pagraig Harrington and Suzan Pettersen went to Copenhagen to give the last speech. Finally golf got a spot with 63 votes and 2 absences.
The International Golf Federation proposed a format of 72-hole individual stroke play for both men and women. In case of a tie a three-hole playoff is recommended to determine the medal winners.
The Olympic field should include 60 players for each of the men's and women's competition, using the Official World Golf Rankings as a method of determining eligibility. The top-15 world-ranked players would be eligible for the Olympics, regardless of the number of players from a given country. Beyond the top 15, each country will have a maximum of two eligible players.
If this becomes a reality, then at least 30 countries would be represented. Still there’s a doubt in the air: will Tiger, Lorena and other dominant players will continue to play until 2016? Will others, such as Annika might leave retirement? We’ll see, it’s a long ways to go and we can have a few surprises.

Back to the winner's circle

Sophie Gustafson never gave up and fought fiercely and hold off Lorena Ochoa, who hasn't won since April, when she lifted the Corona Championship trophy at Morelia, Michoacán.

This was Sophie Gustafson's first victory in the LPGA since 2003 when she won the Samsung World Championship.

From the first round of the CVS Pharmacy LPGA Challenge, Gustafson shot the best round of the day with a 65. Her closest rival was a Mexican, but not precisely Ochoa. It was Sophia Sheridan another young player from Guadalajara and also coached by Rafael Alarcón, who by the way has been a regular member of the Durame Futures Tour and even a sporadic golfer of the LPGA, tour in which she features as a non-exempt member. Sheridan's performance made her country proud, it was the first time she reached the second place in an LPGA event.

Even after a 5 under round, Sheridan wasn't able to keep track and passed the baton to fellow countrywoman and childhood friend, Lorena Ochoa, who needed to win to shut the rumors that assure that she was in a slump and that her position at the Rolex World Rankings was at stake.

Friday and Saturday was a continuos fight between Gustafson and Ochoa, the Mexican accomplished to reach the first spot of the leaderboard, but not for long after the Swede posted a 66.

By Sunday both players were tied for the lead at 16 under and shared the group of honor. Their game was sharp and managed to score rounds in the 60's. Ochoa got birdies in 5, 9 and 16, never the less, she bogeyed 8, 15 and 18 to finish the day at even par. Meanwhile, Gustafson started with birdies in 1, 3, 9 and 13, plus an eagle in 5, she made mistakes in 6, 8 and 18. At the end, the Swede posted a 68 final round, to win the tournament.

This was Lorena Ochoa's best result in the last 10 events.

Even when Ochoa made a great effort, she's far from South Korea's Jiyai Shin at the POY Award and the Money List title.

*Flash*
Suzann Pettersen, who has already won once this year, withdrew from the tournament on Sunday. Apparently she's been dealing with foot problems.

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!