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.

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.