November 16 -- Let the hype begin! Just days after clinching her first-ever LPGA Tour victory, Michelle Wie will try to make it back-to-back wins at this week’s LPGA Tour Championship in Houston, TX.
The top players in the world will tee it up at The Houstonian Golf & Country Club, with the tourney starting November 19 and running through November 22. Players qualified for the season-ending event based on their standings on the LPGA official money list as of November 9.
Leading the field will be Rookie-of-the-Year Jiyai Shin, who sits atop the money list with more than $1.7 million earned so far in 2009. Next on the list are Japanese player Ai Miyazato and American Cristie Kerr. Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa of Mexico is in fifth place and Paula Creamer of the United States rounds out the top 10.
Wie, of course, will be in the field, as will defending champ Sophie Gustafson and Morgan Pressel, Christina Kim, Natalie Gulbis, and Hall-of-Famer Juli Inkster.
Player-of-the-year race. Perhaps lost in the hoopla over Wie’s first victory Sunday was the news that the LPGA player-of-the-year award is still up for grabs as women’s best golfers prepare for the Tour Championship.
Shin’s third-place finish at last week’s Lorena Ochoa Invitational allowed Ochoa and 12-time winner Kerr back into the hunt.
Shin, however, remains the odds-on favorite to win, with 156 total points. Ochoa is only eight points behind the young South Korean, while Kerr, with 127 points, is a long-shot.
Not likely. Shin would have to have a complete meltdown to lose the crown. For Ochoa to win, she would have to capture the Tour Championship or finish no lower than third place, and Shin would have to earn no points.
Kerr’s chances are even slimmer. Kerr would have to win the event, and Shin would have to go 0-for-points.
Neither scenario seems likely. Shin is a patient golfer with incredible internal strength and focus who may not hit a long ball but makes up for it with a steady short game. If she does indeed win the award, Shin will become the first LPGA player to win both rookie- and player-of-the-year honors in the same year since Hall-of-Famer Nancy Lopez did so in 1978.
“We are ready for what should be a very exciting finish to the 2009 LPGA Tour season, especially with the Rolex Player of the Year showdown,” LPGA acting commissioner Marty Evans said in a statement. “The anticipation to see if Jiyai Shin can make history or if three-time Player of the Year Lorena Ochoa can make it four will make this week in Houston a memorable one.”
A close race for player-of-the-year is icing on the cake for incoming LPGA commissioner Michael Whan. Read about how Wie’s first win and the return to the LPGA schedule of a popular tournament are good news for the beleaguered LPGA.
Comments