Karrie Webb won the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup by one stroke on Sunday. The full purse of $1M was donated to charity with half going to the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program and the other half to the charities chosen by the 10 top finishers. Webb’s selections were the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and Japan Relief. The World’s #1 ranked player, Yani Tseng tied for 29th place.
Archive for the ‘LPGA’ Category
RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup Won by Webb
Sunday, March 20th, 2011RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup
Monday, March 14th, 2011The JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa in Phoenix Arizona hosts the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup this week. The entire purse of $1M will be donated to charity with half going to the LPGA USGA Girls Golf program and the other half going to the charities designated by the top 10 finishers. Results from this tournament will feed into the 2011 LPGA Official Money List and players will also earn points towards Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the year, Rolex Player of the Year, Rolex Rankings and the U.S. team for the Solheim Cup taking place in Ireland this year.
The 134 players this year includes Golf Digest ‘hottest player’ Yani Tseng and other Rolex Ranked top 10 players Jiyai Shin(#2), Christie Kerr (#5) and Karrie Webb (#10).
Cristie Kerr Becomes Number One
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010Cristie Kerr lead the LPGA Championship held at Locust Hill Country Club during all four rounds with a final score of -19, overtaking the rest of the field by 12 strokes. She went into the fourth round leading by 8 strokes and ended with a birdie on 18 for a final round of 66. Her game was definitely on during this tournament resulting in her second major champhionship title. Kerr is the first American to win this major since 2000 when Julie Inkster took the title.
By winning this major event, Kerr moves into the number one LPGA world player position. Hats off to Cristie! The number one player position has shifted quite a bit over the past three weeks. Kerr is the third player in three weeks to become the world’s best. Last week Ai Miyazato had the number one slot as a result of her ShopRite LPGA Classic win; the prior week, Shin was number one. Kerr has won 14 tournaments in her 14 year career with the 2010 LPGA Champhionship making her the world’s best LPGA player.
Over the years, Annika Sorenstam lead the world. After going into retirement, the reigns were taken over by Lorena Ochoa. In April Ochoa retired, leaving the lead role open to all.
“It means a tremendous amount,” Kerr said about the No. 1 ranking. “It’s something that I’ve wanted my whole life, I worked for my whole life. I take great pride in being the top American.”
Congratulations to Cristie Kerr for her LPGA win and the coveted number one ranking!
U.S. Captures Junior Solheim Cup
Thursday, August 20th, 2009As captain of the US Junior Solheim Cup team, LPGA legend, Nancy Lopez, coaches her team to victory at the 2009 Junior Solheim Cup. The team was asked to give 100 percent on the course and let their natural talents take over. And that they did! The US team won 15 1/2 to 8 1/2 over the European team during the two-day event held at the Aurora Country Club in Aurora, IL.
With four matches to go, the US team had the cup in hand and finished the last four matches 3 to 1 winning the victory. “They are great kids, a great team….our girls rallied, they really did” Lopez said during the after event celebration…poolside in full team attire!
The results of the singles matches are:
Sally Watson (Europe) defends Jane Rah, 4 and 3
Sarah Brown (USA) defends Klara Spilkova, 2 and 1
Jessica Korda (USA) defends Rosann Crepiat, 3 and 2
Ani Gulugian (USA) defends Leona Maguire, 5 and 4
Sherlyn Popelka (Europe) defends Stephanie Kim, 4 and 3
Tiffany Lua (USA) defencs Anna Arrese, 4 and 3
Ana Fernandez de Mesa (Europe) defends Alison Lee, 1-Up
Alexis Thompson (USA) defends Tonje Daffinrud, 1-Up
Kristina Wong (USA) defends Johanna Tillstrom, 3 and 1
Jennifer Johnson (USA) defends Sophia Popov, 2 and 1
Kelly Tidy (Europe) defends Alexandra Stewart, 5 and 4
Kristen Park (USA) defends Lisa Maquire, 2 and 1
USA wins 15 1/2 to 8 1/2
Congratulations to the USA Junior Solheim Cup Team!
Posted by Marilyn Harris
Juli Inkster and Michelle Wie: experience and potential make up the 2009 Solheim captain’s picks
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009USA Solheim Cup team captain Beth Daniel chose 49 year old Juli Inkster and 19 year old Michelle Wie as her two captain’s picks for this year’s Cup.
This will be Inkster’s eighth Solheim Cup appearance and she will be the oldest player to compete in the matches. With age comes experience and Inkster brings a ton of it.
Inkster had an esteemed amateur career before her rookie year with the LPGA in 1983. She captured the U.S. Women’s Amateur title from 1980-82 to become the first woman since 1934 to win three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles. She was a member of the U.S. Curtis Cup (1982) and World Cup (1980 and 1982) teams. As the winner of the 1981 California Amateur Championship, she was California’s 1981 Amateur of the Year and 1982 Bay Area Athlete of the Year. The number-one ranked amateur by Golf Digest from 1981-82, Inkster was a collegiate All-American for three years (1979, 1981-82) and also won the 1982 Broderick Award.
Since joining the LPGA in 1983 Inkster’s professional career has been no less esteemed. To date she has won 31 tournaments on the LPGA tour including seven majors, and she is currently fourth on the LPGA career money list with career earnings of over $12M.
I think Inkster is a great choice for one of the wild card spots and I can’t wait to see her perform in her ninth Solheim Cup.
Solheim rookie Michelle Wie started playing golf at age four and claims that the first time she grabbed a club she knew she would be golfing for the rest of her life. Although her professional golf career has never quite reached the stature of her amateur play and at times she has been mired with controversy her Solheim teammates have stated she has earned her spot and they are looking forward to her performance. As for Wie’s stance, she seems suitably appreciative and excited to be part of the most esteemed tournament in women’s golf. I, for one, am hoping that Solheim (and playing with golfers like Inkster) brings out all the potential that we saw in Wie years ago.
Post by Michele Minten
How compelling is The Solheim Cup?
Thursday, July 30th, 2009As most of us know Solheim is returning to US soil, and the top professional golfers from the US will do their best to beat their European counterparts. So far undefeated on their home turf I’m hoping for another US win. But that begs the question: how exciting, given the golfers currently playing, will the tourney be this year? The European team, with a record of 3 wins, 7 losses since Solheim debuted in 1990, isn’t always brimming with golf strength and this year they have only six players ranked in the top 50 in the world and only three in the top 10. The US on the other hand is slightly stronger with 13 of the top-50 players and also three in the top 10. Of course, as we’ve seen in the PGA, these rankings don’t always determine who is going to win but I’m just not convinced there will be enough competition from the European team to really get people excited about watching this match beyond the first day of play.
Now, I can’t take credit for the following idea but it was such an interesting idea I wanted to throw it out there. What about an East vs. West competition? The best 12 female golfers from Europe and the Americas against the 12 best of the Far East… could be a ratings skyrocket for women’s golf and people from all over the world would watch. I read the idea and loved it. Not that I’m saying do away with Solheim but maybe add something new into the mix. Thoughts?
Post by Michele Minten
Does the next LPGA commissioner need to be a woman?
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009Given the massive disappointments in recent LPGA history including tournament cancellations and 15 or so unsecured events for the 2010 golf season the search for a new commissioner for the LPGA is critical. Many players have blamed the lack of playing opportunities and lost tournaments on strained relationships caused by now ousted Carolyn Bivens lack of ability to fully embrace the LPGA’s unique culture and traditions.
As the first female to lead the oldest women’s sports organization, Bivens hiring was a breakthrough of sorts and one that many saw as long overdue. So what happens when the first woman to take a role of power within female sports is forced to leave under acrimonious and bitter feelings?
Many players in the LPGA didn’t want to hire a woman in the first place so it is unsurprising that every move Bivens made was dissected and analyzed. There is no dispute that several of her gaffes caused players to question her credibility (things like barring photographers from tournaments and suggesting players send Twitter updates during tournaments were met with widespread criticism). Some people think Bivens got a bad rap solely because of her gender while others think she just wasn’t the right person to traverse the minefield of competing for dollars in a male-dominated sports industry.
All of this leads me to wonder: how important is gender in positions of leadership within the LPGA? The list of strong contenders for the commissioner spot includes both females and males: Cindy Davis, Donna Orender, Zayra Calderon, Chris Higgs, Rob Neal, Paula Polito and I’m sure there are others.
So far players and industry experts agree the next commissioner will inherit an organization in chaos and will need to traverse a faltering economy while rebuilding lost relationships. The only one who seems to vocally agree the person needs to be a female is Bivens herself.
Post by Michele Minten
Does the LPGA have another Annika?
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009Regardless of my opinion of Carolyn Bivens I am not convinced her ousting will be the answer to fixing all that is broken with the LPGA. It’s a sorry state of affairs and will take a lot more than one person to fix. The LPGA is a mess; at last count 7 tournaments have shut down and several others are left without sponsors. And let’s face it, there isn’t a single big name winner to help bring in new sponsors. Forget the female equivalent of Tiger Woods, there isn’t a Phil or even David Duval. Since Annika Sorenstam’s retirement there hasn’t been a winner with the name recogniation to help draw fans, much less sponsors, to the LPGA and that’s a shame.
How about Catriona Matthew, Angela Stanford, Lorena Ochoa, Jiyai Shin, Pat Hurst? Do any of those names ring a bell? They are all LPGA tourney winners from last year. All are great golfers and well respected within golf circles but not one has any name recognition. Lorena Ochoa, Cristie Kerr, Ji Young Oh, Yani Tseng, In-Kyung Kim, Anna Nordqvist, Jiyai Shin, Eunjung Yi, Karrie Webb, and Brittany Lincicome round out the list of winners and I’m guessing I’m not alone in thinking there isn’t a household name in this bunch either.
So I’m not defending Carolyn Bivens, nor am I blaming her, but I am thinking that in addition to finding a new commissioner the LPGA might want to invest in some solid PR. There’s too much talent in women’s golf to have this level of apathy. After all, the PGA loses sponsors too but with names like Tiger and Phil there are always other sponsors waiting in the wings. And a tournament without sponsors is like a golfer without a putter…it just isn’t going to happen.
Post by Michele Minten
Marsha Evans New Interim LPGA Commissioner
Monday, July 13th, 2009The LPGA’s lead players’ wishes were granted today as Carolyn Bivens resigned as the LPGA Commissioner. Much controversy has come into play over the lack of tournament sponsorships and personnel policies imposed by Bivens.
Marsha Evans has been selected to immediately replace Bivens on an interim basis and the search for a permanent replacement has begun. Evans is a retired (1998) US Navy Chief of Staff at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Evans had served on the LPGA board prior to this assignment. She also serves as one of Office Depot’s, Weight Watchers’, and Huntsman’s board of directors. Evans has expressed no interest in the full-time position of LPGA Commissioner, but has agreed to serve in the interim role to help rebuild the leadership of the LPGA.
Additionally, Annika Sorenstam has been named as an advisor to the LPGA Board of Directors. Annika has commited to immediately assisting the board with the challenges it faces now and into the long-term future. According to Annika’s latest tweet on Twitter, “Big changes in the LPGA leadership. I am happy to be involved moving forward.”
Posted by Marilyn Harris
LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens is Out
Thursday, July 9th, 2009The LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens will not complete her remaining 18 month term of her 3 year extension contract. The LPGA Tour has elected to release the Commissioner of her role while the Board of Directors plans to immediately identify an interim replacement and begin an extensive search for a new leader. The leadership of Bivens has been in question for the past few years with the loss of 7 tour events since 2007. To date there are only 10 confirmed LPGA tournaments for 2010… a huge shortfall from the 30 events scheduled in 2009.
Key LPGA players, including Paula Cremer, Natilie Gublis, Michelle Wie, and Cristie Kerr, have been concerned about the direction the Commissioner has been taking the Tour over the years and reportedly authored a letter to the Board of Directors requesting Bivens’ resignation indicating the decline of the Tour cannot be attributed to the weakening economy but to that of controversal leadership.
Can the Board of Directors find the right person to rescue the LPGA Tour? How will the US Women’s Open fair this weekend? How will Bivens’ ousting impact the upcoming Solheim Cup at Rich Harvest Farm in Sugar Grove, IL?
Post by Marilyn Harris
