LPGA in Arkansas for NW Championship
BY Bruce Young | LPGA Tour | 2009 NW Arkansas Championship | Preview | 09 Sep 2009
The LPGA Tour is in Rogers in Arkansas this week for the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship where Seon Hwa Lee will defend the title she won when she defeated Jane Park and Meena Lee last year.
The event is being held for the third occasion, a deluge of rain preventing the tournament from staging any more than 18 holes in 2007 when then amateur Stacy Lewis was declared the winner.
The Pinnacle Country Club is a Don Sechrest and Bruce Lietzke designed layout built in 1989 and measures 6238 yards for this week’s event.
The two leading world ranked players, Lorena Ochoa, Suzann Pettersen are not in this week’s field although the LPGA Tour’s leading money winner 2009, Cristie Kerr will play as will Yani Tseng and Ji Yai Shin, providing three of the top five world ranked players.
Kerr finished 11th in this event last year and although she has won just one event in 2009 it has been her consistency that has been the most significant feature with ten top tens in addition to the win. Her chances are very good for win number two in 2009.
Ai Miyazato has blossomed as a result of her recent win in France and with a very good tournament in this event in 2008 she has a great chance. She was runner up last week in Canada and like Kerr her second victory of 2009 is close at hand.
Prior to her missed cut at last week’s Canadian Open, Michelle Wie was providing plenty of evidence that her elusive first LPGA Tour win was getting closer. She fought her way back from a horror opening round last week but was unable to make the weekend. She should do much better this week.
Ji Yai Shin and Yani Tseng have become a little forgotten of late but Shin especially has been playing well enough to be a chance to win again in her rookie season and Seon Hwa Lee’s recent 4th place finish in Oregon could see her putting up a strong title defence.
Australians in the field are headed by Lindsey Wright and include Katherine Hull, Michelle Ellis, Rachel Hetherington, Sarah Kemp, Anna Rawson and Sarah Jane Smith.
