LPGA Tour returns at Longs Drugs Challenge
BY Bruce Young | LPGA Tour | 2006 Longs Drugs Challenge | Preview | 20 Sep 2006
The LPGA returns from a week off and plays this week’s Longs Drugs Challenge at the Blackhawk Country Club in Danville in California.
The tournament has a new venue in 2006 after just two years at the Ridge Golf Club in Auburn in California with this year’s event being played at the Bruce Devlin and Von Hagge designed Lakeside Course, one of two layouts at the venue.
The event has brought together a field that consists of all top ten of the LPGA’s top ten money winners in 2006, an achievement in itself for an event with a smaller purse.
With no previous form on this course to act as a guide to possible contenders this week, the likely challengers for the title will be based on their class alone at this stage. The four dominant players in 2006, Lorena Ochoa, Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb and Cristie Kerr will be therefore be the most obvious choices before the event gets underway. The golf course that is short by recent LPGA Tour event standards measuring just 6212 yards and is one of the shorter courses used this year.
The defending champion is Nicole Perrot who last year defeated Hee Won Han although, with a new venue this year, they will not be able to rekindle their fond memories of twelve months ago.
With now only US$260,000 between the ADT Money List leader, Lorena Ochoa, and third placed Sorenstam the race is on in earnest for the ADT title. With several big events still to come there are still many permutations as to how the money race will finish.
Other than Karrie Webb, the Australians Lindsey Wright, Wendy Doolan, Michelle Ellis, Katherine Hull, Nadina Light, get a chance to improve their standings in 2006.
