High stakes at Wegmans LPGA
BY iseekgolf.com | LPGA Tour | 2007 Wegmans LPGA | Preview | 20 Jun 2007
The Wegmans LPGA officially ends the first half of the LPGA Playoffs 2007, but there is plenty at stake this week at Locust Hill Country Club just outside of Rochester, N.Y. When the final putt drops on Sunday, the winner will take home US$270,000 and the top-11 players in the ADT Points standings will qualify for the season-ending ADT Championship and the opportunity to win $1 million.
After winning the Wegmans LPGA last season, Jeong Jang called Rochester her “favourite town.” She might consider moving to western New York if she is able to successfully defend her title this week.
Jang has earned more than US$200,000 this season, with her best finish coming at the Safeway International Presented by Coca-Cola, where she tied for third. But the odds may be stacked against the South Korean, as 27 of the top 30 golfers on the LPGA Official Money List and 10 of 11 tournament winners this season will be in attendance at the final tournament before the U.S. Women’s Open.
The 2005 Wegmans LPGA champion and Rolex Rankings number one Lorena Ochoa has won twice this season and leads the LPGA Official Money List with just over US$1.2 million. She has finished in the top-10 in 10 of 12 tournaments this season. Ochoa broke par in all four rounds last year at Locust Hill and finished tied for sixth.
Aside from Jang and Ochoa, there are five other past champions in the field this week including Karrie Webb (1999), who finished second at the McDonald’s LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola two weeks ago, Kim Saiki-Maloney (2004), Rachel Hetherington (2003), Meg Mallon (2000) and three-time Wegmans LPGA champion Nancy Lopez (1978, 1980-81), who returns for just her third event of the 2007 season.
The Tour’s other double winner this season, Suzann Pettersen, is fresh off her first career major victory at the McDonald’s LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola. The Norwegian grabbed her other win at the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill, where she outlasted Jee Young Lee in a three-hole, sudden-death playoff to become a Rolex First-Time Winner. She has climbed to second on the LPGA Official Money List with more than US$1 million this season, and is on the verge of crossing the US$2 million mark for her career this week.
Source – LPGA
