LPGA season climaxes with glitzy ADT Championship
BY Bruce Young | LPGA Tour | 2007 ADT Championship | Preview | 14 Nov 2007
The final event of the 2007 USLPGA Tour season takes place this week in West Palm Beach in Florida when 32 players, having qualified via a season long points system, play for a first prize of US$1 million.
Lorena Ochoa cannot be headed on the 2007 ADT Money list but her nearest pursuer, Suzann Pettersen can complete a magnificent second half to the year if she is able to win her fourth tournament in her last six starts.
The tournament will be played at the Jim Fazio designed Trump International, which was opened in 1999 and is accompanied by all the trappings of wealth and razzmatazz you would imagine would be the case when Donald Trump is involved.
The field is established via a points system generated by performances in two halves of the LPGA Tour season. 15 players earn their way to the event via the first half of the year while another 15 are in the field as a result of their performances in the second half of the year. Two wildcards, Meaghan Francella and Catriona Matthew have been added to the field but while the selection criteria are a little unusual so too is the actual format of the event itself.
32 players begin the tournament but after the first 36 holes, 16 are eliminated and all scores are returned to zero for the next 18 holes. After the third round another eight players are eliminated leaving eight players to fight it out for the balance of the purse including the huge first prize. Again the scores are returned to zero and the final round and prize-money distribution will be based on the one day scores.
Perhaps surprisingly the defending champion, Julieta Granada, has not made the field as, despite a runner up finish in the first event of the season in Hawaii and again later in Mexico, she failed to qualify.
The most likely contenders therefore are Ochoa and Pettersen although Annika Sorenstam has played well enough in the last few weeks to indicate she is not far from her best. Sorenstam did not make it past the first cut in 2006 but her good finishes in Japan and Alabama recently, give the indication she might be ready for a big finish to the season. She won the tournament at this venue under the traditional format in 2005.
Only Karrie Webb amongst the Australians has made the field and although she has struggled for much of the year she has done well at this venue previously.
Paul Creamer’s eight shot win last week in Alabama might be the forerunner to yet another victory such was the ease of her victory.
The most captivating aspect of this event is the huge difference between the first and second placed cheques (US$1 million against US$100,000) which will not concern Ochoa, who is in no danger of having her huge lead on the money list challenged but it is a significant carrot and for those less fortunate than the Mexican, it offers all sorts of riches beyond their dreams.
