Ochoa defending ADT Shootout title
BY Bruce Young | LPGA Tour | 2008 ADT Championship | Preview | 20 Nov 2008
The final event of the 2008 LPGA Tour season is played this week at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach Florida where the LPGA Tour’s 32 leading players will line up for the final shootout of the year.
The field is made up of players who have qualified via a range of criteria including performances in either the first or second half of the season, by winning selected events or in the case of two players earning a wildcard to the event.
With a first prize of US$1 million and a second prize of US$100,000 there is a lot of incentive to win the event. Some would say there is an unfair distribution of prizemoney to the winner but to some extent there is a certain level of intrigue in the winner in such a significant field being handsomely rewarded beyond the normal 15% of the total purse.
The format of this event is unusual but provides a refreshing change to the run of the mill regular LPGA event. After 36 holes the field is cut to the leading 16 players and after the third round the field is reduced to the leading eight.
At that point the scores are reset and all players start the final round on the same score. The difference between the winner of the shootout amongst those eight players on the final day and the last placed player is US$984,000.
The defending champion Lorena Ochoa is back to defend the title she won but the domination she displayed earlier in the season is not quite at the same level it was and as a result a successful title defence is not guaranteed.
Annika Sorenstam will play her last event before walking away from the game for the immediate future. She has left the door open for a return but the form she displayed last week when runner up in Mexico suggests she could potentially make her swansong a successful one.
Two Australians have made the field – Katherine Hull as a result of her Canadian Open victory and Karrie Webb courtesy of her good form earlier in season 2008.
