1. Top-ranked Ochoa to defend title at Corona Championship in native Mexico
2. This week: Corona Championship, Tres Marias Golf Club, Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico, $1,300,000, April 23-26, 2009
3. Pipeline to the LPGA Tour, April 19, 2009
4. Upcoming event: Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill, Kingsmill Resort & Spa, River Course, $2,200,000, May 7-10, 2009; TV Times; GCSAA Information
5. LPGA news and notes
1. Top-ranked Ochoa to defend title at Corona Championship in native Mexico
Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico -- The LPGA Tour resumes action this week as it crosses the border into Mexico for the Corona Championship. This is the fifth year the event will be played at Tres Marias Residential Country Club in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico.
Rolex Rankings number one Lorena Ochoa will defend her fourth title of the year, and third in a row, at the Corona Championship, the second event of 2009 played on her home soil.
Last year in Morelia, Ochoa fired a 7-under-par 66 in each of the first three rounds of the event, heading into the final day with a comfortable seven-stroke advantage. On Sunday, the now 25-time LPGA Tour winner posted a 4-under-par 69 to finish at 25-under-par 267 for the week. The 11-stroke win over Song-Hee Kim was Ochoa's fifth of the year, and fourth in a row.
By claiming the 21st title of her LPGA career that week, the Ochoa fulfilled the points requirement needed for the LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame. She now must complete 10 years on Tour (2012) before she can officially enter the Hall.
Seven of the top 10 players in this week's Rolex Rankings will tee it up this week, including top-ranked Ochoa, number two Yani Tseng, fourth-ranked Paula Creamer, number five Suzann Pettersen, sixth-ranked Cristie Kerr, number eight Karrie Webb, and 10th-ranked Katherine Hull.
Webb, who earned her 36th career win on the LPGA four weeks ago at the J Golf Phoenix LPGA International Presented by Mirassou Winery, joins 26-year LPGA Tour member Juli Inkster as LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame members in the field.
Alongside the proven veteran players will be nine talented rookies, looking to pose with the trophy on the 18th green for the first time as a member of the LPGA Tour.
2. This week: Corona Championship, Tres Marias Golf Club, Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico, $1,300,000, April 23-26, 2009
Par: 36-37, 73
Yardage: 6,539
Format: 72-hole stroke play
Winner: $195,000
Runner-up: $119,479
Field: 132 players
Defending champion: Lorena Ochoa
Victory margin: Defeated Song-Hee Kim by 11 strokes
LPGA media contact: Jason Taylor
Tournament information: 011-52-443-113-2901
3. Pipeline to the LPGA Tour, April 19, 2009
Richdale wins rain-shortened event. LPGA Tour member Samantha Richdale captured her second-career victory on the Duramed FUTURES Tour at the fourth annual $90,000 Louisiana Pelican Classic on Sunday. Heavy rain and unplayable course conditions forced the 54-hole tournament to be shorted to 36 holes. Richdale, a native of British Columbia, Canada, carded a career-best 6-under-par 66 on Sunday to win by three shots at 8-under-par 136.
The players finishing in the top 10 on the final 2009 Duramed FUTURES Tour money list will receive membership onto the 2010 LPGA Tour. Please see current standing below.
| Player |
Events played
|
Earnings
|
|
| 1. | Jean Reynolds |
3
|
$17,598
|
| 2. | Samantha Richdale |
3
|
15,515
|
| 3. | Misun Cho |
3
|
15,397
|
| 4. | Christine Song |
3
|
13,011
|
| 5. | Mina Harigae |
3
|
11,632
|
| 6. | Song Yi Choi |
3
|
11,449
|
| 7. | Danah Ford |
3
|
7,856
|
| 8. | Nicole Hage |
3
|
7,024
|
| 9. | Alison Walshe |
3
|
7,007
|
| 10. | Nicole Jeray |
2
|
6,813
|
Next tournament: $110,000, Historic Brownsville Open, Rancho Viejo Golf & Country Club, Rancho Viejo, Texas, April 24-26, 2009
Charity: Friendship of Women
For more information, log on to www.duramedfuturestour.com.
4. Upcoming event: Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill, Kingsmill Resort & Spa, River Course, $2,200,000, May 7-10, 2009; TV Times; GCSAA Information
Par: 36-35, 71
Yardage: 6,315
Format: 72-hole stroke play
Winner: $330,000
Runner-up: $202,195
Field: 144 players
2008 champion: Annika Sorenstam
Victory margin: Defeated Allison Fouch, Karen Stupples, Christina Kim and Jeong Jang by seven strokes
Tournament information: 757-253-3987
● TV Times
ESPN2
May 8-9 2-4 p.m.
May 10 3-5 p.m.
All times Eastern
● GCSAA Information
Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
Kingsmill Resort & Spa, River Course
Williamsburg, Va.
GCSAA Class A Director of Golf and Landscape: D. Brad Pegram, 757-253-3906
Course architect, date: Pete Dye, 1975
Most recent redesign/renovation: Pete Dye, 2004
Course grasses
Tees - Bermudagrass; perennial ryegrass
Fairways - Bermudagrass; perennial ryegrass
Greens - Bentgrass
Rough - Bermudagrass; perennial ryegrass; fine fescue
For more information, access GCSAA Fact Sheets at http://www.gcsaa.org/news/TournamentFactSheets.aspx
5. LPGA news and notes
Morse to join University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame. LPGA Tour veteran Cathy Morse will be inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday, April 23. The 1977 AIAW National Champion is one of seven inductees in the class of 2009. Morse won the 1982 Chrysler-Plymouth Charity Classic in White Plains, N.Y.
Race for the Cup
Daniel, Mallon to represent U.S. in Spain. U.S. Solheim Cup captain Beth Daniel and assistant captain Meg Mallon will represent the U.S. this week at the Comunitat Valenciana European Nations Cup, an event on the Ladies European Tour, at La Sella Resort in Alicante, Spain. The four-day team event features 20 nations with two days of fourball play and two days of Valencian Cup, which is a version of the Greensome format. Other LPGA Tour members in the field include England's Laura Davies, Italy's Giulia Sergas, Spain's Tania Elosegui and Sweden's Carin Koch.
The Corona Championship is the seventh event of the 2009 LPGA season where U.S.-born players can earn points toward the 2009 Solheim Cup Team.
The Solheim Cup is a biennial, trans-Atlantic team match-play competition featuring the best U.S.-born players from the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour and the best European members from the Ladies European Tour (LET). The U.S. Team leads the competition, 7-3, and has never lost The Solheim Cup on home soil.
Tickets are on-sale for the biennial event with options including the Weekly Grounds ticket, the PING Pavilion ticket and the Solheim After Sundown ticket. For tickets and more information about the 2009 Solheim Cup as well as lodging options in the Sugar Grove, Illinois area, log on to www.SolheimCup.com.
2009 Solheim Cup countdown:
- 55 days until double points are awarded at the McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola
- 104 days until U.S. and European teams are announced following the RICOH Women's British Open.
- 123 days until matches begin at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill.
Rolex Rankings move of the week
Australian Katherine Hull made the move of the week with a jump of one spot into the top 10 in the Rolex Rankings - the only system in women's professional golf, which ranks the top golfers in the world based on their performance over the past two years in sanctioned professional events.
Hull, who won last season's CN Canadian Women's Open, has two top-10 finishes in five events played this season, including runner-up at the HSBC Women's Champions and a tie for eighth at the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
The Rolex Rankings are sanctioned by the five major women's professional golf tours: the LPGA; Ladies European Tour (LET); Ladies Professional Golfers' Association of Japan (LPGA of Japan); Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA); Australian Ladies Professional Golf (ALPG); as well as the Ladies Golf Union (LGU), which administers the RICOH Women's British Open. The Rolex Rankings are the only women's world rankings that incorporate player performances from the five major tours and the Duramed FUTURES Tour, the official developmental tour of the LPGA.
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