1. LPGA Tour kicks off new season with HSBC LPGA Brasil Cup 2009
2. Twenty-one golfers join 2009 LPGA Tour for their rookie season
This week is the second in a five-part series highlighting the new year's class
3. LPGA news and notes
1. LPGA Tour kicks off new season with HSBC LPGA Brasil Cup 2009
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - Brazilian LPGA Tour members Angela Park and Candy Hannemann headline a field of 15 players at the inaugural HSBC LPGA Brasil Cup 2009. The 36-hole, unofficial money event will offer a purse of $500,000, and will mark the first time the LPGA Tour will compete in Brazil. The field features 14 LPGA Tour professionals, including 2008 Rolex First-Time Winners Louise Friberg (MasterCard Classic Honoring Alejo Peralta Presented by Nextel), Eun-Hee Ji (Wegmans LPGA) and Leta Lindley (LPGA Corning Classic), along with Brazilian amateur Patricia Naday de Carvalho.
Park, the 2007 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year, and 2002 Brazilian Amateur Championship winner Hannemann are both natives of Brazil and will be playing on sponsor exemptions from the tournament. In addition to Friberg, Ji and Lindley, other LPGA champions in the field include Laura Diaz, Christina Kim, Carin Koch, Catriona Matthew and Karen Stupples, all two-time winners on Tour, as well as 2005 LPGA Corning Classic winner Jimin Kang.
Host club Itanhanga Golf Club in Rio de Janeiro will make its women's professional golf debut, though the facility has previously hosted the 2000 Brazil Rio de Janeiro 500 Years Open on the PGA European Tour.
HSBC LPGA BRASIL CUP 2009 FINAL FIELD
Laura Diaz
Allison Fouch
Louise Friberg
Candy Hannemann*
Eun-Hee Ji
Jimin Kang
Christina Kim
Carin Koch
Leta Lindley
Catriona Matthew
Jill McGill
Kristy McPherson
Patricia Naday deCarvalho (a)
Angela Park*
Karen Stupples
* sponsor exemption
(a) amateur
2. Twenty-one golfers join 2009 LPGA Tour for their rookie season
This week is the second in a five-part series highlighting the new year's class
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The 2009 LPGA Tour rookie class is comprised of 21 'rookies,' who have some very veteran experience. Representing six countries outside the United States with 15 international members and six members hailing from five U.S. states, the class is as diverse as they are talented.
This week is the second of five weeks highlighting snapshots of each rookie in the run up to the first official 2009 LPGA Tour event, the SBS Open at Turtle Bay.
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Vicky Hurst State: Florida Turned professional: March 2008 Priority List Category: 9 As an amateur, Hurst was consistently one of the nation's best. In both 2006 and 2007, she was named the Florida Junior Tour Player of the Year and also qualified for the U.S. Women's Open. Hurst won three times on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) circuit, including the 2007 PING Invitational. Also in 2007, she represented the U.S. Team at the U.S. PING Junior Solheim Cup and the East Team at the Canon Cup. The 18-year-old was the top-ranked amateur in 2007, and was also named the AJGA Player of the Year. On the 2008 Duramed FUTERES Tour, Hurst won five times, setting a record for most single-season earnings ($93,107) and securing both Rookie and Player of the Year honors. Hurst enjoys watching movies, reading books, rock climbing, jet skiing, billiards, working out, and listening to music. |
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Haeji Kang (Hay-jee) Country: South Korea Turned professional: January 2008 Priority List Category: 16 Kang competed on the Duramed FUTURES Tour in 2008, winning the Greater Richmond Duramed FUTURES Tour Classic, and recording five additional top-10 finishes. In 2006, as an amateur, Kang won the Greg Norman Junior Masters Championship and the Queensland 72-Hole Stroke Play Championship, and was runner-up at the Australian Junior Championship. The 18-year-old is a two-time winner of the Queensland Junior Championship (2006-07) and also won the 2007 Australia Junior Championship. She was the low amateur at the 2006 LG BING LEE Championship on the Ladies European Tour and at the 2007 ANZ Ladies Masters on the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tour. Her hobbies include watching movies and playing computer games. |
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Mindy Kim State: California Turned professional: March 2007 Priority List Category: 9 In 2008, Kim was a three-time winner on the Duramed FUTURES Tour: the Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City Championship, the Aurora Health Care Championship and the Falls Auto Group Classic. In 2006, the 19-year-old won the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Mission Hills Desert Junior Classic and the Los Angeles City Championship. That same year, Kim earned AJGA First Team All-American honors and was a member of the West Canon Cup Team. Outside of golf, Kim enjoys shopping, hanging out with family and close friends, music, dancing, singing and fashion. |
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Jeehae Lee Country: South Korea Turned professional: August 2006 Priority List Category: 11 Lee competed on the Duramed FUTURES Tour in 2007-08 and recorded two wins on the 2007 Suncoast Ladies Tour. As an amateur, Lee won once in American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) competition. While at Yale University, she finished third individually at the 2003 Ivy League Championship and was a member of the Ivy League Championship team in 2003 and 2006. When not teeing it up, she enjoys listening to music, traveling, books and dancing. |
3. LPGA news and notes
Players play in pro-am, help raise awareness about domestic violence. The ninth-annual Cindy Cusano Memorial Pro-Am, which benefits Women in Distress of Broward County, tees off on Friday, Jan. 23 at the Woodlands Country Club in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Cusano's sister, Donna Wilkins, an LPGA member, and other LPGA pros have committed their time and effort to the tournament, which features more than 20 current and former LPGA Tour members, raises awareness for domestic violence.
Participants include:
Jean Bartholomew
Chris Brady
Mary Bryan
Audra Burks
Heather Daly-Donofrio
Annette DeLuca
Meredith Duncan
Moira Dunn
Jackie Gallagher-Smith
Kate Golden
Nicole Hage
Becky Iverson
Liz Janangelo
Denise Killeen
Michelle McGann
Barb Mucha
Amy Read
Kris Tamulis
Donna Wilkins
Carri Wood
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