News and notes for the week of September 14, 2009

1. Creamer looks to defend Samsung World Championship - LPGA returns to Torrey Pines for first time since 1983
2. This week: Samsung World Championship, Torrey Pines Golf Course, South Course, La Jolla, Calif., $1,000,000, September 17-20, 2009; TV Times; GCSAA Course Information
3. First of two LPGA qualifying tournaments begins this week
4. Shin takes lead in Rolex Player of the Year race
5. Rolex Rankings move of the week: Jiyai Shin second in the world
6. Next week: CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge, Blackhawk Country Club, Danville, Calif., $1,100,000, September 24-27, 2009; TV Times; GCSAA Course Information
7. Shin wins P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons - Rookie earns third official victory in two-hole, sudden-death playoff over Stanford, Yoo
8. LPGA T&CP National Championship underway
9. LPGA founder to host first charity golf event
10. Ahn records first top-10 finish of 2009
11. Second-year player Leon notches career-best finish
12. Wessberg defeats Davies on LET

1. Creamer looks to defend Samsung World Championship
LPGA returns to Torrey Pines for first time since 1983
 
LA JOLLA, Calif. - Twenty of the best female golfers in the world set their sights on the famed Torrey Pines South Course this week when the Samsung World Championship tees off near San Diego with a $1 million purse and $250,000 for the winner.

The field, which boasts 17 of the top 20 players on the Rolex Rankings, features all four LPGA Major Championship winners from 2009, as well as defending champion Paula Creamer, 2008 Vare Trophy winner Lorena Ochoa, Ladies European Tour (LET) money leader Sophie Gustafson and LPGA rookie Jiyai Shin, who currently leads the 2009 LPGA Official Money List after her third official LPGA win this season at last week's P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons.

Creamer is winless on the LPGA Tour since defeating Song-Hee Kim by one stroke at the 2008 Samsung World Championship. She has eight top-10 finishes - including six top-3 finishes - in 20 events played since the victory at the Ocean Course at Half Moon Bay Golf Links last September.
  
This season's four major champions - Brittany Lincicome (Kraft Nabisco Championship), Anna Nordqvist (McDonald's LPGA Championship), Eun-Hee Ji (U.S. Women's Open) and Catriona Matthew (RICHO Women's British Open) - were all first-time major champions, though Lincicome and Matthew have previously played at the Samsung World Championship. The tournament is up-for-grabs with 17 of the top 20 on the currently LPGA Official Money List in the field this week. The race to see who will top the LPGA Official Money List and earn Rolex Player of the Year honors will continue to heat up this week with Jiyai Shin leading the way - just ahead of Cristie Kerr, who led both categories prior to last week. The Rolex Player of the Year and Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year will be crowned at the season-ending LPGA Tour Championship in Houston. Right now, Shin is in position to be the first woman to earn both in the same season since Nancy Lopez in 1978.

Torrey Pines Golf Course, regarded as one of the world's top golf courses and home to the 2008 U.S. Open Championship, will again play host to the world's best players in 2009. The event will mark the second time that an LPGA tournament will be played at Torrey Pines dating back to 1983, and the first time the Tour visits the San Diego area in more than 15 years.
 
2009 Samsung World Championship Field
Na Yeon Choi
Paula Creamer
Sophie Gustafson
Juli Inkster
Eun-Hee Ji
Cristie Kerr
In-Kyung Kim
Song-Hee Kim
Brittany Lincicome
Catriona Matthew
Kristy McPherson
Ai Miyazato
Anna Nordqvist
Suzann Pettersen
Jiyai Shin
Angela Stanford
Yani Tseng
Lorena Ochoa
Karrie Webb
Lindsey Wright

 
2. This week: Samsung World Championship, Torrey Pines Golf Course, South Course, La Jolla, Calif., $1,000,000, September 17-20, 2009; TV Times; GCSAA Course Information
 
Par: 36-36, 72
Yardage: 6,721
Format: 72-hole stroke play
            Winner: $250,000
            Runner-up: $157,250
Field: 20 players
Defending champion: Paula Creamer
Victory margin: Defeated Song-Hee Kim by one stroke
Media center: 858-554-1829
LPGA media contact: Mike Scanlan
 
● TV Times
 
Golf Channel
Sept. 17-18 8:30-10:30 p.m. (tape delayed)
 
NBC
Sept. 19   1:30-3:30 p.m.
Sept. 20   4-6 p.m.
 
All times Eastern
 
● GCSAA Course Information
 
Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
Torrey Pines Golf Course, South Course
La Jolla, Calif.
 
GCSAA Class A Golf Course Superintendent, contact: Candice M. Combs, CGCS, 858-552-1634
Course architect, date: William P. Bell, 1957
Most recent redesign/renovation: Rees Jones, 2001
 
Course grasses
Tees - Bermudagrass; perennial ryegrass
Fairways - Kikuyugrass
Greens - Poa annua
Rough - Perennial ryegrass; kikuyugrass
 
For more information, access GCSAA Fact Sheets at GCSAA.org

 
3. First of two LPGA qualifying tournaments begins this week
 
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A field of 139 players hoping to earn LPGA Tour membership for the 2010 season will tee it up at this week's LPGA Sectional Qualifying Tournament, Sept. 17-20, 2009, at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif. This marks the first of two sectional qualifiers this season.

Among the hopefuls in the field are Amanda Blumenherst, the 2008 U.S. Women's Amateur Champion; 2009 Ladies European Tour (LET) winners Beatriz Recari (Finnair Masters) and Marianne Skarpnord (Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open), and Mallory Blackwelder, daughter of veteran LPGA member and University of Kentucky women's golf coach Myra Blackwelder.
  
In the LPGA's nearly 60-year history, only a handful of daughters of LPGA Tour members have tried to compete on or qualify for the LPGA, but none have earned LPGA membership. Kay Cornelius, daughter of 1956 U.S. Women's Open champion Kathy Cornelius tried unsuccessfully to qualify in the late '80s following a successful amateur and collegiate career. Three-time U.S. Women's Open champion Susie Maxwell Berning and her daughter, Robin, became the first mother-daughter combo to compete in the same LPGA event when they played the 1989 Konica San Jose Classic.
  
This week's field once again showcases the international reach of the LPGA Tour and women's golf. In all, 52 of the 139 players in the Southern California qualifier are from outside the United States. Eleven players born in South Korea lead the way, followed by six from Canada, four born in Australia, Japan, Spain and Sweden, respectively, and three each from Norway and Columbia. Other countries represented include Ecuador (1), Finland (1), France (1), Germany (2), Greece (1), Mexico (1), Scotland (2), Switzerland (1), Taiwan (2), Thailand (1) and Venezuela (1).
  
Within the United States, 33 states are represented in the first LPGA Sectional Qualifying Tournament as California leads the way with 24 entrants. Florida (9), Arizona (6), Hawaii (4) and Nevada (3) are also well-represented.

The 72-hole sectional will be played on the Palmer and Dinah Shore Courses at Mission Hills Country Club. The Dinah Shore Course is the host site of the Tour's first major of the season, the Kraft Nabisco Championship. The field will be cut to the low-70 players and ties after 36 holes. After four rounds, the top-30 players and ties will advance to the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, Dec. 2-6, 2009, at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla.
  
The second LPGA Tour Sectional Qualifying Tournament will be Sept. 29-Oct. 2, 2009, at Plantation Golf and Country Club's Bobcat and Panther Courses in Venice, Fla. The top-30 finishers and ties from the Venice qualifier will join the top-30 players and ties from next week's sectional qualifier at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament. Making up the rest of the field in Daytona Beach will be current LPGA Tour members attempting to improve their priority standing and eligible Duramed FUTURES Tour players who automatically advanced based on their position on the 2009 season-ending money list.
  
All media interested in covering the upcoming LPGA Sectional Qualifying Tournaments and the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament should apply for credentials at www.lpgamediacredentials.com.

 
4. Shin takes lead in Rolex Player of the Year race
 
With her third win of the season at last week's P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons, Jiyai Shin took the lead in the Rolex Player of the Year race and significantly extended her lead in the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year race. Should Shin win these two honors, it would be the first time a player claims both since Nancy Lopez did so in 1978.

Both awards will officially conclude at the season-ending LPGA Tour Championship, Nov. 19-22 at The Houstonian Golf & Country Club in Richmond, Texas, near Houston. The Rolex Player of the Year and Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year are both based on points systems, which awards players points based on how they finish in each official LPGA event. All points are doubled at the four major championships - Kraft Nabisco Championship, McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola, U.S. Women's Open, RICOH Women's British Open.
  
Rolex Player of the Year point system is based on top-10 finishes: 1st place-30 points; 2nd-12; 3rd-nine; 4th-seven; 5th-six; 6th-five; 7th-four; 8th-three; 9th-two; 10th-one.

Top-10 Rolex Player of the Year standings (as of 9/13/09)

The Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year point system rewards points to rookies based on their finish after making the cut. Points range from 150 for a win and five points for positions 41st through each player making the cut.

Top-10 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year standings (as of 9/13/09)

5. Rolex Rankings move of the week: Jiyai Shin second in the world
 
A three-spot jump thanks to her victory at the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons now makes the LPGA's top 2009 rookie Jiyai Shin the second-best player on the Rolex Rankings. Shin was the top player on the Korea LPGA in 2008 and earned three victories as a non-member on the LPGA. This season, she is in contention to be the first player since Nancy Lopez in 1978 to win both the Rolex Player of the Year and Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year awards.

The Rolex Rankings (www.rolexrankings.com) 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.

 
6. Next week: CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge, Blackhawk Country Club, Danville, Calif., $1,100,000, September 24-27, 2009; TV Times; GCSAA Course Information
 
Par: 37-35, 72
Yardage: 6,212
Format: 72-hole stroke play
            Winner: $165,000
            Runner-up: $101,098
Field: 132 players
Defending champion: In-Kyung Kim
Victory margin: Defeated Angela Stanford by three strokes
Tournament information: 925-725-0148
 
● TV Times
 
Golf Channel
Sept. 24-25 6:30-8:30 p.m. (tape delayed)
Sept. 26   6:30-9:30 p.m. (tape delayed)
Sept. 27   7-9:30 p.m. (tape delayed)
 
All times Eastern
 
● GCSAA Course Information
 
Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
Blackhawk Country Club
Danville, Calif.
 
GCSAA Class A Golf Course Superintendent, contact: Lonnie R. Stevens, 925-736-6500
Course architect, date: Bruce Devlin and Robert von Hagge, 1982
Most recent redesign/renovation: Damian Pascuzzo, 1999
 
Course grasses
Tees - Bentgrass; perennial ryegrass; poa annua
Fairways - Perennial ryegrass; poa annua
Greens - Poa annua
Rough - Perennial ryegrass; perennial ryegrass
 
For more information, access GCSAA Fact Sheets at GCSAA.org

 
7. Shin wins P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons
Rookie earns third official victory in two-hole, sudden-death playoff over Stanford, Yoo
 
ROGERS, Ark., Sept. 13, 2009 - LPGA Tour rookie Jiyai Shin survived a two-hole, sudden-death playoff at the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons to pick up her third official LPGA victory, and matched her win total from 2008 when she won a record three times as a non-member. The South Korean player also increased her lead in the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year standings, as she now has a total of 1,269 points - 585 more than Michelle Wie.
  
When Shin arrived at Pinnacle Country Club at 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning for her final round, her goal was for a top-10 finish. Teeing off at 7:22 a.m. in the third group of the day, 10 groups ahead of the leaders, Shin had some waiting to do once she finished with her 9-under-par 204 (70-70-64). Approximately two and a half hours later, Shin returned to the driving range to warm-up again, once she learned that she would return to the course for a playoff.
  
"Well, usually my goal is top-10, because the last couple months my shots have been a little bit down," Shin said. "So, my goal was top-10. But today my goal was to be 2-under-par, because I heard the rain coming and the windy day, so I want to just make under-par score. My shot was still good, and my putting was really, really good today."
  
This week's win did more than just surpass the 21-year-old's goal of a top-10 finish. With the $270,000 that went to the winner, Shin jumped over Cristie Kerr on the LPGA Official Money List, and now has a total of $1,498,861 in season earnings. In addition to the LPGA Official Money List, Shin now holds the top spot in the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year and Rolex Player of the Year race. Should Shin win these two honors, it would be the first time a player claims both since Nancy Lopez did the trick in 1978.
  
"That would be huge," said Shin, when asked about winning both awards. "That would be a huge, a huge thing for me, because I'm a rookie this year, so I just focus on the rookie of the year. But now I have a chance for player of the year, too. So, I want to now focus to the whole thing. If I get both, I think I can't live with myself; would be so exciting."
  
The two players Shin had to keep an eye on during the final round were four-time LPGA Tour winner Angela Stanford (66-69-69=204, -9) and fourth-year LPGA Tour member Sun Young Yoo (69-67-68=204, -9). Stanford bogeyed and eagled her first two holes of the day, one and two, bogeyed eight, birdied 14 and bogeyed 15. Walking to the 18th green, Stanford new what had to be done, and she did it. From 25 feet away, she holed out for her 12th eagle of the year, and a spot in the three-person playoff.

"On 18, I knew I needed a good drive," she said. "And I hadn't been in the first cut over there yet this week. I had always been to the right. But it was kind of sitting up a little bit, so I asked my caddie. Then we watched. I thought if I can get it to the front right part of the green and give myself a chance, we'll have a roll at it. We both saw the same spot we wanted to roll over."

This is Stanford's seventh runner-up finish of her nine-year career, and second of 2009. Just last week, Stanford also finished tied for runner-up at the CN Canadian Women's Open. With the $143,065 check Stanford cashed this week, she crossed the million-dollar mark in season-earnings. She now was a grand total of $1,006,634, and is the sixth player in 2009 to cross the milestone.

Rounding out the sudden-death playoff was Yoo, who fell just short of notching her first career victory, but tied her career-best finish in the runner-up spot on the final leaderboard. The South Korean player now has three top-10 finishes to her credit this season and, along with this week's runner-up, finished tied for seventh at the Wegmans LPGA event, and tied for sixth at the HSBC Women's Champions event in Singapore.

 
8. LPGA T&CP National Championship underway

This morning, more than 100 professionals representing 21 states and one country outside the United States - Brazil - teed-off on the River Course at Kingsmill Resort & Spa for the LPGA Teaching and Club (T&CP) National Championship.  Divided into two divisions - Championship and Senior - Laura Shanahan-Rowe, of Bedford, N.H., will defend her 2008 Championship division title, while Linda Nevatt, of Churchville, Pa., returns to defend her Senior division title at the event that runs through Wednesday, Sept. 16.

Since 1993, the LPGA T&CP National Championship has been an annual event, hosted in such locales as Pine Needles Country Club (Pinehurst, N.C.), Kingwood Country Club (Houston, Texas), LPGA International (Daytona Beach, Fla.) and World Golf Village - Slammer and Squire (St. Augustine, Fla.). Last year, Shanahan-Rowe defeated Kelly Cap, of Pinehurst, N.C., by two strokes for the $12,000 winner's check. Nevatt, the 2009 LPGA T&CP Northeast Section Professional of the Year, soundly captured the Senior division title by five strokes over Troy Beck, of Glenn Dale, Md.

Prior to the start of the official competition, Kerry Graham, Lorraine Klippel, Pat Lange and Penny Zavichas were inducted into the LPGA T&CP Hall of Fame during a celebration on Saturday night. On Sunday, amateurs were able to join the pros in a pro-am.
 

9. LPGA founder to host first charity golf event

Marilynn Smith, co-founder of both the LPGA and the LPGA Teaching & Club Professionals (T&CP), will be hosting the first annual Marilynn Smith LPGA Charity Golf Classic on Sept. 21. The event, which will support the Marilynn Smith Golf Scholarship through The LPGA Foundation, will include an 8 a.m. shotgun, scramble format at Pebble Creek's Tuscany Falls Golf Course in Goodyear, Ariz. Entry fee is $150, which includes golf with a professional or celebrity, an awards luncheon with live and silent auctions and a goodie bag. For $30, individuals can attend just the lunch and silent auction.

The Marilynn Smith Scholarship supports young women who have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement and community involvement, and plan to continue to play competitive golf at an accredited college or university. For more information on The LPGA Foundation and the Marilynn Smith Scholarship log on to LPGA.com.
 

10. Ahn records first top-10 finish of 2009

Shi Hyun Ahn, a six-year LPGA Tour player out of South Korea, finished in a two-way tie for fourth at the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons. Ahn (71-68-66) joined Song-Hee Kim (65-68-72) with 8-under-par 205 scorecards, just one stroke behind the champion, Jiyai Shin (70-70-64), as well as Angela Stanford (66-69-69) and Sun Young Yoo (69-67-68) at 9-under-par 204. Ahn now has 27 top-10 finishes as an official LPGA Tour member. In 2003 before joining the Tour, the 25-year-old won the CJ Nine Bridges Classic as a non-member. That win also gave her the honor of the youngest (19 years old) international winner in LPGA Tour history, which still stands today.

 
11. Second-year player Leon notches career-best finish

Taylor Leon, a native of Dallas, Texas, finished in sixth place at the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons, which marked a career-best LPGA finish. Her 7-under-par 206 (71-68-67) overall mark was just two strokes off winner, Jiyai Shin, who picked up her third win of the 2009 LPGA Tour season. At Pinnacle Country Club, Leon tallied 15 birdies and eight bogeys over the three-day event. Throughout her two-year career, the 22-year-old now has a pair of top-10 finishes, with the other one coming at the season-opening SBS Open at Turtle Bay, where she finished tied for 10th.

 
12. Wessberg defeats Davies on LET

Linda Wessberg earned her third career win on the Ladies European Tour (LET) - and first since 2007 - after outlasting 2007 European Solheim Cup teammate Laura Davies in a two-hole, sudden-death playoff at the UNIQA Ladies Golf Open Presented by Raiffeisen, in Austria. The duo carded a 9-under-par 279 at the end of regulation, but Wessberg emerged the victor on the second playoff hole with a bogey after Davies pulled her tee shot into the rough, then dunked two shots into the water before finishing the event that she had won in 2007 and 2008. The win marks Wessberg's seventh international victory.