Webb riding a huge wave of momentum
Watch out for Karrie Webb this week in the Wegmans LPGA Championship. The 38-year-old Australian is coming off a victory in the ShopRite LPGA Classic last week in New Jersey and has a fantastic record at Locust Hill in Pittsford, N.Y. Here’s a look at some pertinent stats about Webb entering the second major championship of the season:
- Webb has won $17,883,341 in her career, second only to Annika Sorenstam ($22,573,192).
- Webb has made 54 consecutive cuts, dating back to the September 2010 NW Arkansas Championship.
- In the Wegmans LPGA Championship, Webb has nine top-10s (includes a 2001 win at DuPont CC in Wilmington, Del.) in 17 starts, more than any current player. This includes other sites for the major championship prior to Locust Hill.
- Webb won twice at Locust Hill (1999 and 2002) prior to the site becoming a major championship venue in 2010.
- With her victory last week, Webb moved up in another exclusive category – wins by current World Golf Hall of Famers. Webb has won nine times since being inducted in 2005, the fourth most in history. The Hall winners include: JoAnne Carner (five wins); Beth Daniel (one); Sandra Haynie (two); Juli Inkster (one); Betsy King (one); Nancy Lopez (12); Se Ri Pak (one); Patty Sheehan (three); Annika Sorenstam (24); Webb (nine); and Kathy Whitworth (14).
- Webb’s win was her 39th, which places her alone in 11th place on the LPGA career victory list. The winner’s list includes:
- Kathy Whitworth, 88 (6 majors)
- Mickey Wright, 82 (13 majors)
- Annika Sorenstam, 72 (10 majors)
- Patty Berg, 60 (15 majors)
- Louise Suggs, 58 (11 majors)
- Betsy Rawls, 55 (8 majors)
- Nancy Lopez, 48 (3 majors)
- JoAnne Carner, 43 (2 majors)
- Sandra Haynie, 42 wins (4 majors)
- Babe Zaharias, 41 wins (10 majors)
- Karrie Webb, 39 wins (7 majors)
“To win on a course where I’ve never really had a chance to win (last week in N.J.) is a big bonus and gives me a lot of good confidence going into next week where I have won a couple of times,” Webb said.
Major winners varied yet trendy
The second major championship of the season brings a streak of parity to the LPGA. Since Yani Tseng won two majors in both 2010 and 2011, there have been five consecutive different major winners. Also, Tseng is the only multiple major winner since 2010. There have been 10 different winners in the last 13 majors.
Also, Asian golfers have dominated the majors since American Stacy Lewis won her first major title at the 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship, winning eight consecutive. In order, the winners have been Taiwan’s Yani Tseng (2011 Wegmans LPGA), South Korea’s So Yeon Ryu (2011 U.S. Women’s Open), Tseng (2011 Ricoh Women’s British), South Korea’s Sun Young Yoo (2012 Kraft Nabisco), China’s Shanshan Feng (2012 Wegmans LPGA), South Korea’s Na Yeon Choi (2012 U.S. Women’s Open), South Korea’s Jiyai Shin (2012 Ricoh Women’s British Open) and South Korea’s Inbee Park (2013 Kraft Nabisco).
| Year | Kraft Nabisco | Wegmans LPGA | U.S. Women’s Open | Ricoh Women’s British |
| 2010 | Yani Tseng | Cristie Kerr | Paula Creamer | Yani Tseng |
| 2011 | Stacy Lewis | Yani Tseng | So Yeon Ryu | Yani Tseng |
| 2012 | Sun Young Yoo | Shanshan Feng | Na Yeon Choi | Jiyai Shin |
| 2013 | Inbee Park | TBA | TBA | TBA |
The Great Northeast
LPGA players should become familiar with the Northeastern part of the United States. This week’s Wegmans LPGA Championship at Locust Hill in Pittsford, N.Y., a surburb of Rochester, is the second consecutive event in this part of the country. Last week, the LPGA played at the ShopRite LPGA Classic in Galloway, N.J. After a trip south to Arkansas in two weeks, the LPGA returns to the Northeast for the U.S. Women’s Open at the Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., on Long Island from June 27-30.
Don’t be surprised if some players take a detour after this week to visit the Jack Nicklaus-Tom Doak design, if they haven’t already, because it’s only a short commute. Sebonack is making its first appearance on the major championship schedule. The U.S. Women’s Open has been conducted in New York at only two other courses – Winged Foot (1957 and 1972) and the Country Club of Rochester (1953 and 1973).
As a matter of fact, the Country Club of Rochester is only 10 minutes from Locust Hill. Adjacent to the Country Club of Rochester is Oak Hill Country Club, which will host the men’s PGA Championship in August, making Rochester the first community to host major championships on two tours in the same year.
Feng defers big Chinese impact to Guan
When Shanshan Feng won the Wegmans LPGA Championship last year, she became the first Chinese player to win on the LPGA and the first major champion. She said she is recognized occasionally in public places. Still, she believes that her countryman, 14-year-old Guan Tianlang, drew more attention when he played in the Masters Tournament in April.
“And then, like we all know Guan Tianlang right now who is only 14, and we are from the same hometown,” said Feng, who hails from Guangzhou, China, about 75 miles northwest of Hong Kong. “I watch him growing up and how he started playing golf and now he’s actually made the cut in the Masters. I think there are a few more really good juniors that are coming up, so I think it is improving.”
Etc.
Annika Sorenstam will be the honoree at next year’s Memorial Tournament on the PGA Tour. At age 42, Sorenstam will be the youngest ever to receive the accolade for Jack Nicklaus’s tournament in Muirfield Village, Ohio. … The NW Arkansas Championship in two weeks and the Mizuno Classic in November are the only remaining 54-hole events on the 2013 schedule. … Pittsford, N.Y., native Gavin Hall qualified for the U.S. Open at Merion on Monday in Purchase, N.Y. The 18-year-old, headed to Texas to play collegiate golf, is playing in Wednesday’s Wegmans LPGA Championship Pro-Am. … Locust Hill has been an LPGA tournament site since 1977 with winners from the United States, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, England, Mexico, South Korea and China. Cristie Kerr (2010) and Yani Tseng (2011) share the tournament record at 19-under-par 269.
)
)
)
)
