The second major of the 2013 season kicks off this week at Locust Hill Country Club in Pittsford, New York, where the LPGA Tour pros will be playing for a $2.25 million purse and a $337,500 first-place prize. The Wegmans LPGA Championship will feature one of the finest fields comprised of the top 50 players on the 2013 LPGA Official Money List.
Rolex Rankings No. 7 Shanshan Feng made history last year when she stood on the 18th green hoisting the Wegmans LPGA Championship title as the first player from China to win on the LPGA Tour. Feng overcame a three-stroke deficit on Sunday by firing a final-round, 5-under 67, the lowest round of the week, to claim a two-shot victory over Japan’s Mika Miyazato. She recorded seven additional top-10 finishes during the 2012 season and has since tallied three top-10s in her first six appearances this year.
South Korea’s Inbee Park enters the week having claimed the first major of the season at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, which boosted her campaign to taking over the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Rankings the following week. Park’s impressive 31-event cut streak ended at the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic, but don’t count out this silent assassin to come out firing on all cylinders this week.
Two past champions of the LPGA Championship who have already sealed a victory this season are also in the field this week, 16-time LPGA Tour winner Cristie Kerr and Norway’s Suzann Pettersen. Kerr enters the week with two top-10 finishes this season while Pettersen is seeking her fifth top-10.
The Wegmans LPGA Championship is the second-longest running tournament is LPGA history, surpassed only by the U.S. Women’s Open. The winner of the 2013 Wegmans LPGA Championship will etch their name next to many LPGA greats including Mickey Wright (1963), Kathy Whitworth (1967, 1971, 1975), Nancy Lopez (1978, 1985, 1989), Patty Sheehan (1983, 1984, 1993) and Annika Sorenstam (2003-2005).
The Wegmans LPGA Championship will be played June 6 – 9 and will be featured on Golf Channel all four days. The first and second rounds will feature live coverage from 12:30 – 3:00 p.m. EST and from 3-7 p.m. EST on Saturday and Sunday.
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