For the second week in a row, Ai Miyazato won. She joins LPGA founder Marilynn Smith, Mickey Wright, Louise Suggs and Babe Didrikson Zaharias as the only LPGA players to win the first two events of a season. Miyazato won the HSBC Women’s Champion by two shots over Cristie Kerr.
Miyazato shot 69 in three of the four rounds to hole off Kerr, who shot 68 in the final round. Defending champion Jiyai Shin, Suzann Pettersen, Yani Tseng and Song-Hee Kim tied for third place. In-Kyung Kim and second-year star Vicky Hurst tied for seventh at six-under par, four shots behind Miyazato. Angela Stanford, Juli Inkster, Jee Young Lee, Sakura Yokomine, Na Yeon Choi and Hee Young Park tied for ninth place.
A Global Tour – LPGA announces new event
On Monday, the LPGA announced a new event – Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia. The event will be played October 22-24th at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club. Following a tough 2009 season that saw a couple of mainstay events say farwell, the LPGA adds another event to complement the Sybase Match Play Championship and Kia Classic announced earlier this year. The match play event will be held in May of this year in New Jersey with the Kia Classic, presented by J Golf, being held March 25-28th in California.
The new events are great news for the LPGA. It seems that the Tour is really stretching itself into a true global brand. Extending the base to Asia will not only benefit many of the Tour’s top stars but, it will help the LPGA stay strong.
Miyazato wins HSBC Women’s Champion
Miyazato shot 69 in three of the four rounds to hole off Kerr, who shot 68 in the final round. Defending champion Jiyai Shin, Suzann Pettersen, Yani Tseng and Song-Hee Kim tied for third place. In-Kyung Kim and second-year star Vicky Hurst tied for seventh at six-under par, four shots behind Miyazato. Angela Stanford, Juli Inkster, Jee Young Lee, Sakura Yokomine, Na Yeon Choi and Hee Young Park tied for ninth place.
A Global Tour – LPGA announces new event
On Monday, the LPGA announced a new event – Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia. The event will be played October 22-24th at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club. Following a tough 2009 season that saw a couple of mainstay events say farwell, the LPGA adds another event to complement the Sybase Match Play Championship and Kia Classic announced earlier this year. The match play event will be held in May of this year in New Jersey with the Kia Classic, presented by J Golf, being held March 25-28th in California.
The new events are great news for the LPGA. It seems that the Tour is really stretching itself into a true global brand. Extending the base to Asia will not only benefit many of the Tour’s top stars but, it will help the LPGA stay strong.