Rolex Rankings No. 1 Yani Tseng will try to complete the Career Grand Slam this week when the LPGA descends upon The Broadmoor’s East Course in Colorado Springs, Co. for the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open. Tseng will be among a field of 131 professionals and 25 amateurs who will be competing for one of the most coveted trophies in all of golf. The field of 156 will compete for a purse of $3.25 million and a first-place prize of $585,000.
Tseng, who has held the top spot in the Rolex Rankings since mid-February, became the youngest player in LPGA history to capture four major titles when she won the Wegmans LPGA Championship two weeks ago. Tseng, who at 22 years, 5 months, 3 days, became the youngest golfer (male or female) to accomplish the feat since Young Tom Morris did it at age 21 in 1872. Tseng will now try to become the youngest golfer ever to complete the Career Grand Slam and she will try to do at the same course where her idol, Annika Sorenstam, won her first U.S. Women’s Open title back in 1995.
Headlining this week’s field at The Broadmoor are 18 of the top 18 players in the Rolex Rankings. That includes Tseng, Rolex Rankings No. 2 Cristie Kerr, No. 3 Suzann Pettersen, No. 4 Jiyai Shin and No. 5 and the 2010 LPGA Official Money List leader Na Yeon Choi.
Defending champion Paula Creamer will attempt to earn back-to-back titles at this year’s tournament. Creamer captured her first major championship title at the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh, Penn. She entered the final round of the 65th U.S. Women’s Open with a three-stroke lead and never looked back. Creamer shot a final round 69 to take a four-shot victory over Choi and Pettersen. The 24-year-old enters this week coming off a third-place finish at the Wegmans LPGA Championship and has started to play some of her best golf of late.
Creamer is one of 10 former U.S. Women’s Open champions in this week’s field. Eun-Hee Ji (2009), Inbee Park (2008), Kerr (2007), Birdie Kim (2005), Juli Inkster (2002, 1999), Karrie Webb (2000, 2001), Se Ri Pak (1998), Betsy King (1990, 1989) and Laura Davies (1987) are the remaining Open champions who are in the field for the 66th U.S. Women’s Open..
The U.S. Women’s Open is the third LPGA major championship of the year. Tseng won the Wegmans LPGA Championship two weeks ago, and finished runner-up to Stacy Lewis at the first major of the season, the 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship, which took place in early April. Tseng has now won three of the past six majors on the LPGA Tour.Four players have posted top-10s in both Majors this year – Tseng (1st LPGA Championship, 2nd Kraft Nabisco), Lewis (T6 LPGA Championship, 1st Kraft Nabisco), Morgan Pressel (2nd LPGA Championship, T3 Kraft Nabisco), and Mika Miyazato (T8 LPGA Championship, T7 Kraft Nabisco)
The Broadmoor East Course will be set up to a par 71 and will play at a total of 7,047 yards. It is the longest course, due in large part to the high elevation, in U.S. Women’s Open history, surpassing Interlachen Country Club (6,789 yards) in 2008.
There are nine golfers in this year’s field who also played in the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open at The Broadmoor: Laura Davies, Pat Hurst, Juli Inkster, Cristie Kerr, Betsy King, Leta Lindley, Michele Redman, Sherri Steinhauer and Wendy Ward.
Full Article: LPGA.com News & Entertainment
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