2010 LPGA Tour preview
 |
Bill Jempty | Wednesday, February 17, 2010 |
After a 3-month layoff, The American Women’s Professional Golf circuit will begin the new year with its first tournament. The Honda PTT LPGA Thailand which will begin Thursday. Lorena Ochoa is the defending champion.
This will mark the first time in almost 2 decades that the LPGA began a new year overseas. Much has been made about the tour’s international flavor. I remark to those critics- Would you rather just have a 14 tournament schedule. That’s what would be left if you just had the American stops and the British Open.
Due to the tour’s new Commissioner Michael Whan the LPGA’s overall picture looks much brighter than it did as little as six months ago. He has brought back several old sponsors to the tour that former Commissioner Carolyn Bivens drove away and it looks like he may one or two more up his sleeve yet. I haven’t been this optimistic about the LPGA in about five years. Yes work has be done, but I haven’t seen anything but positive news coming out of Daytona Beach for at least three months.
My predictions for the upcoming year-
Player of the Year- Ji Yai Shin. She was last year’s leading winner but Lorena Ochoa won Player of the Year. I expect Ochoa to drop further this year from her glory days in 2006 and 2007.
Most likely player to beat out Shin- Na Yeon Choi. Choi has never missed a cut on tour and won two tournaments late in 2009. She has found her groove. Pardon the golf pun.
Sleeper for Player of the Year- Anna Nordqvist. She only won the LPGA Championship and Tour Championship as a rookie in 2009.
Rookie of the Year- Mina Harigae, last year’s Duramed Futures Tour player of the year, edges out the more heralded Blumenhurst.
How many rookies win in 2010?- One.
How many tournaments will Michelle Wie- Two. See more below.
Comeback Player of the Year- Jeong Jang. She returns to form from wrist surgery. My 2009 Comeback of the Year selection did pretty good last year.
Major Champions for 2010- Shin, Michelle Wie, Choi, and Paula Creamer
We’ll end this post with my top 30 players for 2010
1 Shin
2 Choi
3 Wie
4 Nordqvist
5 A Miyazato
6 Creamer
7 Tseng
8 IK Kim
9 Ochoa
10 Pettersen
11 Yoo
12 SH Kim
13 Kerr
14 Jang
15 V Hurst
16 Webb
17 Stanford
18 Harigae
19 McPherson
20 EH Ji
21 JY Oh
22 SH Lee
23 Lincicome
24 MH Kim
25 Han
26 Pressel
27 Wright
28 HY Park
29 Blumenhurst
30 Lang
- LPGA Tour Pollyanna- NY Times Golf writer Larry Dorman
- She did it- Michelle Wie wins Lorena Ochoa Invitational
- Oh so close- Lorena Ochoa edges Jiyai Shin for LPGA Player of the Year
- Na Yeon Choi wins the Hana Bank Colon Championship
- 2008 LPGA Tour Preview
- Kraft Nabisco Championship preview
- The 2009 LPGA season begins today
- Lorena Ochoa wins Honda LPGA Thailand
- The LPGA Tour begins its 2011 season
- Ji Yai Shin wins the ADT Championship
- Eight is Enough- Edmonton beats Chicago 8-4
- Lydia Ko wins New South Wales Open
- The Comeback I- Pittsburgh Penguins beat NY Islanders 5-0
- Seattle Mariners Outfielder Greg Halman stabbed to death at age 24
- Hee Young Park wins CME Titleholders Championship
- Oklahoma State Women’s Basketball Coach Kurt Budke dead at 50
- Costly mistake- Blackhawks waive Rostislav Olesz
- Manager Tony La Russa announces retirement
- Puck Drop- Florida Panthers start the 2011-12 NHL season
- 13-time PGA Tour winner Dave Hill dead at 74
|
Permalink
| Send TrackBack
- OTB Sports linked with Ai Miyazato wins the Honda PTT LPGA Thailand...
Comments are Closed
