LA JOLLA, Calif. - Twenty of the best female golfers in the world set their sights on the famed Torrey Pines South Course this week when the Samsung World Championship tees off near San Diego with a $1 million purse and $250,000 for the winner.
The field, which boasts 17 of the top 20 players on the Rolex Rankings, features all four LPGA Major Championship winners from 2009, as well as defending champion Paula Creamer, 2008 Vare Trophy winner Lorena Ochoa, Ladies European Tour (LET) money leader Sophie Gustafson and LPGA rookie Jiyai Shin, who currently leads the 2009 LPGA Official Money List after her third official LPGA win this season at last week's P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship.
Creamer is winless on the LPGA Tour since defeating Song-Hee Kim by one stroke at the 2008 Samsung World Championship. She has eight top-10 finishes, including six top 3 finishes, in 20 events played since the victory at the Ocean Course at Half Moon Bay Golf Links last September.
This season's four major champions - Brittany Lincicome (Kraft Nabisco Championship), Anna Nordqvist (McDonald's LPGA Championship), Eun-Hee Ji (U.S. Women's Open) and Catriona Matthew (RICHO Women's British Open) - were all first-time major champions, though Lincicome and Matthew have previously played at the Samsung World Championship. The tournament is up-for-grabs with 17 of the top 20 on the currently LPGA Official Money List in the field this week.
The race to see who will top the LPGA Official Money List and earn Rolex Player of the Year honors will continue to heat up this week with Jiyai Shin leading the way just ahead of Cristie Kerr, who led both categories prior to last week.
The Rolex Player of the Year and Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year will be crowned at the season-ending LPGA Tour Championship in Houston. Right now, Shin is in position to be the first woman to earn both in the same season since Nancy Lopez in 1978.
Torrey Pines Golf Course, regarded as one of the world's top golf courses and home to the 2008 U.S. Open Championship, will again play host to the world's best players in 2009. The event will mark the second time that an LPGA tournament will be played at Torrey Pines dating back to 1983, and the first time the Tour visits the San Diego area in more than 15 years.
Samsung World Championship Final Field
Paula Creamer
Sophie Gustafson
In-Kyung Kim
Brittany Lincicome
Kristy McPherson
Ai Miyazato
Anna Nordqvist
Suzann Pettersen
Angela Stanford
Yani Tseng
Lorena Ochoa
Karrie Webb
Lindsey Wright