08lpga tour chaMpionship
an lpga season that has meandered in and out of the golf consciousness—no tournaments in January and three other months
in which only one event was held—comes to a conclusion at this
week’s lpga tour championship. after a globe-trotting 2010
campaign that has had events in nine countries outside the u.s.,
the season-ender at grand cypress gc in orlando will be only the
14th domestic stop. but the lpga’s international flavor will still be
reflected in the players vying for season honors. spain’s azahara
munoz already has clinched the louise suggs rolex rookie of the
year race, but rolex player of the year—which for the first time since
1996 will go to someone other than karrie webb, annika sorenstam
or lorena ochoa—is very much up for grabs among yani tseng (
taiwan), ai miyazato (Japan), na yeon choi and Jiyai shin (south korea) and cristie kerr (u.s.). choi leads the money list and the Vare
trophy race, but shin is close behind in the former and kerr is in the
latter. and while recent turnover in the men’s world ranking has
created a lot of talk this fall, supremacy in the women’s rolex rankings has been fluid much longer. shin, kerr (pictured) and miyazato
have taken turns at the top since may, with the no. 1 spot changing
hands eight times. it’s currently held by shin, followed closely by
norway’s suzann pettersen, who, after six runner-up finishes, would
love to close the year with a win. —Bill Fields
darren carroll/getty images
contents // 10 things // european tour //equipment //tim rosaforte
