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2009 LPGA Tour

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2009 LPGA Tour season
DurationJanuary 24, 2009 (2009-01-24) – November 23, 2009 (2009-11-23)
Number of official events28
Most wins3 South Korea Jiyai Shin and Mexico Lorena Ochoa
Money leaderSouth Korea Jiyai Shin
Rolex Player of the YearMexico Lorena Ochoa
Rookie of the YearSouth Korea Jiyai Shin
2008
2010

The 2009 LPGA Tour was a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world that took place from February through November 2009. The tournaments were sanctioned by the United States–based Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA).

2009 saw a reduction in both the number of tournaments and the total prize money on the Tour. Official prize money was $47.6 million, the lowest total in since 2005. There were 28 official tournaments, the lowest number since at least 2004.

Rookie Jiyai Shin topped the money list, earning $1,807,334. In addition Shin took Rookie of the Year honors. Shin and Lorena Ochoa each won three tournaments during the season. Ochoa also won the Player of the Year trophy for the fourth consecutive year and the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average, also for the fourth consecutive year.

Anna Nordqvist was runner-up in the Rookie of the Year race, topping off a season that began with her having only conditional status on the LPGA Tour. She won the fifth tournament in which she played in 2009, the McDonald's LPGA Championship, a major, and also won the season-ending LPGA Tour Championship, ending the season 15th on the official money list.

The four major championships were won by: Brittany Lincicome (Kraft Nabisco Championship), Anna Nordqvist (LPGA Championship), Eun-Hee Ji (U.S. Women's Open), and Catriona Matthew (Women's British Open). All major winners were first-time major winners. Matthew won her the British Open 10 weeks after giving birth to her second child.

The LPGA experienced a turn-over in leadership in 2009, when commissioner Carolyn Bivens resigned under pressure from players in July. At the time of Bivens' resignation, the tour had only 14 events committed for the 2010 schedule, having failed to sign key long-term tournaments, notably the LPGA Corning Classic.[1] On October 28, the LPGA board of directors announced that marketing executive Michael Whan had been hired as the permanent replacement for Bivens and would assume his duties in January 2010.[2]

Tournament schedule and results

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The number in parentheses after winners' names show the player's total number wins in official money individual events on the LPGA Tour, including that event.

Date Tournament Location Winner 1st prize ($)
Jan 25 HSBC LPGA Brasil Cup* Brazil Scotland Catriona Matthew (n/a) 100,000
Feb 14 SBS Open at Turtle Bay Hawaii United States Angela Stanford (4) 180,000
Mar 1 Honda LPGA Thailand Thailand Mexico Lorena Ochoa (25) 217,500
Mar 8 HSBC Women's Champions Singapore South Korea Jiyai Shin (4) 300,000
Mar 22 MasterCard Classic Mexico United States Pat Hurst (6) 195,000
Mar 29 J Golf Phoenix LPGA International Arizona Australia Karrie Webb (36) 225,000
Apr 5 Kraft Nabisco Championship California United States Brittany Lincicome (3) 300,000
Apr 26 Corona Championship Mexico Mexico Lorena Ochoa (26) 195,000
May 10 Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill Virginia United States Cristie Kerr (12) 330,000
May 17 Sybase Classic New Jersey South Korea Ji Young Oh (2) 300,000
May 24 LPGA Corning Classic New York Taiwan Yani Tseng (2) 225,000
Jun 7 LPGA State Farm Classic Illinois South Korea In-Kyung Kim (2) 255,000
Jun 14 McDonald's LPGA Championship Maryland Sweden Anna Nordqvist (1) 300,000
Jun 28 Wegmans LPGA New York South Korea Jiyai Shin (5) 300,000
Jul 5 Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Ohio South Korea Eunjung Yi (1) 210,000
Jul 12 U.S. Women's Open Pennsylvania South Korea Eun-Hee Ji (2) 585,000
Jul 26 Evian Masters France Japan Ai Miyazato (1) 487,500
Aug 2 Ricoh Women's British Open England Scotland Catriona Matthew (3) 335,000
Aug 23 Solheim Cup Illinois  United States n/a
Aug 30 Safeway Classic Oregon South Korea M. J. Hur (1) 255,000
Sep 6 CN Canadian Women's Open Alberta Norway Suzann Pettersen (6) 412,500
Sep 13 P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship Arkansas South Korea Jiyai Shin (6) 270,000
Sep 20 Samsung World Championship California South Korea Na Yeon Choi (1) 250,000
Sep 27 CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge California Sweden Sophie Gustafson (5) 165,000
Oct 4 Navistar LPGA Classic Alabama Mexico Lorena Ochoa (27) 195,000
Nov 1 Hana Bank-KOLON Championship South Korea South Korea Na Yeon Choi (2) 255,000
Nov 8 Mizuno Classic Japan South Korea Bo Bae Song (1)[N 1] 210,000
Nov 10 Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge* Nevada LPGA Team 500,000
Nov 15 Lorena Ochoa Invitational Mexico United States Michelle Wie (1) 220,000
Nov 23[N 2] LPGA Tour Championship Texas Sweden Anna Nordqvist (2) 225,000

An asterisk next to a tournament name means that the event is unofficial.
Tournaments in bold are majors.

  1. ^ Song was not an LPGA member in 2009.
  2. ^ Due to inclement weather, the event was shortened to 54 holes, and the final round was delayed a day from its scheduled date of November 22.

Leaders

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Money List leaders

Rank Player Country Earnings ($) Events
1 Jiyai Shin  South Korea 1,807,334 25
2 Cristie Kerr  United States 1,519,722 25
3 Ai Miyazato  Japan 1,517,149 22
4 Lorena Ochoa  Mexico 1,489,395 22
5 Suzann Pettersen  Norway 1,369,717 23
6 Na Yeon Choi  South Korea 1,341,078 26
7 Yani Tseng  Taiwan 1,293,755 27
8 In-Kyung Kim  South Korea 1,238,396 25
9 Paula Creamer  United States 1,151,864 24
10 Angela Stanford  United States 1,081,916 21

Full 2009 Official Money List - navigate to "2009"

Scoring Average leaders

Rank Player Country Average
1 Lorena Ochoa  Mexico 70.16
2 Jiyai Shin  South Korea 70.26
3 Cristie Kerr  United States 70.28
4 Ai Miyazato  Japan 70.33
5 Yani Tseng  Taiwan 70.44

Full 2009 Scoring Average List - navigate to "2009", then "Scoring Average"

Award winners

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The three competitive awards given out by the LPGA each year are:

  • The Rolex Player of the Year is awarded based on a formula in which points are awarded for top-10 finishes and are doubled at the LPGA's four major championships. The points system is: 30 points for first; 12 points for second; nine points for third; seven points for fourth; six points for fifth; five points for sixth; four points for seventh; three points for eighth; two points for ninth and one point for 10th.
  • The Vare Trophy, named for Glenna Collett-Vare, is given to the player with the lowest scoring average for the season.
  • The Louis Suggs Rolex Rooke of the Year Award is awarded to the first-year player on the LPGA Tour who scores the highest in a points competition in which points are awarded at all full-field domestic events and doubled at the LPGA's four major championships. The points system is: 150 points for first; 80 points for second; 75 points for third; 70 points for fourth; and 65 points for fifth. After fifth place, points are awarded in increments of three, beginning at sixth place with 62 points. Rookies who make the cut in an event and finish below 41st each receive five points. The award is named after Louise Suggs, one of the founders of the LPGA.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Adelson, Eric (July 24, 2009). "LPGA working to re-establish footing". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 25, 2009.
  2. ^ "LPGA Names Michael Whan as its Commissioner". LPGA.com. October 28, 2009. Archived from the original on 6 January 2010. Retrieved December 25, 2009.