Karrie Webb will be looking to defend the title she won 12 months ago, the ShopRite Classic presented by Acer.
Webb is leading the Australian contingent this week, Katherine Kirk, Sarah Jane Smith, Sarah Kemp, Lindsey Wright, Stacey Keating and Julia Boland are all in the field this week. The tournament gets underway Friday morning Australian time.
Webb entered the final round at this event a year ago down five shots. But a blustery 35-50 km/hr winds on Sunday threw the tournament up for grabs, and Webb took advantage, firing one of the more impressive 68s you’ll ever see given the conditions.
Only 13 players that Sunday fired under-par rounds, and Webb’s 4-under-par 209 three-day total tied the highest score ever to win the event. The 20-year tour veteran and seven-time major winner has already won twice this season at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open and the JTBC Founder’s Cup and is looking to become the first person ever to repeat at this event.
The only multiple winners at the ShopRite Classic Presented by Acer are a trio of Hall of Famers – Betsy King, Juli Inkster and Annika Sorenstam.
Webb had never been in contention at this event before last year and her win snapped a two-year drought. She’s currently ranked No. 6 in the Rolex Rankings after Lexi Thompson passed her last week at the Airbus LPGA Classic Presented by JTBC.
It is the 26th year of the event and it is once again being played on the shores of New Jersey. The tournament originally debuted in Atlantic City in 1986 but did not take place from 2007-2009. The event is one of only three tournaments all season that crowns a champion after 54 holes and the first to do so this season. Historically, the Donald Ross designed Bay Course at the Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club has been one of the tougher tracks the LPGA plays all season with fescue-lined fairways and speedy greens that form a difficult mix with the beach breeze coming in off of the bay.