(1 April, 2009 – Rancho Mirage, California)
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rnAfter capturing her first title in 26 months at last weeks J Golf Phoenix LPGA International, Karrie Webb heads to the season&aposs first major this week full of renewed confidence. An emotional Webb said after her win that "You just sometimes wonder if – you know you have still got the ability to do it, but you are just not putting the scores on the board that indicate that you can still do it." The Hall of Famer will no doubt be in a good frame of mind heading into this weeks Kraft Nabisco Championship, a tournament she has won twice (2000 and 2006).
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rnJoining Webb, will be four other Australians; Wendy Doolan, Rachel Hetherington, Katherine Hull and Lindsey Wright. They will all be aiming to capture their first major but must beat a &aposhot&apos field that includes 49 of the Top-50 on this year&aposs money list bring ing with them a total of 210 LPGA victories.
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rnThe favourite will again be World No.1 Lorena Ochoa who also returns to the event as the defending champion after she won last year by five shots from Suzann Pettersen and Annika Sorenstam. Ochoa has had one win (Honda LPGA Thailand) and 2 Top-10&aposs in her four starts this season. She leads the tour in scoring average with 69.73.
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rnNorway&aposs Pettersen will also be one to watch having had two runner-up finishes in this tournament. A solid tie for 4th in Phoenix last week sees her head into this event in good form. After capturing five titles in 2007, she has been winless since and believes that "third time&aposs a charm" after her two 2nd placings.
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rnOther players to watch will be South Korea&aposs Jiyai Shin who has started her first full season on the LPGA in superb fashion, winning the HSBC Women&aposs Champions in Singapore and finishing runner-up to Webb in Phoenix last week. She moved up to No.3 on the Rolex Rankings with that result, just behind another of the young guns, Taiwan&aposs Yani Tseng. Tseng finished tied for 4th at last week&aposs event and in doing so became the fastest player to reach the US$2million mark in LPGA history. She achieved this feat in just 32 events in 1 year, 1 month and 13 days. She has recorded for Top-10&aposs in five starts and leads the tour with 75 birdies to date.
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rnAmerican&aposs Paula Creamer, Cristie Kerr and Hall of Famer and two-time winner of this event (1984 and 1989) Juli Inkster looking the most likely chances for a local victory, while there are any number of Korean&aposs who are week-in and week-out, in with a good chance to claim the winner&aposs cheque.
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rnPlay gets underway at 1.53am (AEDST) on Friday morning and live scoring can be viewed by clicking here.
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Photo by Anthony Powter – Jiyai Shin.