The 2006 LPGA Tour was a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world, which took place from February through December 2006. The tournaments were sanctioned by the United States–based Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). In 2006, prize money on the LPGA Tour exceeded US$50 million for the first time in the history of the LPGA Tour.

Lorena Ochoa became the first Mexican to top the money list on the LPGA Tour, or any major international golf tour, while Annika Sörenstam held her position as the top ranked player through the whole season. Multi-time major champions Karrie Webb and Se Ri Pak had comeback seasons after fallow periods, each claiming a major championship.

2006 saw a growth in the international presence on the Tour. Of the 33 events, only seven were won by Americans, with Cristie Kerr the only American to win more than once (three times). By contrast, Mexican Lorena Ochoa won six events, Australian Karrie Webb five, Swede Annika Sörenstam three, and nine different South Koreans combined to win 11 events. The season-ending LPGA Playoffs at The ADT was won by Paraguayan Julieta Granada. The other seven finalists in that event featured only two Americans (Paula Creamer and Natalie Gulbis); the others were Ochoa, Webb, Koreans Il Mi Chung and Mi Hyun Kim, and Japanese Ai Miyazato.

For details of what happened in the main tournaments of the year see 2006 in golf.

Tournament schedule and results The winner of Major events automatically qualified for the LPGA Playoffs at The ADT. ADT Playoffs points were doubled at Major events. The top-20 finishers in Points events earned double ADT Playoffs points. The champion of Winner events automatically qualified for LPGA Playoffs at The ADT. Other top-20 finishers earned single ADT Playoffs points. The Global Group (pre-determined international events) events were combined to count as one Winner event qualifier, with the player earning the most combined points in these events earning automatic entry to LPGA Playoffs at The ADT. No additional points were awarded. Unofficial money Events did not count toward entry into the LPGA Playoffs at The ADT. The first half of the season concluded with the final full-field domestic event (Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic) prior to the Tour traveling to Europe. The second half concluded with final event (The Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions) prior to the LPGA Playoffs at The ADT.

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

Date Tournament Location ADT Playoff category Winner Purse ($) Winner'sshare ($) Jan 22 Women's World Cup of Golf South Africa unofficial (Annika Sörenstam & Liselotte Neumann) Feb 18 SBS Open at Turtle Bay Hawaii points Joo Mi Kim (1) 1,000,000 150,000 Feb 25 Fields Open in Hawaii Hawaii points Meena Lee (2) 1,100,000 165,000 Mar 12 MasterCard Classic Mexico points Annika Sörenstam (67) 1,200,000 180,000 Mar 19 Safeway International Arizona points Juli Inkster (31) 1,400,000 210,000 Apr 2 Kraft Nabisco Championship California major Karrie Webb (31) 1,800,000 270,000 Apr 15 LPGA Takefuji Classic Nevada points Lorena Ochoa (4) 1,100,000 165,000 Apr 23 Florida's Natural Charity Championship Georgia points Sung Ah Yim (1) 1,400,000 210,000 Apr 30 Ginn Clubs & Resorts Open Florida points Mi Hyun Kim (6) 2,500,000 375,000 May 7 Franklin American Mortgage Championship Tennessee points Cristie Kerr (7) 1,100,000 165,000May 14 Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill Virginia winner Karrie Webb (32) 2,200,000 330,000May 21 Sybase Classic * New York points Lorena Ochoa (5) 1,300,000 195,000May 28 LPGA Corning Classic New York points Hee-Won Han (5) 1,200,000 180,000Jun 4 ShopRite LPGA Classic New Jersey points Seon Hwa Lee (1) 1,500,000 225,000Jun 11 McDonald's LPGA Championship Maryland major Se Ri Pak (23) 1,800,000 270,000Jun 25 Wegmans LPGA New York points Jeong Jang (2) 1,800,000 270,000Jul 2 U.S. Women's Open Rhode Island major Annika Sörenstam (68) 3,100,000 560,000Jul 9 HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship New Jersey winner Brittany Lincicome (1) 2,000,000 500,000Jul 16 Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Ohio points Mi Hyun Kim (7) 1,200,000 180,000 Start of second half of seasonJul 29 Evian Masters France winner Karrie Webb (33) 3,000,000 450,000Aug 6 Weetabix Women's British Open England major Sherri Steinhauer (7) 1,800,000 305,440Aug 13 CN Canadian Women's Open Ontario points Cristie Kerr (8) 1,700,000 255,000Aug 20 Safeway Classic Oregon points Pat Hurst (5) 1,400,000 210,000Aug 27 Wendy's Championship for Children Ohio points Lorena Ochoa (6) 1,100,000 165,000Sep 3 State Farm Classic Illinois points Annika Sörenstam (69) 1,300,000 195,000Sep 10 John Q. Hammons Hotel Classic Oklahoma points Cristie Kerr (9) 1,000,000 150,000Sep 24 Longs Drugs Challenge California points Karrie Webb (34) 1,100,000 165,000Oct 8 Corona Morelia Championship Mexico points Lorena Ochoa (7) 1,000,000 150,000Oct 15 Samsung World Championship California winner Lorena Ochoa (8) 875,000 218,750Oct 22 Honda LPGA Thailand Thailand global group Hee-Won Han (6) 1,300,000 195,000Oct 29 KOLON-Hana Bank Championship South Korea global group Jin Joo Hong (1) 1,350,000 202,500Nov 5 Mizuno Classic Japan global group Karrie Webb (35) 1,200,000 180,000Nov 12 The Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions Alabama winner Lorena Ochoa (9) 1,000,000 150,000Nov 19 ADT Championship Florida n/a Julieta Granada (1) 1,550,000 1,000,000Dec 17 Lexus Cup Singapore unofficial Team Asia n/aDec 24 Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge Nevada unofficial PGA Tour n/a

Tournaments in bold are majors. * tournament shortened to 54 holes because of rain.

Leaders Money List leaders RankPlayerCountryEarnings ($)Events1 Lorena Ochoa 2,592,872 252 Karrie Webb 2,090,113 213 Annika Sörenstam 1,971,741 204 Julieta Granada 1,633,586 315 Cristie Kerr 1,578,362 266 Mi Hyun Kim 1,332,274 307 Juli Inkster 1,326,442 218 Jang Jeong 1,151,070 279 Hee-Won Han 1,147,651 2810 Pat Hurst 1,128,662 19 Source:

Scoring Average leaders RankPlayerCountryAverage1 Lorena Ochoa 69.242 Annika Sörenstam 69.823 Cristie Kerr 70.074 Karrie Webb 70.115 Juli Inkster 70.48 Source:

Award winners 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 and at the season-ending ADT Championship. 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. 2006 Winner: Lorena Ochoa. Runner-up: Karrie Webb The Vare Trophy, named for Glenna Collett-Vare, is given to the player with the lowest scoring average for the season. 2006 Winner: Lorena Ochoa. Runner-up: Annika Sörenstam The Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie 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. 2006 Winner: Seon Hwa Lee. Runner-up: Julieta Granada

See also 2006 in golf 2006 Ladies European Tour 2006 Duramed Futures Tour

References