The 2010 LPGA Tour was a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world that began in Thailand on February 13, 2010, and ended in Florida on December 5, 2010. The tournaments were sanctioned by the United States–based Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA).
The tour included 24 tournaments, including events in Malaysia, southern California, and two in New Jersey that were new to the schedule in 2010. Of the 24 tournaments on the schedule, 14 were hosted in the United States. The 2010 season was the tour's smallest schedule in nearly 40 years.
Na Yeon Choi, a third-year player from Korea, topped the official money list with earnings of $1,871,166. She had two wins and 15 top-10 finishes in 23 starts and won the Vare Trophy, given to the player with the lowest scoring average. Yani Tseng from Taiwan captured Player of the Year honors; she won three tournaments in 2010 including two of the four major championships. Spaniard Azahara Muñoz won the Rookie of the Year Award.
The four majors were won by: Yani Tseng (Kraft Nabisco Championship), Cristie Kerr (LPGA Championship), Paula Creamer (U.S. Women's Open), and Yani Tseng (Women's British Open). Tseng's win in the Women's British Open at age 21 made her the youngest player in LPGA history to win three major championships.
Changes in the 2010 season The 2010 season was the 60th anniversary of the LPGA Tour. As with most years, changes were made to the schedule from the previous year, which included:
The LPGA Championship sponsorship changed from McDonald's to Wegmans, and the major was moved from Havre de Grace, Maryland, to Rochester, New York. The championship's new home is the Locust Hill Country Club, the host course for the Wegmans LPGA, a regular tour event which was discontinued. The first tournament of the season in the U.S. was the Kia Classic, held in late March at La Costa in Carlsbad, California. Missing from the schedule was the longtime stop in Phoenix. The Sybase Match Play Championship made its debut, replacing the Sybase Classic; both held in northern New Jersey. The Bell Micro LPGA Classic returned after a one-year hiatus, held the week of May 10–16. After a three-year absence from Atlantic City, the tour returned with long-time supporter ShopRite as the title sponsor.
Schedule and results The season included 24 official money events, compared with 34 just two years earlier, as the LPGA struggled to cope with the economic downturn. There were three unofficial money events, with 17 off-weeks between the first and last events in 2010.
Date Tournament Location Winner First prize ($)Feb 21 Honda PTT LPGA Thailand Thailand Ai Miyazato (2) 195,000Feb 28 HSBC Women's Champions Singapore Ai Miyazato (3) 195,000Mar 28 Kia Classic Presented by J Golf California Hee Kyung Seo (1)1 255,000Apr 4 Kraft Nabisco Championship California Yani Tseng (3) 300,000Apr 16 The Mojo 62 Jamaica Anna Nordqvist (n/a)2 350,000May 2 Tres Marias Championship Mexico Ai Miyazato (4) 195,000May 16 Bell Micro LPGA Classic Alabama Se Ri Pak (25) 195,000May 23 Sybase Match Play Championship New Jersey Sun-Young Yoo (1) 375,000May 30 HSBC LPGA Brasil Cup2 Brazil Meaghan Francella (n/a)2 105,000Jun 14 LPGA State Farm Classic Illinois Cristie Kerr (13) 255,000Jun 20 ShopRite LPGA Classic New Jersey Ai Miyazato (5) 225,000Jun 27 LPGA Championship New York Cristie Kerr (14) 337,500Jul 4 Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Ohio Na Yeon Choi (3) 150,000Jul 11 U.S. Women's Open Pennsylvania Paula Creamer (9) 585,000Jul 25 Evian Masters France Jiyai Shin (7) 487,500Aug 1 Women's British Open England Yani Tseng (4) 408,714Aug 22 Safeway Classic Oregon Ai Miyazato (6) 225,000Aug 29 CN Canadian Women's Open Manitoba Michelle Wie (2) 337,500Sep 12 P&G NW Arkansas Championship Arkansas Yani Tseng (5) 300,000Oct 10 Navistar LPGA Classic Alabama Katherine Hull (2) 195,000Oct 17 CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge California Beatriz Recari (1) 165,000Oct 24 Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia Malayasia Jimin Kang (2) 270,000Oct 31 LPGA Hana Bank Championship South Korea Na Yeon Choi (4) 270,000Nov 7 Mizuno Classic Japan Jiyai Shin (8) 180,000Nov 9 Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge2 Nevada PGA TourNov 14 Lorena Ochoa Invitational Mexico In-Kyung Kim (3) 220,000Dec 5 LPGA Tour Championship Florida Maria Hjorth (4) 225,000 Tournaments in bold are majors. 1 Hee Kyung Seo was not a member of the LPGA at the time of her win in the Kia Classic. 2 Exhibition tournament, unofficial earnings.
Leaders Money List leaders RankPlayerCountryEarnings ($)Events1 Na Yeon Choi 1,871,166 232 Jiyai Shin 1,783,127 193 Cristie Kerr 1,601,552 214 Yani Tseng 1,573,529 195 Suzann Pettersen 1,557,175 196 Ai Miyazato 1,457,384 217 In-Kyung Kim 1,210,068 218 Song-Hee Kim 1,208,698 229 Michelle Wie 888,017 1910 Paula Creamer 883,870 14
Full 2010 Official Money List- navigate to "2010"
Scoring Average leaders RankPlayerCountryAverage1 Na Yeon Choi 69.872 Cristie Kerr 69.953 Suzann Pettersen 70.094 Song-Hee Kim 70.215 Jiyai Shin 70.25
Full 2010 Scoring Average List - navigate to "2010", then "Scoring Average"
Awards and honors 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. 2010 Winner: Yani Tseng . Runner-up: Cristie Kerr The Vare Trophy, named for Glenna Collett-Vare, is given to the player with the lowest scoring average for the season. 2010 Winner: Na Yeon Choi. Runner-up: Cristie Kerr 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 award is named after Louise Suggs, one of the founders of the LPGA. 2010 Winner: Azahara Muñoz. Runner-up: Beatriz Recari
See also 2010 in golf 2010 Ladies European Tour 2010 Duramed Futures Tour
References
External links Official site