LPGA champions at play: The international tour

Southern Living, Oct 2001 by Young, Dianne

Over the last 15 years, the presence and the success of female golfers from around the globe have changed the face of the world's pre-eminent women's professional golf tour.

Talk surfaced not so long ago about the possibility of the men's top golfers establishing an international tour. Should they choose to pursue that lofty plan, they need only to look as far as the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour to find a successful model.

Starting its second halfcentury in 2001, the LPGA will, by season's end, have conducted 41 events worldwide, including tournaments in Canada, England, France, Korea, Japan, and Australia. Over the course of the year, its tournaments will have been broadcast to 140 different countries. Total prize money for the season will top $43.5 million, a new tour record. The most telling statistic, though, may be this: There are 79 international players from 20 countries on the LPGA's active roster, and as of mid-July, 18 of the tour's 23 events had been won by international players. Clearly, the LPGA has attracted a fabulous pool of talent from around the entire planet. Here's an introduction to some of the best among them, scheduled to compete at this year's AFLAC Champions Presented by Southern Living.

Karrie Webb--While other professional sports are still looking for an answer to Tiger Woods, the LPGA has produced one. Last year's AFLAC winner, this Australian has been rewriting records ever since her 1996 rookie season, when she won four tournaments to become the first rookie ever on this or even the PGA Tour to reach the $1 million mark in single-season earnings. Her seven-win 2000 season included a firstplace finish at the U.S. Women's Open. Karrie has already met the playing criteria for the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame and will be eligible to enter when she has been a tour member for 10 yearsat the end of the 2005 season. This year she's already captured two more major titles. Her victory at the McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by AIG made her the youngest woman ever to achieve the Career Grand Slam, winning all four of the tour's major tournaments. And it won't stop there, either; Karrie Webb will be adding to the record books for years to come.

Annika SorenstaM-Those players, fans, and sports pundits looking for an answer to Karrie's near-dominance of the tour in 2000 have found it in this sensational Swede in 2001. Winner of more LPGA tournaments than any other player during the 1990s, she didn't even join the tour until 1994. Since being named Rolex Rookie of the Year, though, she has been on a tear. Her first tour win was the 1995 U.S. Women's Open, and, like Karrie, by last year she had already earned her spot in the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame and now must meet the 10-year membership requirement. Like Karrie, too, Annika has yet to slow down or back off. Just this year she tied the record for most consecutive wins in scheduled events (four), and she tied the record for the LPGA's largest come-from-behind victory (10 strokes), as well as established herself as the fastest player ever to reach $1 million in a single season (by the third week in May). Add to all that the show she put on when she dismantled the Moon Valley Country Club in Phoenix during the 2001 Standard Register PING. With an awesome display of precision putting, she grabbed the tour's 9-, 18-, 54-, and 72-hole scoring records. Along the way, she shot a 59 (no, that's not a typo) to become the only female golfer to have ever posted that number in an official LPGA event. Clearly, any day and every day she's a threat to those on the leaderboard.

Laura Davies-Even before she officially joined the LPGA Tour, this popular Brit came to the colonies and went home with a crown, the title for the 1987 U.S. Women's Open. A powerful golfer known for her gambler's attitude, prodigious drives, and silky short game, Laura has posted some 61 wins worldwide, 20 of them coming on the LPGA Tour. Her latest victory came at the Wegmans Rochester International in June.

Se Ri Pak-This young south Korean phenom only took up the game at 14. In her first major tour championship, at age 20, she led wire-to-wire en route to capturing the 1998 McDonald's LPGA Championship title. She quickly followed that major win with a victory at the US. Women's Open, making her the youngest player ever to win an Open. Since then she has claimed nine more titles, including three this year.

Lorie Kane-After joining the LPGA in 1996, this talented Canadian, known for her grand sportsmanship and lovely smile, posted a frustrating string of nine runner-up finishes until she finally broke through at last year's Michelob Light Classic. Since then, Lorie has visited the winner's circle three times, including a come-frombehind victory at this year's Takefuji LPGA Classic.

Akiko Fukushima-A 14-time winner on the Japan Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour, Akiko won two tournaments, including the AFLAC Champions, as an LPGA rookie in 1999. She stands only 5'5" tall, but she's got a giant swing. In fact, to date she leads the tour in driving distance for 2001, averaging some 264.4 yards off the tee.