Ai Miyazato
The Honda LPGA Thailand marks the launch of the 2011 LPGA Tour season and a renewed battle for the Rolex Rankings No. 1 spot that sizzled in 2010.
Last year's Honda champion Ai Miyazato will attempt her first title defense of the season this week at Siam Country Club's Old Course outside Pattaya, Thailand. Miyazato, who famously chipped-in for birdie on the 72nd hole of last year's event to defeat Suzann Pettersen by one shot, shot 21-under-par 267 over four days of play in 2010. She went on to win four events in 2010 and held the top spot in the world rankings for 11 weeks.
Pettersen, who is currently No. 3 in the Rolex Rankings, recorded five additional runner-up finishes in 2010 and is seeking her first victory since the 2009 CN Canadian Women's Open. She won the 2007 Honda LPGA Thailand for her career-best fifth victory in the 2007 season.
Other top names likely to be in contention include Rolex Rankings No. 1 Yani Tseng, who won the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open and the ANZ RACV Ladies Masters on the Ladies European Tour (LET), and No. 2 Jiyai Shin.
Shin recorded the seventh and eighth victories of her LPGA career last season and became just the third player (Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa) to finish a Tour season as Rolex Rankings No. 1.
Tseng finished third at the 2010 Honda LPGA Thailand six shots off Miyazato's pace. The 22-year-old added Rolex Player of the Year honors to her ever-growing resume last year following a three-win season. She has three major championships to her credit and needs only the U.S. Women's Open to round out the Career Grand Slam.
Rolex Rankings No. 4 and top-ranked American Cristie Kerr will also tee it up this week this week in Thailand with hopes of improving on her tie for fourth last season. Kerr became the first American to top the Rolex Rankings last year following her dominant 12-stroke victory at the LPGA Championship Presented by Wegmans. She also became just the fifth player in LPGA history to eclipse the $12 million mark in 2010.
Other notables in the field include 2010 U.S. Women's Open champion Paula Creamer, who last year withdrew following the first round in Thailand with the thumb injury that led to surgery and several months of rehab, 2010 LPGA Official Money List winner Na Yeon Choi and heralded rookie Jessica Korda, who is one of eight sponsor exemptions in the field this week.
