Karrie Webb Secures Second Season Win

Karrie Webb

LPGA and World Golf Hall of Fame member Karrie Webb shot a final-round 6-under 66 to win the inaugural RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup in a final round charge at Wildfire Golf Club at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa that included seven birdies and one bogey to prevail by one stroke over three-time LPGA Tour winner Brittany Lincicome. 

Webb fired rounds of 71-67-66 to capture her second-consecutive win of the 2011 LPGA Tour season - the 38th LPGA career victory - and only three weeks after the Australian won the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore.

The win earned Webb $200,000 to be donated to her charities of choice, Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation and Japan Relief.

As one of the most decorated golfers in women's history, Webb's 15-year career now includes 38 LPGA Tour career victories, three LPGA official money list titles, two Rolex Player of the Year awards, three Vare Trophies and the 1995 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year award. Webb is one of only six LPGA players to have achieved the career LPGA Grand Slam and the only player in LPGA history to complete the career Super LPGA Grand Slam. She is also the youngest player in LPGA history to achieve these feats.

Webb fended off a star studded duo of Brittany Lincicome and Paula Creamer by one shot. Rolex Rankings No. 23 Lincicome played steady in Sunday’s final round but came up short after a bogey at 18. Lincicome’s 11-under-par 205 tournament total earned her a tie for second with nine-time LPGA Tour winner Creamer. Creamer, who began the day tied for eighth, made a final round charge but a tournament best six-under-par 66 left her one stroke shy of Webb.

Brittany Lincicome, Paula Creamer and Cristie Kerr punched their “Ticket to Titleholders” at the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup.By virtue of their top-three finishes, Lincicome, Creamer and Kerr each earned a spot in the season-ending Titleholders event, to be held Nov. 17-20, 2011 at Grand Cypress Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. The inaugural Titleholders, a season finale with a field made up of three qualifiers from every official LPGA Tour tournament, is a format never previously used in professional golf.

The entire $1 million purse of the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup goes to charity, half to the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf programme, half to the charities chosen by the top-10 finishers as follows:

1: Karrie Webb, Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation 

T2: Brittany Lincicome, First Tee of St. Petersburg 

T2: Paula Creamer, Japan Relief Charity TBD 

4: Cristie Kerr, Birdies for Breast Cancer/Muhammad Ali Parkinson’s Foundation 

5: Angela Stanford, The Angela Stanford Foundation 

6: Mindy Kim, Make A Wish Foundation of Central Florida 

T7: Morgan Pressel, The Morgan Pressel Foundation 

T7: Sun Young Yoo, Japan Relief Charity TBD 

9: Seon Hwa Lee, American Heart Association 

T10: Sara Jane Smith, Japan Relief Charity, TBD

T10: Stacy Prammanasudh, Special Olympics of Tulsa, Oklahoma

T10: Sandra Gal, Japan Relief Charity, TBD

Rolex Rankings No. 1 Yani Tseng fired a final-round 69 to finish tied for 29th with the No. 2, Jiyai Shin, carding a Sunday 69 to finish tied for 29th.

Second-round leader Angela Stanford faltered with a final-round 75 to finish fifth.

Stanford Extends Founders Wildfire Lead

Angela Stanford

Angela Stanford opened a three-stroke lead over Brittany Lincicome on Saturday in the LPGA Founders Cup, shooting her second straight 6-under 66.

Stanford, the 33-year-old Texan who has four victories in 10 full seasons on the tour, is playing for her own foundation in the charity event at Wildfire Golf Club.

Instead of paying the players, the tournament honouring the 13 tour founders is donating $1 million to charity - half to The LPGA Foundation and its LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program and half to the top-10 finishers' designated charities.

"I play with the guys at Shady Oaks in the 1 o'clock and I'm out there trying to beat them - and they're out there to enjoy the weekend," Stanford said. "It always matters to me. I don't care if it's for money. I don't care if it's for money for my charity or for the LPGA Foundation. I don't care what's it's for. If you tell me it's official and I have a chance to compete to win something, I'm going to show up."

Stanford's foundation provides scholarships for children from families affected by cancer. The winner will receive $200,000 to donate.

"It would do wonders for my foundation," Stanford said. "We could help a lot of kids a lot faster than I thought we would. There's a lot on the line in that respect."

The long-hitting Lincicome followed her opening 67 with a 68, holing an 8-foot par putt on No. 18 just before dark.

"I just putted lights out," said Lincicome, Stanford's U.S. Solheim Cup teammate. "My driver let me down today, but my putter saved me."

The three-time tour winner was frustrated by the pace of play in the round that took about 5 1/2 hours to finish.

"I've never waited that much in my life," she said. "We waited about 20 minutes on every tee shot."

Mindy Kim birdied the first five holes and finished with a 67 to reach 8 under.

Cristie Kerr, also a U.S. Solheim Cup player, was another stroke back after a 68. She rallied to beat Stanford twice in 2006, overcoming a four-stroke deficit in the final round in Tennessee and an eight-stroke margin in the Canadian Women's Open.

"Anything can happen on Sunday," Kerr said. "It's a different feel when you're playing in the last group, especially with the lead, because you tighten up and try to protect it. And I can stick with my game plan. It depends on the pins and the conditions tomorrow, but sure anything five and in is doable."

In 2006 at London Hunt in Ontario, Kerr closed with a 7-under 65, while Stanford bogeyed the final two holes - three-putting the last - for a 74. Stanford began that round with a four-stroke lead over Meena Lee.

"I learned a lot in those two losses. People say you learn more in a loss than a victory," Stanford said. "Not that I played scared, but if there was pin tucked left, the first day you're probably going at it. Well, if you have a five-, six- or seven-shot lead on the final day, you may go at the middle of the green. For me, I learned that when I did that, it wasn't very successful.

"I learned that I have to keep hitting golf shots. You can't just say, 'I'm going to go out and make 18 pars and hope I win.' I think I was still maturing as a player at the time and I didn't know what it took to win."

While many players have had struggled to adjust to their approach shots releasing on the firm greens, Stanford is right at home on the sun-baked layout. She grew up near Fort Worth, played at TCU and still lives in the area.

"Fortunately for me, I've always played release," Stanford said. "I'm not one that spins the ball a whole lot. So, it doesn't bother me if it releases 5 or 25 feet. I think for me that's good because I expect it already. ... I've seen it my whole life."

She played in the morning before the wind picked up a bit on the partly cloudy, 80-degree day at Desert Ridge.

Hall of Famer Karrie Webb, the winner three weeks ago in Singapore, shot a 67 in the afternoon to match Seon Hwa Lee (69) and Mina Harigae (70) at 6 under. Webb won the last Phoenix event in 2009 at Papago and also won in 1999 at Moon Valley.

Top-ranked Yani Tseng, the winner of the season-opening LPGA Thailand and three other worldwide events this year, had her second straight 73 to make the cut by a stroke at 2 over. No. 2 Jiyai Shin was 2 under after a 70.

DIVOTS: Stanford is 6 under on the four par 5s, birdieing Nos. 2, 5 and 15 both days. ... Kerr is playing for her own Birdies For Breast Cancer foundation and the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center. 

On Saturday night at Desert Ridge, she received the Muhammad Ali Athlete of the Year award. 

Second-place is worth $100,000 for the player's charity, third $55,000, fourth $40,000, down to $5,000 for 10th.

Leaderboard

New RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup

The RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup unveiled today the RR Donnelley Founders Cup Trophy to be hoisted by the winner of the inaugural event on Sunday, March 20th. The perpetual trophy, created by renowned artist and sculptor Malcolm DeMille, is an impressive three-dimensional replica of the LPGA logo, symbolizing the association rich in history.

The RR Donnelley Founders Cup Trophy, cast in bronze and polished with highlights to emphasize the logo, stands nearly 20 inches tall. The elegant sculpture took DeMille 85 hours to complete from start to finish. Creating a three-dimensional sculpture from a one-dimensional image was a project tailor-made for the skilled DeMille.

“This was a work of passion for me,” DeMille said. “While this is my first piece for the LPGA, I have long been a fan and supporter of the Tour. I am proud to have my art be a timeless part of this unique and special tournament.”

The RR Donnelley Founders Cup Trophy will be raised by the champion on the 18th green at Wildfire Golf Club at the JW Marriot Desert Ridge Resort and Spa on Sunday, March 20. A smaller replica piece will be given to the champion.

DeMille, who has carved out his reputation in the golf world for creating unique pieces of art that double as trophies, started in his early teens, studying lapidary, jewelry making and sculpting. At 21, DeMille began designing and manufacturing his first custom jewelry line and later turned his focus to the golf industry. DeMille is the premier sculptor in the industry, creating trophies for many PGA TOUR events including the Chevron World Challenge, AT&T National the Wells Fargo Championship and the John Deere Classic.

Players at the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup will compete for a $1 million purse which will be donated entirely to charity with $500,000 going to The LPGA Foundation and its LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program and $500,000 going to the top-10 finishers’ designated charities.

While LPGA players will forgo tournament earnings in favor of charity, results at the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup will impact the 2011 LPGA Official Money List. Players also will earn points towards Rolex Player of the Year, Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year, Rolex Rankings and U.S. Solheim Cup team. Scores posted also will count towards the prestigious Vare Trophy.

The RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup Pro-Am will take place at Wildfire Golf Club at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Phoenix Thursday, March 17th and the first round begins on Friday, March 18th with the tournament concluding on Sunday, March 20th.