Paula Creamer
Country: United States
Born: August 5, 1986
Samsung World Championship victories: 1 (2008)
As the defending champion of the Samsung World Championship, Paula Creamer was the first to earn her spot in the 2009 field. Last year turned out to be her breakout season winning four times and rising to No. 2 in the Rolex World Rankings. However, the California native served early notice she was a star-in-the-making when she won the 2004 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament by five shots as an amateur, turning professional immediately following the round. Five months later, Creamer won the Sybase Classic in New York with a final-hole birdie to become the youngest winner (18 years, 11 months and 18 days) of a multiple-round tournament in LPGA Tour history. She won four times in her first three LPGA seasons before matching that win total during the 2008 season. Creamer has a stellar record in her two Solheim Cup appearances, compiling a 5-1-4 mark as a member of the victorious U.S. teams. She is nicknamed "the Pink Panther" because she loves the color pink, often playing with a pink ball in the final round of tournaments. She has finished in the top 10 in a major six times during her brief career. Creamer had a brilliant amateur career that included 11 American Junior Golf Association titles and Player of the Year honors in 2003. She attended the IMG Golf Academy in Bradenton.
Jiyai Shin
Country: South Korea
Born: April 28, 1988
Samsung World Championship appearances: 1 (2008)
The South Korean clearly has established herself as one of the LPGA Tour's budding superstars with a two-win season in 2009, enabling her to rank second on the money list with earnings of more than $1.17 million. This comes on the heels of last year's breakout season, where she won three times – including the RICOH Women's British Open and the season-ending ADT Championship – before she even became a member of the LPGA Tour. She became the first non-member to win three times on the LPGA Tour. Shin, just 21, claimed titles this year at the HSBC Women's Champions and the Wegmans LPGA to give her 23 wins in her brief pro career, adding a runner-up finish at the J Golf Phoenix LPGA International. Shin was a force in all four majors, finishing third in the McDonald's LPGA Championship, eighth at the British Open, 13th at the U.S. Women's Open and 21st at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. She was extremely consistent, missing just one cut in 16 starts and finishing outside the top 20 just four times. She has a superb all-around game: She ranked second on the LPGA Tour in fairways hit (81.3 percent), fifth in greens in regulation (72.4) and 27th in putting. Because she didn't become an LPGA member until this year, she's already clinched the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Award.
Lorena Ochoa
Country: Mexico
Born: November 5, 1981
Samsung World Championship victories: 2 (2006, 2007)
In just her seventh full season on the LPGA Tour, Ochoa already has established herself as one of the top players in tour history. She has won 26 LPGA titles and two majors while sweeping the tour's top three honors – Rolex Player of the Year, Vare Trophy and LPGA Official Money list – each of the last three seasons (2006-2008). She qualified for the LPGA Tour and World Golf Hall of Fames last year when she won the Corona Championship in her homeland of Mexico; she will be inducted in 2012 when she meets the tour's 10-year membership requirement. After winning three times in her first three LPGA seasons, Ochoa averaged seven wins a year from 2006-2008 to supplant Annika Sorenstam as the No. 1 player in the Rolex World Rankings. In addition, she was chosen as the Associated Press' Female Athlete of the Year in 2006 and 2007. Ochoa is the 15th player to host her own LPGA event (Lorena Ochoa Invitational) and is very active in raising money for underprivileged children in Mexico. Through her Lorena Ochoa Foundation, she has opened three elementary schools in Mexico. She qualified for the Samsung World Championship by winning the Vare Trophy last year with the lowest scoring average.
Ai Miyazato
Country: Japan
Born: June 19, 1985
Samsung World Championship appearances: 1 (2007)
Few golfers have ever joined the LPGA Tour with as great as expectations heaped on her. That's what happens when you win 11 times in your homeland on the Japanese Ladies PGA Tour from 2004-05, then qualify for the LPGA Tour by winning the 2005 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament by a record 12 shots. It took Miya zato 3 ½ seasons and 91 starts before she finally lifted a trophy on the LPGA Tour. But what a trophy it was: She beat Sophie Gustafson in a one-hole playoff at the Evian Masters to claim the richest first prize ($487,500) on the LPGA Tour. Miyazato followed up her Evian victory by finishing third in the Ricoh Women's British Open, matching her best showing in a major, and a T2 at the CN Canadian Women's Open. Miyazato ranks in the top 25 this season on the LPGA Tour in driving accuracy (74.8 percent), greens in regulation (70.3 percent), scoring (70.73) and putting (29.2). Miyazato punctuated her prolific amateur career by winning the 2003 Miyagi TV Dunlop Ladies Golf Tournament – a professional event on the JLPGA – when she was a senior in high school.
Brittany Lincicome
Country: United States
Born: September 19, 1985
Samsung World Championship appearances: 2 (2006, 2007)
The fifth-year pro has made the most of her three career LPGA Tour victories, winning her first major this year (Kraft Nabisco Championship) when she eagled the 72nd hole to defeat Cristie Kerr and Kristy McPherson by a shot. That victory earned Lincicome a spot in the Samsung World Championship. Her other titles came in the highly-regarded HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship in 2006, where she defeated Michelle Wie in the quarterfinals, Lorena Ochoa in the semifinals, and Juli Inkster in the final match, and the Ginn Open in 2007. Her nickname is "Bam-Bam" because she routinely is one of the longest hitters on the LPGA Tour, averaging more than 270 yards a drive. As a rookie, Lincicome qualified for her first Solheim Cup team in 2007 and was a member of the victorious U.S. team. In 2004, while still an amateur, she led after the first round of the U.S. Women's Open at Orchards Golf Club in South Hadley, Mass., before eventually finishing 55th. She qualified for the LPGA Tour in her first attempt at Q-School.
In-Kyung Kim
Country: South Korea
Born: June 13, 1988
Samsung World Championship appearances: First appearance
Kim demonstrated this year why she's one of the young guns on the LPGA Tour. The 21-year-old from South Korea won again in 2009, at the LPGA State Farm Classic, to continue her ascent. She has seen her earnings rise from $450,000 in 2007 to $770,000 last year to more than $1.06 million this season. Her No. 3 ranking on the money list qualified her for the Samsung World Championship. Kim also contended at the U.S. Women's Open before eventually finishing tied for third place. She's not a long hitter, but extremely accurate – she was second on the LPGA Tour in greens in regulation at 74.0 percent. She was also 10th in scoring (70.85) and fourth in birdies (235). While still an amateur, Kim shared co-medalist honors at the 2006 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, electing to turn professional immediately after the final round. She also was medalist at the Duramed Futures Tour Qualifying Tournament in 2007. Kim had an outstanding amateur career, highlighted by her victory at the 2005 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship and three titles on the International Junior Golf Tour. She also was a medalist at the 2005 U.S. Women's Amateur. She was a member of the Korean National Team in 2003-04. She first took up golf when she was 9.
Anna Nordqvist
Country: Sweden
Born: June 10, 1987
Samsung World Championship appearances: First appearance
In just the second major following Annika Sorenstam's retirement, one of her protoges – Nordqvist – won the LPGA Championship by four shots to qualify for the Samsung Championship. Nordqvist's previous best finish in six LPGA career starts had been a 17th-place tie at the Corona Championship before her breakthrough win in the LPGA Tour's second major. Although Nordqvist turned 20 the week before the LPGA Championship and was playing in just her fifth start as a professional, this was no fluke for someone who grew up idolizing Sorenstam. Nordqvist won last year's Ladies British Open Amateur and was low amateur at the RICOH Women's British Open. As a collegian, Nordqvist was a two-time All-America at Arizona State University and the Pacific Coast Conference's Player of the Year in 2007. She was Swedish Junior Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005, when she won the Girls' British Open Amateur and runner-up at the French Junior Championship. Nordqvist was second in the 2006 British Amateur and won the European Team Amateur. Now, thanks to her LPGA victory, Nordqvist can match Sorenstam's feat of having made her first career LPGA title a major championship (Sorenstam won the 1995 Women's U.S. Open).
Yani Tseng
Country: Taiwan
Born: January 23, 1989
Samsung World Championship appearances: 1 (2008)
The phenom from Taiwan showed her Rookie of the Year season was no fluke by winning again in 2009 and adding a pair of runner-up finishes. While this performance didn't match her success of 2008, when she had a victory and seven other top-three finishes, it did let her qualify to play in her second Samsung World Championship. Tseng burst onto the world golf scene when she made her first career LPGA win a major, beating Maria Hjorth in a playoff at the McDonald's LPGA Championship. With earnings of more than $1.7 million, she easily won the Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year award in '08. This year, she won the LPGA Corning Classic and was second in the MasterCard Classic Honoring Alejo Peralta and the Wegmans LPGA, enabling her to become the fastest player in LPGA history to cross the $2 million mark in career earnings (1 year, 1 month, 13 days). Tseng had a stellar amateur career that included four wins in the U.S. and 15 more around the world. She won the 2004 U.S.G.A. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship and a year later she captured the North & South Women's Amateur, beating Morgan Pressel in the finals.
Eun-Hee Ji
Country: South Korea
Born: May 13, 1986
Samsung World Championship appearances: 1 (2008)
South Korean Eun-Hee Ji carved out her piece of golf history this summer when she birdied three of her final holes, including making a clutch 20-foot putt at the 72nd hole, to win the U.S. Women's Open by a shot over Candie Kung. Ji has played just two full seasons on the LPGA Tour, but she has shown glimpses of greatness. The U.S. Open marked her third top-five finish in a major (she was fifth in the 2007 Women's British Open and third in last year's Women's British Open). As a rookie, she won her first LPGA title last year at the Wegmans LPGA, thanks to a 64 in the third round. Ji won a pair of titles on the Asia Tour in 2006 before qualifying for the LPGA Tour by finishing tied for 34th at Q-School. She also won the Korea Women's Amateur Championship in 2003. Ji qualified for the Samsung World Championship by winning the U.S. Women's Open at Saucon Valley.
Suzann Pettersen
Country: Norway
Born: April 7, 1981
Samsung World Championship appearances: 2 (2007, 2008)
Despite battling back problems throughout the season, Pettersen enjoyed another outstanding year on the LPGA Tour, especially in the last month when she finished 1-2 in consecutive starts. She posted top-10 finishes in more than half (10) of her 18 events, recording her third runner-up of the season at the Safeway Classic and then ending a two-year winless spell with a victory at the CN Canadian Women's Open. She's second on the LPGA Tour's money list with $1.3 million, a ranking that earned Pettersen a spot in the Samsung World Championship. Petterson burst onto the world scene in 2007 when she won five times on the LPGA Tour. She came close earlier this year with runner-up finishes this year at the Corona Championship and the Sybase Classic. Her best showings in majors this year was a fifth at the Kraft Nabisco Championship and a sixth at the U.S. Women's Open. She qualified for her fifth European Solheim Cup team. She ranked 110th in fairways hit this year (66.5 percent), but was 11th in greens in regulation (71.2 percent). She had her second hole-in-one on the LPGA Tour this year, making the ace at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic. Petterson has won four times outside the U.S. She won the 2000 World Amateur Championship and the British Girls Championship in 1999. She was a five-time Norwegian Amateur Championship winner (1996-2000).
Catriona Matthew
Country: Scotland
Born: August 25, 1969
Samsung World Championship appearances: 3 (2001, 2004, 2005)
There's something about motherhood that brings out the best golf in 40-year-old Catriona Matthew. Ten weeks after giving birth to her second child, Sophie Lauren, Matthew became the first Scot to win a women's major when she took home the title at the 2009 RICOH Women's British Open by three shots over Hall of Famer Karrie Webb at Royal Lytham. Her victory at Royal Lytham earned her a spot in the Samsung World Championship. "Perhaps I should have started having children sooner," joked Matthew, who finished tied for second in her first major after the birth of her daughter Katie in 2006. Matthew – nicknamed "Beanie" by her friends -- seized control at Royal Lytham by making consecutive eagles, including a hole-in-one, in the second round. It was just her third LPGA start of the year. The Women's British Open was her third career LPGA Tour title and fifth around the world. The underrated Scot now has 12 top-10 finishes in majors, including her runner-up showing at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2007. The five-time Solheim Cupper was an accomplished amateur in Scotland, winning the 1986 Scottish Girls title, the 1988-89 Scottish Under-21 Stroke Play, the Scottish Amateur three times, the 1993 British Amateur and represented Great Britain and Ireland on three Curtis Cup teams.
Angela Stanford
Country: United States
Born: November 28, 1977
Samsung World Championship appearances: 3 (2008, 2007, 2003)
Stanford followed up her breakout 2008 season with another strong performance this year, highlighted by her victory in the season-opening SBS Open at Turtle Bay and a tie for second at the CN Canadian Women's Open. Stanford didn't finish out of the top 15 in any of her first six events this year, which included a third at the HSBC Women's Champions and seventh at the Honda LPGA Thailand and Michelob Ultra Open. Stanford had another stretch of three consecutive top-10s, including a fifth at the McDonald's LPGA Championship, her best showing in a major since 2004. Stanford, who has four career LPGA Tour wins, was 2-2 as a member of the winning U.S. Solheim Cup team. It was the third time she has represented her country. She ranked among the LPGA's finest this season in eagles (eight, second), round under par (66 percent, third) and rounds in 60s (39.6 percent, third). In 2000, she won the Futures Tour Championship. Stanford, 31, was a four-time All-America at Texas Christian University after a brilliant amateur career in the state. Stanford qualified for the Samsung World Championship by ranking 12th on the LPGA Tour's money list.
Juli Inkster
Country: United States
Born: June 24, 1960
Samsung World Championship victories: 3 (1997, 1998, 2000)
Few players in LPGA Tour history can match the long, successful run of this California native. Inkster has won 32 LPGA titles, including seven majors, while earning more than $12 million during her more than quarter-century stay on the tour. She qualified for the LPGA Hall of Fame and the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1999, when she won a career-best five times and two majors. She has enjoyed her most success at the Samsung World Championship, winning this elite event three times (1997, 1998 and 2000). While she has only one official win since 2004, Inkster remains one of the game's most consistent performers. She has six runner-up finishes in the last five years and has made the cut in 96.6 percent of her starts. She was selected as a wild-card selection for her eighth Solheim Cup appearance this year, which enabled her at 49 to become the oldest Solheim competitor. Inkster took little time to make a splash on the LPGA Tour, earning Rookie of the Year honors in 1984. That was no surprise, considering Inkster won the US. Women's Amateur three consecutive years (1980-‘82), becoming the first person to do so since 1934. Inkster received a sponsor exemption to play in this year's Samsung World Championship.
Kristy McPherson
Country: United States
Born: May 28, 1981
Samsung World Championship appearances: First appearance
McPherson continued her steady ascent into the upper ranks of women's golf this year. Though the South Carolina native failed to win on the LPGA Tour in 2009, she did just about everything else. She finished second in a major (the Kraft Nabisco Championship) and qualified for her first U.S. Solheim Cup team. The majors brought out the best in her game. In addition to her runner-up finish at Kraft Nabisco, she was fifth in the McDonald's LPGA Championship and seventh at the RICOH Women's British Open. With earnings of more than $600,000, the 28-year-old has doubled her LPGA career earnings during her three years on tour. She ranked in the top 20 on the LPGA Tour in driving accuracy (76 percent, 15th), greens in regulation (70.1 percent, 14th) and scoring average (71.35, 17th). Big things have been expected of McPherson since a prolific amateur career that included a stint on the boys' high school golf team. At the Univeristy of South Carolina, she twice won the individual Southeastern Conference championship in 2001-02 and was a three-time All-America. She once went 60 consecutive events on the Future's Tour without missing a cut. McPherson qualified for the Samsung World Championship by her spot (17th) on the LPGA Tour's money list.
Cristie Kerr
Country: United States
Born: October 12, 1977
Samsung World Championship appearances: 8 (2008-2002,
2000)
For the sixth consecutive season, Kerr lifted a trophy in 2008 as a winner on the LPGA Tour. Kerr won the Michelob Ultra Open for her 12th career LPGA title and added 2nd place finishes at the Kraft Nabisco Championship and 3rd at the U.S. Women's Open. Kerr led the LPGA's money list with more than $1.3 million, enabling her to pass the $10 million mark in career earnings, only the 6th player in LPGA to achieve this feat. She also qualified for her fifth consecutive U.S. Solheim Cup team, going 2-1-1 to help lead the Americans to the victory. Kerr brought her "A game" almost every week, leading the tour by finishing in the top 10 in 11 of her 17 starts (she finished outside of the top 25 just once all season.) Kerr led the LPGA in birdies (253), scoring (70.17) and rounds under par. It's not surprising, then, she leads in her attempt to win the Rolex Player of the Year Award for the first time in her 13-year LPGA career. The Miami native turned professional after high school having won virtually all of the top amateur events in Florida. In 2006 she received the LPGA Komen Award for donating more than $250,000 through her Birdies for Breast Cancer program.
Na Yeon Choi
Country: South Korea
Born: October 20, 1987
Samsung World Championship appearances: 1 (2008)
The South Korean is only in her second full season on the LPGA Tour, but already has shown talent that belies her age (21). She hasn't reached the winner's circle yet, but she has 16 top-10 finishes, including five in the top three, during her brief LPGA career. She opened this season with a third-place tie at the SBS Open at Turtle Bay and also was third at the Corona Championship. She doesn't seem awed by the majors, posting top-10 finishes at the McDonald's LPGA Championship (eighth), U.S. Women's Open (ninth) and the Ricoh Women's British Open (eighth). Those performances helped Choi land a spot in the Samsung World Championship by ranking 15th on the LPGA Tour's money list with earnings of more than $615,000. She was runner-up as top rookie to Yani Tseng last year. Prior to joining the LPGA, Choi was a force on the Korean LPGA. She won four times, including once as an amateur in 2004. She immediately turned professional (at 16) after winning that event. She's not a long hitter (she averages 254.5 yards a drive), but she's accurate. She ranks sixth on the LPGA Tour this year with 229 birdies and 10th with five eagles.
Sophie Gustafson
Country: Sweden
Born: December 27, 1973
Samsung World Championship victories: 1 (2003)
The veteran Swede demonstrated a nice bit of timing this season: Though she had just three top-10s in 14 LPGA Tour events, one of those – a playoff loss to Ai Miyazato – was in the big-money Evian Masters in France. That check for the 10th runner-up finish of her career helped Gustafson earn a spot in the Samsung World Championship as the leading money earner on the Ladies European Tour. Gustafson won the 2003 Samsung World Championship by two shots when it was played at The Players Club at The Woodlands in Texas. Gustafson has 18 wins around the world, but her loss to Miyazato pushed her playoff record to 0-6. Gustafson qualified for her seventh European Solheim Cup and was a steadying influence to her young teammates. Gustafson remains one of the longest hitters in women's golf, ranking sixth on the LPGA Tour with an average drive of 265.7 yards. She is married to former LPGA Commissioner Ty Votaw. In 2003 she made history by becoming the first woman to compete in a men's Japan Golf Tour event at the Casio Open. She will soon become the 30th LPGA player to cross the $5 million mark in career earnings. Among her hobbies is riding motorcycles.
Lindsey Wright
Country: Australia
Born: December 31, 1979
Samsung World Championship appearances: First appearance
The Australian's game is certainly headed in the proper direction: 2008 marked the fifth consecutive season Lindsay Wright has increased her earnings and improved her position on the LPGA Tour's Official Money List. Wright used a career-best second-place finish at the McDonald's LPGA Championship to help her move into the top 15 with more than $650,000 in earnings. Wright also was third at the Michelob Ultra Open, where she shot a career-low 64 in the third round, and was fourth at the season's first major, the Kraft Nabisco Championship. Her other top-10s were a third at the Michelob Ultra Open and an eighth at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic. Wright has shown a propensity to go low: She has had seven rounds this year of 67 or lower. Though she averages just 250 yards off the tee (ranking her 71st on the LPGA Tour), she's 13th in greens in regulation (70.2 percent) and scoring (71.02). Wright, who was born in England, finished second in the 2001 NCAA Division I Women's tournament while attending Pepperdine. She also was a semifinalist at the 2002 U.S. Women's Amateur.
Karrie Webb
Country: Australia
Born: December 21, 1974
Samsung World Championship appearances: 11 (2008, 2006, 2004-1996)
Having gone winless in back-to-back seasons for the first time in her Hall of Fame career, there was speculation that Webb had lost some of her competitive fire. But she answered those concerns this year by winning her 36th career LPGA Tour title (J Golf Phoenix LPGA International) and she also was runner-up to Catriona Matthew at the Ricoh Women's British Open, Webb's best showing in a major since 2007, and tie for second at the CN Canadian Women's Open. It's easy to see why Webb could become complacent; she qualified for the LPGA Tour and World Golf Hall of Fames by 30. Three years earlier, she became the first LPGA player to win the Super Career Grand Slam (winning all five majors that were available). Webb, who has seven major titles, has done it all. She was Rookie of the Year in 1996, won three Vare Trophies and was Rolex Player of the Year twice. Annika Sorenstam has often said it was Webb's emergence in the late-1990s that helped motivate her in becoming the world's best woman golfer. Webb had the honor of carrying the Olympic torch for the Summer Games in Sydney in 2000. She won the 1995 Women's British Open even before she joined the LPGA Tour.
Song-Hee Kim
Country: South Korea
Born: July 16, 1988
Samsung World Championship appearances: 1 (2008)
Few golfers have ever had the kind of consistent season Kim has posted in 2009. She missed just one cut in 16 starts on the LPGA Tour and 13 of her finishes were inside the top 25. The South Korean was third at the Michelob Ultra Open and the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic, fourth at the MasterCard Classic Honoring Alejo Peralta and fifth at the LPGA Corning Classic. She probably didn't know what to do with herself when she missed her lone cut, at the Wegmans LPGA, thanks to a first-round 77. She quickly bounced back at her next event with her third at Farr's event. She posted a career-best finish in a major (ninth) at the McDonald's LPGA Championship. Not surprisingly, Kim ranks near the top in most of the LPGA's most important statistics. She's third in birdies (237), fifth in eagles (six), sixth in scoring average (70.7) and fourth in rounds in 60s (37.7 percent). Kim qualified for the Samsung World Championship by ranking 11th on the LPGA Tour's money list. Kim qualified for the LPGA Tour by finishing first on the 2006 Duramed Futures Tour's money list. She has four worldwide wins as a professional.