Congrats to Hjorth, Tseng, Choi & Munoz

Wow! The LPGA Tour Championship finished yesterday with Maria Hjorth emerging as the WINNER! She shot even par for the day and won the tourney at -5 overall.  She defeated Amy Yang by 1 stroke, with her birdie putt on the 18th.

Yang had also made a birdie putt to get her within contention for a playoff if Maria had missed her putt. She did not, and So Amy Yang placed 2nd at -4 followed by In-Kyung Kim and Cristie Kerr in a tie for 3rd place at -2.
Maria, who came back last year after having a child, celebrated with Emily in her arms and tears flowing on the 18th green. With the expression caught on Emily's face, it is clear she knew this was something big for Mommy!

Na Yeon Choi finished in a tie for 5th place with Laura Diaz at -1 however, she won the Vare Trophy. And Yani Tseng who finished at +5 in 21st place held on to the World's No. 1 and took home the Rolex Player of The Year Trophy. Now, she can add another Trophy to her vastly open trophy case which was previously home to Annika Sorenstam, prior to her purchase last year. Her home in Lake Nona, is still nearby to Annika's new home at Lake Nona and Yani knows she can go there with any questions or simply the inspiration she has gotten from her in the past two years since her Rookie year in 2008.

Na Yeon has had 2 wins and 16 top ten finishes this season, out of the 24 tourneys she has played. Out of 83 rounds she has played, 37 of those were in the 60's. Yani's season overview touts 3 WINS and 8 top ten finishes. She has now had 5 career victories. Out of her 68 rounds played, she's carded 25 in the 60's.

Another winner for the 2010 season, was Azahara Munoz, who won Rookie of The Year in a ceremony friday evening at Cypress Golf Club. While Azahara didn't make it to weekend play for this last tourney of the 2010 season, she felt she accomplished one of her goals; which she stated in 2008, was to get the Rookie of The Year. It was more of a dream she had had since she was a little girl just learning the game of golf. She recalled a moment in college when she was crying on the phone with her dad after not doing well in a tourney. He told her that if golfing made her cry, then she should stop. And stop she did not. That gave her the focus and the fuel to steam ahead and make her dreams a reality. She has had 22 starts this year with 3 top ten finishes. While her best finish this year was 4th, she carded 20 rounds in the 60's. She is ranked 18th in her scoring average and of course 1st in her Rookie Points at 704. We will be seeing alot more of this young lady in the coming seasons!

I would be remiss, to not mention this next lady, Cristie Kerr. While Cristie Kerr may not have won this tournament to become the first American to win the Rolex Player of the Year Trophy, she's a winner in my book! She needed the win to exceed the 6 points she was behind Yani Tseng for the title. Cristie has the panache', focus, and dedication it takes to accomplish this title and she will be moving forward into the 2011 season with that goal in mind. While already being one of the best putters on the LPGA this season, she is also one of the most determined. She doesn't walk up the fairway making small talk with her caddy or other players, she speaks of how she could have made that shot better and what her task is for her next shot. She is zen-like when she steps on the green and you can almost see the grid lines beaming from her eyes as she readies her putt. She has had 2 wins this season and 14 top ten finishes. She now has 14 career victories under her belt. She is ranked 2nd in birdies & her scoring average. Out of her 78 rounds played, 50 were under par and 31 were in the 60's. Cristie may not have won this season ending title this year however, she is still a Champion Golfer and great example to all the young girls and women of the sport! Hat's off to a great season Cristie and an even better 2011.

To see a list of the seasons winners, click on this link; LPGA .


Now, Go Hit Some Balls.......................