2006 LPGA Tour

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The 2006 LPGA Tour was a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world which took place from February through December 2006. The tournaments were sanctioned by the United States based Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). In 2006, prize money on the LPGA Tour exceeded US$50 million for the first time in the history of the LPGA Tour.

Lorena Ochoa became the first Mexican to top the money list on the LPGA Tour, or any major international golf tour, while Annika Sörenstam held her position as the top ranked player through the whole season. Multi-time major champions Karrie Webb and Se Ri Pak had comeback seasons after fallow periods, each claiming a major championship.

2006 saw a growth in the international presence on the Tour. Of the 33 events, only seven were won by Americans, with Cristie Kerr the only American to win more than once (three times). By contrast, Mexican Lorena Ochoa won six events, Australian Karrie Webb five, Swede Annika Sörenstam three, and nine different South Koreans combined to win 11 events. The season-ending LPGA Playoffs at The ADT was won by Paraguayan Julieta Granada. The other seven finalists in that event featured only two Americans (Paula Creamer and Natalie Gulbis); the others were Ochoa, Webb, Koreans Il Mi Chung and Mi Hyun Kim, and Japanese Ai Miyazato.

For details of what happened in the main tournaments of the year see 2006 in golf.

Tournament schedule and results

  • The winner of Major events automatically qualified for the LPGA Playoffs at The ADT. ADT Playoffs points were doubled at Major events.
  • The top-20 finishers in Points events earned double ADT Playoffs points.
  • The champion of Winner events automatically qualified for LPGA Playoffs at The ADT. Other top-20 finishers earned single ADT Playoffs points.
  • The Global Group (pre-determined international events) events were combined to count as one Winner event qualifier, with the player earning the most combined points in these events earning automatic entry to LPGA Playoffs at The ADT. No additional points were awarded.
  • Unofficial money Eevents did not count toward entry into the LPGA Playoffs at The ADT.
  • The first half of the season concluded with the final full-field domestic event (Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic) prior to the Tour traveling to Europe.
  • The second half concluded with final event (The Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions) prior to the LPGA Playoffs at The ADT.

The number in parentheses after winners' names show the player's total number of official money, individual event wins on the LPGA Tour including that event.

Dates Tournament Location ADT Playoff
Category
Winner
Jan 20-22 Women's World Cup of Golf South Africa South Africa unofficial  Sweden
(Annika Sörenstam & Liselotte Neumann)
Feb 16-18 SBS Open at Turtle Bay United States Hawaii points South Korea Joo Mi Kim (1)
Feb 23-25 Fields Open in Hawaii United States Hawaii points South Korea Meena Lee (2)
Mar 10-12 MasterCard Classic Mexico Mexico points Sweden Annika Sörenstam (67)
Mar 16-19 Safeway International United States Arizona points United States Juli Inkster (31)
Mar 30-Apr 2 Kraft Nabisco Championship United States California major Australia Karrie Webb (31)
Apr 13-15 LPGA Takefuji Classic United States Nevada points Mexico Lorena Ochoa (4)
Apr 20-23 Florida's Natural Charity Championship United States Georgia points South Korea Sung Ah Yim (1)
Apr 27-30 Ginn Clubs & Resorts Open United States Florida points South Korea Mi Hyun Kim (6)
May 4-7 Franklin American Mortgage Championship United States Tennessee points United States Cristie Kerr (7)
May 11-14Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill United States Virginia winner Australia Karrie Webb (32)
May 18-21Sybase Classic * United States New York points Mexico Lorena Ochoa (5)
May 25-28LPGA Corning Classic United States New York points South Korea Hee-Won Han (5)
Jun 2-4ShopRite LPGA Classic United States New Jersey points South Korea Seon Hwa Lee (1)
Jun 8-11McDonald's LPGA Championship United States Maryland major South Korea Se Ri Pak (23)
Jun 22-25Wegmans LPGA United States New York points South Korea Jeong Jang (2)
Jun 29-Jul 2U.S. Women's Open United States Rhode Island major Sweden Annika Sörenstam (68)
Jul 6-9HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship United States New Jersey winner United States Brittany Lincicome (1)
Jul 13-16Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic United States Ohio points South Korea Mi Hyun Kim (7)
Start of second half of season
Jul 26-29Evian Masters France France winner Australia Karrie Webb (33)
Aug 3-6Weetabix Women's British Open England England major United States Sherri Steinhauer (7)
Aug 10-13CN Canadian Women's Open Canada Ontario, Canada points United States Cristie Kerr (8)
Aug 18-20Safeway Classic United States Oregon points United States Pat Hurst (5)
Aug 24-27Wendy's Championship for Children United States Ohio points Mexico Lorena Ochoa (6)
Aug 31-Sep 3State Farm Classic United States Illinois points Sweden Annika Sörenstam (69)
Sep 8-10John Q. Hammons Hotel Classic United States Oklahoma points United States Cristie Kerr (9)
Sep 21-24Longs Drugs Challenge United States California points Australia Karrie Webb (34)
Oct 5-8Corona Morelia Championship Mexico Mexico points Mexico Lorena Ochoa (7)
Oct 12-15Samsung World Championship United States California winner Mexico Lorena Ochoa (8)
Oct 19-22Honda LPGA Thailand Thailand Thailand global group South Korea Hee-Won Han (6)
Oct 27-29KOLON-Hana Bank Championship South Korea South Korea global group South Korea Jin Joo Hong (1)
Nov 3-5Mizuno Classic Japan Japan global group Australia Karrie Webb (35)
Nov 9-12The Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions United States Alabama winner Mexico Lorena Ochoa (9)
Nov 16-19ADT Championship United States Florida n/a Paraguay Julieta Granada (1)
Dec 15-17Lexus Cup Singapore Singapore unofficial Team Asia
Dec 23-24Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge United States Nevada unofficial PGA Tour

Tournaments in bold are majors.
* tournament shortened to 54 holes because of rain.

Leaders

Money List leaders

RankPlayerCountryEarnings ($)Events
1 Lorena Ochoa  Mexico 2,592,872 25
2 Karrie Webb  Australia 2,090,113 21
3 Annika Sörenstam  Sweden 1,971,741 20
4 Julieta Granada  Paraguay 1,633,586 31
5 Cristie Kerr  United States 1,578,362 26
6 Mi Hyun Kim  South Korea 1,332,274 30
7 Juli Inkster  United States 1,326,442 21
8 Jang Jeong  South Korea 1,151,070 27
9 Hee-Won Han  South Korea 1,147,651 28
10 Pat Hurst  United States 1,128,662 19

Full 2006 Official Money List

Scoring Average leaders

RankPlayerCountryAverage
1 Lorena Ochoa  Mexico 69.24
2 Annika Sörenstam  Sweden 69.82
3 Cristie Kerr  United States 70.07
4 Karrie Webb  Australia 70.11
5 Juli Inkster  United States 70.48

Full 2006 Scoring Average List - navigate to "2006", then "Scoring Average"

Award winners

The three competitive awards given out by the LPGA each year are:

  • The Rolex Player of the Year is awarded based on a formula in which points are awarded for top-10 finishes and are doubled at the LPGA's four major championships and at the season-ending ADT Championship. The points system is: 30 points for first; 12 points for second; nine points for third; seven points for fourth; six points for fifth; five points for sixth; four points for seventh; three points for eighth; two points for ninth and one point for 10th.
  • The Vare Trophy, named for Glenna Collett-Vare, is given to the player with the lowest scoring average for the season.
  • The Louis Suggs Rolex Rooke of the Year Award is awarded to the first-year player on the LPGA Tour who scores the highest in a points competition in which points are awarded at all full-field domestic events and doubled at the LPGA's four major championships. The points system is: 150 points for first; 80 points for second; 75 points for third; 70 points for fourth; and 65 points for fifth. After fifth place, points are awarded in increments of three, beginning at sixth place with 62 points. Rookies who make the cut in an event and finish below 41st each receive five points. The award is named after Louise Suggs, one of the founders of the LPGA.

See also

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