Thirty-two hopefuls make final push for $1 million ADT Championship victory

Lorena Ochoa

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - This week is what it's all about. LPGA Tour members have been competing all season through LPGA Playoffs 2008 for their chance to gain entrance into the 32-player, $1 million-to-the-winner ADT Championship, hosted at Trump International Golf Club. LPGA Playoffs 2008 was a yearlong competitive structure that split the official LPGA season into two halves, culminating at the ADT Championship.

Led by defending champion Lorena Ochoa, the field includes 14 of the top 15 players on this week's Rolex Rankings, including world number two Annika Sorenstam, fresh off her tie for second at last week's Lorena Ochoa Invitational by Banamex and Corona Light. Although a four-time winner of the ADT Championship, Sorenstam has yet to capture the $1 million first prize - one of the few accomplishments she is missing from her 15-year career on the LPGA Tour, which will be ending this season. The ADT Championship marks her final official LPGA tournament before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the year.

However, there is a fire that has been lit among many in the field as 11 players punched their tickets on Sunday into this week's event by finishing in the top 11 spots on the second half ADT Points list, while two more players added their name as wildcard selections. Leading the charge are South Florida favorites Cristie Kerr, who led the second half ADT Points list with 848,850 ADT Points, and Morgan Pressel, who was ninth on the ADT Points list (416,137) thanks to her second LPGA career win in October at the Kapalua LPGA Classic.

Sun Young Yoo and Christina Kim and secured their spots as wildcard selections by finishing 25th and 27th, respectively, on the LPGA Official Money List; as they were the highest-ranked players on the LPGA Official Money List who had not yet qualified.

Of the 32 spots in the ADT Championship, 13 were designated to Winner Event champions, which are defined as official LPGA Tour events with a purse of at least $2 million. The 2008 ADT Championship features a $1,550,000 purse with the winner taking home a $1 million paycheck, the largest first-place prize in the history of women's golf. The ADT Championship will also feature three days of playoffs with a cut after 36 holes. Players start with a fresh scorecard for the third round, which ends with another cut to the top-eight players. A live draw will take place with the final eight players immediately following Saturday's third round, where players will draft their own tee time based on their third-round finish. A final-day shoot-out with the remaining players will have them, again, starting with a fresh scorecard for their chance at the $1 million winner's check.

2008 ADT Championship Final Field