2006 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year race should be one to remember

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - If the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament Presented by American Airlines is any indicator, the race for the 2006 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year award should be one of the most competitive in recent history.

Don't be fooled by the rookie label attached to Ai Miyazato, Morgan Pressel, Brittany Lang, Julieta Granada, Louise Stahle and Jee Young Lee, six of the 37 first-year players who will make their LPGA debut next year. They are all proven players and should provide fans with some exiting drama as they battle to see who is the Tour's top rookie.

With the exception of Lee, all of them earned exempt status for the 2006 season at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament by finishing 24th or better.

Miyazato, a 20-year-old star from Japan with a ton of endorsements and a smile that would make even the most curmudgeonly dentist perk up, won the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament Presented by American Airlines by a record 12 shots. In addition to bringing an entourage of Japanese media with her to the LPGA Tour, Miyazato will also bring 12-career wins from the Japan LPGA Tour.

Miyazato played in six events this year on the LPGA Tour and recorded a season-best finish at the HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship, where she knocked off Laura Diaz and Juli Inkster before falling to Sophie Gustafson in the third round and finished tied for ninth. Miyazato also placed 11th at the Weetabix Women's British Open, one of four LPGA Tour majors, and tied for 10th at the Mizuno Classic.

Pressel, who qualified for the 2001 U.S. Women's Open conducted by the USGA as a 12-year-old, competed in seven LPGA events this year and never finished worse than tied for 25th. She won the U.S. Women's Amateur and tied for second at the U.S. Women's Open after Birdie Kim holed an improbable bunker shot to win the third major of the year.

However, Pressel's 36 contemporaries will get a head start in the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year race, as Pressel won't compete as an LPGA member until she turns 18 in May. Pressel petitioned the LPGA for early membership at the age of 17, and was granted permission to compete in the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament Presented by American Airlines with the understanding that her LPGA membership would not take affect until she turned 18 in May.

Pressel finished tied for sixth at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament Presented by American Airlines and will compete in LPGA events before her 18th birthday via sponsor's exemptions. She has already accepted an invitation to play in the early-season Safeway International Presented by Coca-Cola, but any money earned will not be "official" until her membership begins in May.

Like Pressel, Lang tied for second at the U.S. Women's Open and also competed in five additional LPGA events. She attended Duke University for two years and was medalist at the LPGA Sectional Qualifying Tournament in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Lang earned her exempt Tour card with a birdie on the final hole of a cumulative three-hole playoff to determine who would receive the final exempt card.

Granada may not have received as much recognition as some of the other rookies during her amateur days, but her resume is nearly as impressive. The 2004 U.S. Girl's Junior champion won one event on the Futures Tour this year and notched three additional top-10 finishes.

Stahle has also flown under the radar, but has produced quality results at every level on which she has competed. She attended Arizona State University for one year and was named the 2005 National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) Eleanor Dudley Division I Player of the Year. She also won the NGCA's Player of the Year award and earned NGCA Freshman of the Year honors, as well as first-team NGCA All-America honors.

Lee already has something the other members of the rookie class do not: an LPGA win. The South Korean competed in the CJ Nine Bridges Classic Presented by Sports Today as a Korea LPGA member and went on to win the event and earn status for the 2006 season.

With players like Miyazato, Pressel, Lang, Granada, Stahle and Lee all beginning their LPGA careers at once, it would not be an overstatement to say that this could be one of the most talented rookie classes in the history of the LPGA-which means the race for the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year should be one of the most memorable in recent history.