In this week's Stats and Stuff, Ward Clayton breaks down the Navistar LPGA Classic Presented by Monaco RV.
One week before the Solheim Cup
There have been five occasions where a Solheim Cup participant won a LPGA Tour tournament in the final event just before the Solheim Cup was played. Team Europe player Annika Sorenstam accomplished the feat twice (1998 and 2002). None of the five had losing Solheim Cup records that season and none have lost in Singles.
There are 20 of the 24 participants for next week's Solheim Cup in the field this week at the Navistar LPGA Classic, including all 12 United States team members.
Here is a look at the five Solheim Cup team members who won the week before the competition, where they won and how they fared in the Solheim Cup:
| Player | Tournament win | Solheim Cup record that year |
| Beth Daniel | 1994 World Championship of Women's Golf | 2-1 (Singles win) |
| Annika Sorenstam | 1998 Safeco Classic | 3-2 (Singles win) |
| Annika Sorenstam | 2002 Safeway Classic | 3-1-1 (Singles halve) |
| Pat Hurst | 2005 State Farm Classic | 2-2-1 (Singles win) |
| Catriona Matthew | 2009 Ricoh Women's British Open | 1-1-2 (Singles win) |
Going low at Navistar
This week's field should be prepared to go low at the Navistar LPGA Classic. In the previous four years, a new tournament record has been established every year - 14-under in 2007, 15-under in 2008, 18-under in 2009 and 19-under last year.
Ochoa's final victory
The 2009 Navistar LPGA Classic was the last of Lorena Ochoa's 27 career LPGA Tour victories. Ochoa won the 2008 and 2009 Navistar. She announced her retirement from active play on April 23, 2010.
Tseng at the Navistar
Yani Tseng did not play in the 2010 Navistar LPGA Classic, but she still has fared well at Prattville, finishing at 13-under par in both 2008 and 2009. In 2008, Tseng finished T6. She finished T4 in 2009, including a second-round 63.
Tseng will be making her 96th career LPGA Tour start this week. This includes 10 wins, 44 top-10s (46 percent of her starts) and only six missed cuts (includes participation as an amateur) in her career.
Hull's turnaround
Katherine Hull is having a poor LPGA Tour season thus far, with one top-10 and $114,862 in earnings. The 29-year-old Australian has missed four consecutive cuts.
However, Hull came to the 2010 Navistar LPGA Classic off a missed cut at the Walmart Northwest Arkansas Open and won for the second time in her career. The victory pushed Hull to seven consecutive top-25 finishes to end the 2010 season. Hull has never missed the cut in Prattville, Ala., with finishes of T38, T11, T23 and a win in the last four years.
Thompson's Alabama success
Alexis Thompson has had tremendous success in Alabama's two LPGA events during her short career, challenging for the title on all three occasions. Thompson has recorded five of eight rounds in the 60s in Prattville at the Navistar LPGA Classic and finished T27 and T16. She placed T19 earlier this year in Mobile at the Avnet Classic after sharing the lead entering the final round.
Thompson, 16, has a busy schedule the remainder of the year. The second stage of LPGA Qualifying is Sept. 27-30 at Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Fla. The final stage is scheduled for Nov. 30-Dec. 4 at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla. Earlier this summer, Thompson was granted an exception to the LPGA's minimum age rule (18 years old), allowing her to attempt to qualify this fall for the 2012 season.
Here's a look at her Alabama performances:
| Year | Tournament, Site | Noteworthy | Finish |
| 2009 | Navistar LPGA, Prattville | 14-year-old amateur tied for lead after 65-69 | T27 |
| 2010 | Navistar LPGA, Prattville | First-year pro, 15, opened 69-68-68 | T16 |
| 2011 | Avnet Classic, Mobile | 16-year-old tied for third-round lead before final-round 78 | T19 |
Tseng's 10-win standings
Yani Tseng became the third-youngest player to reach 10 career LPGA Tour wins with her victory last week at the Walmart Northwest Arkansas Open. Here's where Tseng, 22, stands:
| Player | Age | 10th victory |
| Nancy Lopez | 22 years, 2 months, 5 days | 1979 Sunstar Classic |
| Marlene Hagge | 22 years, 6 months, 10 days | 1956 Denver Open |
| Yani Tseng | 22 years, 7 months, 14 days | 2011 Walmart NW Arkansas Open |
| Karrie Webb | 23 years, 3 months, 29 days | 1998 City of Hope Myrtle Beach Classic |
Tseng's fifth victory, other season highs
Yani Tseng has now won five times this season, joining a select group to win five or more times in a year. This includes Louise Suggs, Mickey Wright, Kathy Whitworth, Nancy Lopez and Pat Bradley among others. Tseng has won eight times worldwide this season.
Here's a look at those players who have won in double digits during
a single LPGA Tour season:
13, Mickey Wright, 1963
11, Mickey Wright, 1964
11, Annika Sorenstam, 2002
10, Betsy Rawls, 1959
10, Mickey Wright, 1961
10, Mickey Wright, 1962
10, Carol Mann, 1968
10, Kathy Whitworth, 1968
10, Annika Sorenstam, 2005
Amy Yang comes close
Amy Yang has come close to her first career victory over the last two seasons, recording 11 top-10 finishes and two runners-up, including a playoff loss to Yani Tseng at last week's Walmart Northwest Arkansas Classic. Yang, 22, from South Korea, was coming off two consecutive missed cuts before the Arkansas tournament, where she set a career low with a second-round 64.
Etc.
There have been four multiple winners this season on the LPGA Tour: Yani Tseng (5 wins), Karrie Webb (2), Suzann Pettersen (2) and Brittany Lincicome (2). There also have been nine different winners, hailing from Taiwan, Australia, Germany, the United States, Sweden, Norway, Colombia, South Korea and Japan. ... This week's Navistar LPGA Classic will be the next-to-last United States event of the season. The LPGA Tour goes to Ireland for next week's Solheim Cup and then has tournaments in China, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan and Mexico before returning to the United States Nov. 17-20 for the season-ending CME Group Titleholders in Orlando.
