1. Pettersen leads LPGA to Asia for Honda LPGA Thailand
Defending champion looks to defend 2007 title
2. This week: Honda LPGA Thailand, Siam Country Club, Plantation Course, Feb. 26-March 1, Chonburi, Thailand, $1,450,000
3. Next week: HSBC Women's Champions, Tanah Merah Country Club, Garden Course, Singapore, $2,000,000, March 5-8, 2009
4. LPGA news and notes
5. Race for the Cup

1. Pettersen leads LPGA to Asia for Honda LPGA Thailand
Defending champion looks to defend 2007 title

PATTAYA CITY, Thailand - The LPGA returns to Siam Country Club this week for the third staging of the Honda LPGA Thailand, which will be played on the Plantation Course for the first time. Boasting a $1.45 million purse, 60 players, led by defending champion Suzann Pettersen, are in pursuit of the $217,500 winner's check.

When the Tour last visited Thailand in October 2007, the 72nd hole was the scene for one of the most dramatic endings of the years. All tied at 19-under-par to start the hole, Laura Davies missed her 25-foot eagle putt, but made birdie. Pettersen carded the eighth eagle of her season by sinking her 15-foot putt to defeat Davies by one stroke. It was Pettersen's fifth victory of 2007.

This week, the field at the Honda LPGA Thailand - which will be contested in the spring for the first time in tournament history - has a strong field of contenders, which includes 11 of the top-14 on the 2009 LPGA Official Money List, including 2009 SBS Open at Turtle Bay Champion Angela Stanford. Off the Rolex Rankings, 16 of the top-20 ranked players are competing in Thailand, including all players in the top-10. Lorena Ochoa, a 24-time LPGA Tour winner; 2008 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Yani Tseng; eight-time Tour winner Paula Creamer, who also finished third at this event in 2007; Pettersen and 2009 rookie (and three-time winner in 2008 on the LPGA Tour) Jiyai Shin, all comprise the top five on the Rolex Rankings leading in to this week.

Davies will also return to Thailand. She owns 20 wins on the LPGA Tour and, most recently, earned her 52nd international victory at the Australian Ladies Open on the Australian Ladies Professional Golf (ALPG) Tour.

With her Thai heritage, two-time LPGA Tour winner Stacy Prammanasudh will compete this week, and is sure to be a fan favorite. Prammanasudh was fifth in 2007, one of 10 top-10 finishes that year.

2. This week: Honda LPGA Thailand, Siam Country Club, Plantation Course, Feb. 26-March 1, Chonburi, Thailand, $1,450,000

Par: 36-36, 72
Yardage: 6,477
Format: 72-hole stroke play
Winner: $217,500
Runner-up: $138,906
Field: 60 players
Defending champion: Suzann Pettersen, 2007
Victory margin: Defeated Laura Davies by one stroke
Media center: 011-66-38-909-640
LPGA media contact: Dana Gross-Rhode

3. Next week: HSBC Women's Champions, Tanah Merah Country Club, Garden Course, Singapore, $2,000,000, March 5-8, 2009

Par: 36-36, 72
Yardage: 6,547
Format: 72-hole stroke play
Winner: $300,000
Runner-up: $183,533
Field: 78 pros
Defending champion: Lorena Ochoa
Victory margin: Defeated Annika Sorenstam by 11 strokes
Tournament information: 011-65-6505-9300

4. LPGA news and notes

LPGA sees increases in viewership, LPGA.com visits to start 2009
The numbers are in after the official start of the 2009 LPGA Tour season - the SBS Open at Turtle Bay. Visits to LPGA.com, as well as viewership on the Golf Channel, were up from 2008 and, in the case of television, the event ranked among the top-five LPGA events of all time.

LPGA.com recorded more than 320,000 unique users (up 24 percent from 2008) and 5.2 million page views (up 55 percent from 2008) for the week. Data gathered by Nielsen showed a daily average of 323,000 households tuning in to the event, which is a 34 percent increase over 2008. The final round of the 2009 SBS Open at Turtle Bay was the fourth-highest LPGA event ever viewed on the Golf Channel with 428,000 households watching. Only one other non-major championship - the 2008 Fields Open in Hawaii - ranks higher at third all-time with 439,000.

The three-day event on the Palmer course of the Turtle Bay Resort Golf Club in Kahuku, Oahu, Hawaii, was contested Feb. 12 to 14. Angela Stanford claimed her third victory in her last seven starts - advancing by three strokes over 2009 LPGA Tour rookie Michelle Wie, of Hawaii.

Jerman, family join Team in Training for cancer.
LPGA Tour member Angela Jerman and her sister, Amanda Baker, are training for a triathlon in memory of their father, Jim Jerman, and for all individuals who are battling blood cancers. Jim Jerman passed away in September 2006 from CML, a type of Leukemia. Jerman and Baker have joined Team in Training, (TNT) to help prepare them for the St. Anthony's Triathlon in St. Petersburg, Fla. on April 26, 2009, which entails a one-mile swim, 26-mile bike ride and six-mile run. They are committed to raising a minimum of $6,100 in sponsorship funds by the end of March to be used for research and patient aid in the fight against blood cancer. Visit their Web site at http://pages.teamintraining.org/ga/anttry09/jermanbakersisters to learn more or make a donation.

5. Race for the Cup

This week's Honda LPGA Thailand marks the second tournament of 2009 where U.S.-born LPGA players will receive one and a half times the points toward making the U.S. Solheim Cup team. The 2009 Solheim Cup will be played at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill., Aug. 21-23. Considered the most prestigious international team event in women's professional golf, the U.S. leads Europe 7-3 and has never lost on home soil.

Solheim Cup countdown:

- 4 days until U.S. Solheim Cup captain Beth Daniel appears at the Chicago Golf Show
- 41 days until double U.S. team points are awarded at the season's first major - the Kraft Nabisco Championship
- 160 days until U.S. and European teams are announced following the RICOH Women's British Open
- 178 days until matches begin at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill.

Topics: News and Notes