It’s time to have a major talk.
In two short weeks, players will begin to bite their fingernails a bit more, stress out a tad extra and linger a little longer over every putt. For that’s when the 2015 LPGA major championship season begins with the ANA Inspiration in Rancho Mirage, Calif., and with it, the quest for the second annual Rolex ANNIKA Major Award.
Given to the player who performs best under the Tour’s five pressure-cooker majors, the Annika Award is a prized possession every player longs for. Michelle Wie, thanks in large part to her epic U.S. Women’s Open victory, took home the inaugural award, which is naturally named in honor of Hall of Famer and 10-time major champion Annika Sorenstam.
The honor is up for grabs with a wide-open race since everyone begins the year on equal footing, and it will be interesting to see who steps up when the pressure is at its zenith.
One would be hard pressed to bet against world No. 2 Inbee Park, who has won four of the last 10 LPGA majors and who won the ANA Inspiration in 2013 when it was called the Kraft Nabisco Championship. Lexi Thompson is the tournament’s defending champion, and Park, Wie, Mo Martin and Hyo Joo Kim joined her as 2014 major champions.
The ANA Inspiration runs April 2-5 and is followed on the major calendar by the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship June 11-14, the U.S. Women’s Open July 9-12, the RICOH Women’s British Open July 30-Aug. 2 and The Evian Championship Sept. 10-13. Five juggernauts spread out throughout the spring and summer should do a great deal to boost excitement and intensity on Tour, as they do every season.
No player has won back-to-back majors in consecutive years since Yani Tseng won the RICOH Women’s British Open in 2010 and 2011, so Thompson could have her work cut out for her. The ANA Inspiration is an event Sorenstam won three times (2001-02, 2005), so perhaps Thompson can use the ANNIKA Award as a motivator to join the Swede as a multiple “pond-jumper” in California.
As the Tour’s premier events, the five majors mean big-time money. LPGA stars will compete for $16.25 million in the five events, an average of $3.25 million per major. A win at a major could make a player’s entire year, and that kind of money could be a difference-maker in more ways than one.
They call them major for a reason.
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