PREPPING FOR THE YEAR’S FIRST MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP
This week’s Kia Classic marks the final tune-up before the LPGA’s first major of the 2016 season, the ANA Inspiration which takes place next week in nearby Rancho Mirage, California. So it’s no surprise that Aviara Golf Club will play host to one of the best fields of the year with 98 of the top 100 on last year’s LPGA Official Money List teeing it up this week.Defending champion Cristie Kerr, who carded a final-round 65 to capture her 17th career LPGA title here last year, headlines the star-studded field. This is the seventh year of the Kia Classic and the fourth consecutive season it has been held at the Aviara Golf Club.
CRISTIE KERR BACK TO DEFEND
In 2015, Cristie Kerr became the first American winner of the Kia Classic thanks to a four-round total of 20-under par 268 that broke the event’s scoring record by four shots. It was Kerr’s first of two LPGA wins last year, a successful year in which she was also one of the key members of the victorious Solheim Cup-winning Team USA.Kerr now has 18 career LPGA victories, including two major championships, is 14th in the Rolex Rankings and as of today, would qualify for both the Olympics and the UL International Crown. In 2016, Kerr is still searching for her first top-10 finish but did finish a season-best T13th last week in Phoenix.
SOUTH KOREAN CHARGE
Since Hyo Joo Kim captured the season-opening event in the Bahamas, Korean golfers have been the story of the Tour. Last week at the JTBC Founders Cup in Phoenix, Sei Young Kim captured the fourth victory by a South Korean so far this year and did so in record fashion, tying the LPGA’s 72-hole scoring by finishing at 27-under-par. Two of those four victories by Koreans belong to sophomore sensation Ha Na Jang, who along with her two wins (Coates Golf Championship Presented by R+L Carriers and HSBC Women’s Champions) has not finished worse than T13 in six events so far in 2016.The two winners so far this year who don’t play under the South Korean flag are Japan’s Haru Nomura (ISPS Handa Australian Women’s Open) and American Lexi Thompson (Honda LPGA Thailand).
SEI YOUNG CHASING RECORDS IN YEAR TWO
At the JTBC Founders Cup last week, second year player Sei Young Kim tied Annika Sorenstam’s all-time LPGA record with a four-day 27-under-par total. Kim fired a final round 10-under-par 62 to tie Sorenstam for the lowest four-round total in relation to par in the Tour’s history – a record Sorenstam previously set at the 2001 Standard Register Ping, which was also in the greater Phoenix area at nearby Moon Valley Country Club.
At just 23 years old, Kim now has four LPGA wins and five KLPGA wins and is ranked fifth in the Rolex Rankings. She has played in the Kia Classic two times previously, with her best finish a T29 in 2015.
HIRE HEROES NAMED OFFICIAL CHARITY PARTNER OF THE KIA CLASSIC
Kia Motors America’s (KMA) roster of philanthropic partners expanded with the announcement of a partnership with Hire Heroes USA, a national non-profit organization dedicated to providing consistently effective and individualized career coaching services to help veterans transform their military service into civilian success. Kia will actively support Hire Heroes USA through an initial $25,000 donation and will work with the non-profit on future initiatives and opportunities with Kia.As an extension of the partnership, Hire Heroes USA has also been designated as the official charity partner of the 2016 LPGA Kia Classic, and a portion of ticket proceeds will be donated to the non-profit. The seventh annual LPGA Kia Classic takes place at the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort in Carlsbad, California, from March 24-27. For more information, please visit www.kiaclassic.com.
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