The LPGA will invade Palm Springs for its first major of the year, the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
The Championship Course at Rancho Mirage was designed in 1970 by Desmond Muirhead and has hosted the LPGA since 1972 when the Dinah Shore sponsored by Colgate was first held.
The tournament was designated a major by the LPGA Tour in 1983 when Nabisco came on board and Kraft added their name to the tournament in 2002.
Sun Young Yoo from South Korea is the defending champion at the 2013 Kraft Nabisco Championship. She won last year in a playoff with I.K. Kim who missed a one-foot putt on the 72nd hole that would have given her the win.
Michelle Wie only has two wins since joining the LPGA Tour in 2009. She has had very high expectations placed upon her since she was a child. She has not had a top-10 finish in five starts in 2013.
Mission Hills has been very good to Wie in the past. She shot a 66 here in 2003 when she was only 13-years-old and played in the final group that week. She had another solid performance here in 2006 finishing T-3.
Wie has the game and is comfortable playing on this golf course. A win or high finish here could give her a confidence boost that could get her golf career back on track.
The LPGA needs Michelle Wie to become a factor.
Another player needing a confidence boost is Yani Tseng, who just dropped to No. 2 on the Rolex Rankings when Stacy Lewis passed her to claim the top spot. Length and solid iron play are rewarded at Mission Hills and Tseng is one of the longest on the LPGA.
Tseng held the No. 1 ranking for 109 weeks. Losing it may motivate her to step up her game and reclaim the throne.
Lexi Thompson is one of he most heralded young women to ever join the LPGA Tour. She posted wins on the LPGA and Ladies European Tours as a mere 16-year-old before she was allowed to be an LPGA member.
She was given a special membership exemption to join the tour last year by LPGA Tour Commissioner, Michael Whan.
In her rookie season, she had four top-10 finishes, won $611,000 and finished No. 21 on the LPGA money list. She could collect her first LPGA major title at the 2013 Kraft Nabisco.
I.K. Kim had a near miss here last year missing a tap-in at the last hole for the outright win and then lost the playoff to Sun Young Yoo. It was a crushing defeat.
She is coming off a T-13 at the RR Donnelley Founder Cup and a runner-up finish at the Kia Classic. She has won $218,000 this year and over $5 million in her six years on tour.
Kim has the experience to compete at the Kraft Nabisco and her game appears to be ready to win a major. Can she redeem herself for her near miss last year?
Stacy Lewis has already won twice on the LPGA Tour this year. She won in Singapore and also at the RR Donnelley Founders Cup in Phoenix.
She was the LPGA Tour’s Player of the Year in 2012 and became the first American woman to win that honor since Beth Daniel in 1994.
Lewis surpassed Yani Tseng and became the top-ranked player on the Rolex Rankings after her win in Singapore.
She got her first official LPGA Tour win at the 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship and is definitely the favorite to win this year.
Suzann Pettersen has 10 wins and has earned over $9 million on the LPGA Tour in her 10-year career. The 2007 LPGA Championship is the lone major title on her resume.
Pettersen finished runner-up at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2007, 2008 and 2010. She does not have a top-10 finish thus far in four starts in 2013, but is coming off a T-13 at the Kia Classic.
Pettersen has the length and all-around game to win at Mission Hills. She is due to add another major trophy to her mantle.
Na Yeon Choi is currently ranked No. 3 in the world and is the reigning U.S. Women’s Open Champion.
In four starts this year she was T-2 in Thailand and T-7 in Singapore. Choi has won seven events on the LPGA and over $7 million. She won twice last year and finished second on the LPGA Tour’s money list.
Choi is ranked inside the top-10 in greens-in-regulation, average putts, and scoring average. Her game is suited to Mission Hills. Her best finish here was a T-6 in 2008.
She likes the big stage and the big events. Look for Choi on the leaderboard on Sunday afternoon.
So Yeon Ryu won the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open before she became a member of the LPGA Tour.
In her rookie season last year she won the 2012 Jamie Farr Toledo Classic and had 16 top-10 finishes. She ended the year ranked No. 6 on the money list with $1.2 million and is one of the bright young stars on the LPGA Tour.
Ryu is very consistent and with one major win already in her trophy case has the experience necessary to win the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Paula Creamer has struggled with a hand injury and has not won on tour since her 2010 U.S. Open victory. She is one of the most popular players on tour and always draws a large gallery.
Her best finish this year was a third at the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore. She had seven top-10 finishes last year and appears to be returning to top form.
Inbee Park is a former world No. 1. She has been on the LPGA Tour since 2007 and has won over $5.5 million.
Currently ranked No. 4 in the world, she won the Honda LPGA Thailand in February and has made the cut in her other three starts this year.
Park won the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open and her best finish in the Kraft Nabisco was ninth in 2008.
Don’t be surprised if Inbee Park wins this week at the Kraft Nabisco Championship.