LPGA Notebook: Webb ready to return to No. 1, says Davies
 
Feb. 11, 2007

Karrie Webb is the player to beat on the 2007 LPGA Tour, Laura Davies says.

Webb returned to form in 2006, winning five times and capturing her seventh major title at the Kraft Nabisco Championship to finish second to Mexico's Lorena Ochoa on the LPGA Tour money list with $2 million in earnings. She won her third Women's Australian Open title a week ago and followed it up with her six victory in the ANZ Australian Ladies Masters on Sunday.

"I was looking at the odds on her to win the LPGA money list, not that we're allowed to bet on it, but I noticed she was 9-to-1 and that seems a very generous price," Davies said. "Obviously Annika (Sorenstam's) the favorite and Lorena Ochoa's the second favorite, but I think Webby's the one to beat this year."

Webb, 32, has set her sights on a return to the top of the women's rankings after finishing third last year behind Sorenstam and Ochoa.

Her playoff win over Ochoa at the Kraft Nabisco, achieved after she had eagled the 72nd hole, ended a two-year winless streak and revived her flagging career.

"It was a big turning point for me," Webb said. "The enjoyment I felt winning that tournament was the most I've ever felt in my career.

"The way I handled myself that day gave me the belief that I was on the right track," she added. "I think I have the ability to be the best player in the world again."

• World Golf Hall-of-Famer Kathy Whitworth has been selected for induction into the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame. She, along with four other inductees, will be honored at the Sports Hall of Fame banquet on Feb. 27 in Albuquerque.

Whitworth, whose LPGA Tour career spanned across five decades and includes a Tour-record 88 wins. She was the LPGA Tour's leading money winner eight times (1965-68, 1970-73), is a seven-time LPGA Player of the Year (1966-69, 1971-73) and a seven-time winner of the Vare Trophy (1965-67, 1969-72).

Joining Whitworth in the ceremony will be Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, former NFL star Lionel Taylor, former Sandia High School football coach Jim Ottmann and former St. Pius X boys soccer coach Jorge Tristani.

• For the first time since 2000, the LPGA Tour does not have a major champion from the previous season on the cover of its media guide. It went with Lorena Ochoa (player of the year), Seon Hwa Lee (rookie of the year) and Julieta Granada (ADT Championship winner).

• Cristie Kerr, the recipient of the 2006 LPGA Komen Award, continued her efforts to raise awareness and fund breast cancer research as host of the Cristie Kerr Birdies for Breast Cancer Charity Poker Night at the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North.

The evening realized $140,000 for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and the research center at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale.

More than 200 guests played Texas Hold 'em at the Charity Poker Night, which was underwritten by Northern Trust. Among the celebrities in attendance were LPGA star Natalie Gulbis, Arizona Diamondbacks and FOX Sports broadcaster Thom Brenneman and Los Angeles Dodgers leftfielder Luis Gonzalez.

Including this event, Kerr has raised nearly $400,000 in the three years since the charity was started.

• The dates and locations for the 2007 sectional and final qualifiers have been determined.

The sectionals will be held Sept. 19-22 at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., and Oct. 2-5 at Plantation Golf & Country Club in Venice, Fla. The LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament will be held Nov. 28-Dec. 2 at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla.

The Q-School finals again will be a 90-hole, five-day event, taking place on both the Legends and Champions courses at LPGA International. The first 72 holes will be played on both courses. After 72 holes, the field will be cut to the low 70 players and ties, and the final round will be contested on the Legends Course.

At both sectionals, the top 30 players and ties will advance to the final stage. In addition, players finishing sixth to 15th on the 2007 Duramed Futures Tour season-ending money list will also advance directly to the finals. Players finishing in the top five on the Futures Tour money list automatically earn exempt 2008 LPGA Tour cards.

The number of exempt spots available for the 2008 LPGA Tour at the Q-School finals will be determined just prior to the finals.

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