PITTSFORD, N.Y. (AP) — Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist is set to defend her LPGA Championship title.
The top 15 players in the Rolex Rankings — including new No. 1 Ai Miyazato of Japan — will be among the 150 vying for the top prize in the tour’s second major of the season when play begins Thursday in the $2.25 million event at Locust Hill Country Club in suburban Rochester, N.Y.
The championship was moved from Bulle Rock in Maryland for 2010 after longtime sponsor McDonald’s did not renew its contract with the LPGA.
Wegmans Food Markets agreed to place its own tournament on hiatus and be title sponsor in a one-year deal. The supermarket chain has been an LPGA partner for more than three decades, and its June tournament usually ranks as one of the best-attended events on the schedule. Transforming it into a major has boosted ticket sales this year by more than 50 percent.
