2006 LPGA Tour
The 2006 LPGA Tour was a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world which took place from February through December 2006. The tournaments were sanctioned by the United States-based Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). In 2006, prize money on the LPGA Tour exceeded US$50 million for the first time in the history of the LPGA Tour.
Lorena Ochoa became the first Mexican to top the money list on the LPGA Tour, or any major international golf tour, while Annika Sörenstam held her position as the top ranked player through the whole season. Multi-time major champions Karrie Webb and Se Ri Pak had comeback seasons after fallow periods, each claiming a major championship.
2006 saw a growth in the international presence on the Tour. Of the 33 events, only seven were won by Americans, with Cristie Kerr the only American to win more than once (three times). By contrast, Mexican Lorena Ochoa won six events, Australian Karrie Webb five, Swede Annika Sörenstam three, and nine different South Koreans combined to win 11 events. The season-ending LPGA Playoffs at The ADT was won by Paraguayan Julieta Granada. The other seven finalists in that event featured only two Americans (Paula Creamer and Natalie Gulbis); the others were Ochoa, Webb, Koreans Il Mi Chung and Mi Hyun Kim, and Japanese Ai Miyazato.
For details of what happened in the main tournaments of the year see 2006 in golf.
Tournament schedule and results
- The winner of Major events automatically qualified for the LPGA Playoffs at The ADT. ADT Playoffs points were doubled at Major events.
- The top-20 finishers in Points events earned double ADT Playoffs points.
- The champion of Winner events automatically qualified for LPGA Playoffs at The ADT. Other top-20 finishers earned single ADT Playoffs points.
- The Global Group (pre-determined international events) events were combined to count as one Winner event qualifier, with the player earning the most combined points in these events earning automatic entry to LPGA Playoffs at The ADT. No additional points were awarded.
- Unofficial money Events did not count toward entry into the LPGA Playoffs at The ADT.
- The first half of the season concluded with the final full-field domestic event (Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic) prior to the Tour traveling to Europe.
- The second half concluded with final event (The Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions) prior to the LPGA Playoffs at The ADT.
The number in parentheses after winners' names show the player's total number of official money, individual event wins on the LPGA Tour including that event.
| Dates | Tournament | Location | ADT Playoff category | Winner | Purse ($) | Winner's share ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 20–22 | Women's World Cup of Golf |  South Africa | unofficial |  Sweden (Annika Sörenstam & Liselotte Neumann) | ||
| Feb 16–18 | SBS Open at Turtle Bay |  Hawaii | points |  Joo Mi Kim (1) | 1,000,000 | 150,000 |
| Feb 23–25 | Fields Open in Hawaii | Hawaii | points | Meena Lee (2) | 1,100,000 | 165,000 |
| Mar 10–12 | MasterCard Classic |  Mexico | points | Annika Sörenstam (67) | 1,200,000 | 180,000 |
| Mar 16–19 | Safeway International | Arizona | points | Juli Inkster (31) | 1,400,000 | 210,000 |
| Mar 30 – Apr 2 | Kraft Nabisco Championship | California | major |  Karrie Webb (31) | 1,800,000 | 270,000 |
| Apr 13–15 | LPGA Takefuji Classic | Nevada | points | Lorena Ochoa (4) | 1,100,000 | 165,000 |
| Apr 20–23 | Florida's Natural Charity Championship | Georgia | points | Sung Ah Yim (1) | 1,400,000 | 210,000 |
| Apr 27–30 | Ginn Clubs & Resorts Open | Florida | points | Mi Hyun Kim (6) | 2,500,000 | 375,000 |
| May 4–7 | Franklin American Mortgage Championship | Tennessee | points | Cristie Kerr (7) | 1,100,000 | 165,000 |
| May 11–14 | Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill | Virginia | winner | Karrie Webb (32) | 2,200,000 | 330,000 |
| May 18–21 | Sybase Classic * | New York | points | Lorena Ochoa (5) | 1,300,000 | 195,000 |
| May 25–28 | LPGA Corning Classic | New York | points | Hee-Won Han (5) | 1,200,000 | 180,000 |
| Jun 2–4 | ShopRite LPGA Classic | New Jersey | points | Seon Hwa Lee (1) | 1,500,000 | 225,000 |
| Jun 8–11 | McDonald's LPGA Championship | Maryland | major | Se Ri Pak (23) | 1,800,000 | 270,000 |
| Jun 22–25 | Wegmans LPGA | New York | points | Jeong Jang (2) | 1,800,000 | 270,000 |
| Jun 29 – Jul 2 | U.S. Women's Open | Rhode Island | major | Annika Sörenstam (68) | 3,100,000 | 560,000 |
| Jul 6–9 | HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship | New Jersey | winner | Brittany Lincicome (1) | 2,000,000 | 500,000 |
| Jul 13–16 | Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic | Ohio | points | Mi Hyun Kim (7) | 1,200,000 | 180,000 |
| Start of second half of season | ||||||
| Jul 26–29 | Evian Masters |  France | winner | Karrie Webb (33) | 3,000,000 | 450,000 |
| Aug 3–6 | Weetabix Women's British Open |  England | major | Sherri Steinhauer (7) | 1,800,000 | 305,440 |
| Aug 10–13 | CN Canadian Women's Open |  Ontario, Canada | points | Cristie Kerr (8) | 1,700,000 | 255,000 |
| Aug 18–20 | Safeway Classic | Oregon | points | Pat Hurst (5) | 1,400,000 | 210,000 |
| Aug 24–27 | Wendy's Championship for Children | Ohio | points | Lorena Ochoa (6) | 1,100,000 | 165,000 |
| Aug 31 – Sep 3 | State Farm Classic | Illinois | points | Annika Sörenstam (69) | 1,300,000 | 195,000 |
| Sep 8–10 | John Q. Hammons Hotel Classic | Oklahoma | points | Cristie Kerr (9) | 1,000,000 | 150,000 |
| Sep 21–24 | Longs Drugs Challenge | California | points | Karrie Webb (34) | 1,100,000 | 165,000 |
| Oct 5–8 | Corona Morelia Championship | Mexico | points | Lorena Ochoa (7) | 1,000,000 | 150,000 |
| Oct 12–15 | Samsung World Championship | California | winner | Lorena Ochoa (8) | 875,000 | 218,750 |
| Oct 19–22 | Honda LPGA Thailand |  Thailand | global group | Hee-Won Han (6) | 1,300,000 | 195,000 |
| Oct 27–29 | KOLON-Hana Bank Championship | South Korea | global group | Jin Joo Hong (1) | 1,350,000 | 202,500 |
| Nov 3–5 | Mizuno Classic |  Japan | global group | Karrie Webb (35) | 1,200,000 | 180,000 |
| Nov 9–12 | The Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions | Alabama | winner | Lorena Ochoa (9) | 1,000,000 | 150,000 |
| Nov 16–19 | ADT Championship | Florida | n/a |  Julieta Granada (1) | 1,550,000 | 1,000,000 |
| Dec 15–17 | Lexus Cup |  Singapore | unofficial | Team Asia | n/a | |
| Dec 23–24 | Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge | Nevada | unofficial | PGA Tour | n/a | |
Tournaments in bold are majors.
* tournament shortened to 54 holes because of rain.
Leaders
Money List leaders
| Rank | Player | Country | Earnings ($) | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lorena Ochoa | Mexico | 2,592,872 | 25 |
| 2 | Karrie Webb | Australia | 2,090,113 | 21 |
| 3 | Annika Sörenstam | Sweden | 1,971,741 | 20 |
| 4 | Julieta Granada | Paraguay | 1,633,586 | 31 |
| 5 | Cristie Kerr | United States | 1,578,362 | 26 |
| 6 | Mi Hyun Kim | South Korea | 1,332,274 | 30 |
| 7 | Juli Inkster | United States | 1,326,442 | 21 |
| 8 | Jang Jeong | South Korea | 1,151,070 | 27 |
| 9 | Hee-Won Han | South Korea | 1,147,651 | 28 |
| 10 | Pat Hurst | United States | 1,128,662 | 19 |
Scoring Average leaders
| Rank | Player | Country | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lorena Ochoa | Mexico | 69.24 |
| 2 | Annika Sörenstam | Sweden | 69.82 |
| 3 | Cristie Kerr | United States | 70.07 |
| 4 | Karrie Webb | Australia | 70.11 |
| 5 | Juli Inkster | United States | 70.48 |
Full 2006 Scoring Average List - navigate to "2006", then "Scoring Average"
Award winners
The three competitive awards given out by the LPGA each year are:
- The Rolex Player of the Year is awarded based on a formula in which points are awarded for top-10 finishes and are doubled at the LPGA's four major championships and at the season-ending ADT Championship. The points system is: 30 points for first; 12 points for second; nine points for third; seven points for fourth; six points for fifth; five points for sixth; four points for seventh; three points for eighth; two points for ninth and one point for 10th.
- 2006 Winner: Lorena Ochoa. Runner-up: Karrie Webb
- The Vare Trophy, named for Glenna Collett-Vare, is given to the player with the lowest scoring average for the season.
- 2006 Winner: Lorena Ochoa. Runner-up: Annika Sörenstam
- The Louis Suggs Rolex Rooke of the Year Award is awarded to the first-year player on the LPGA Tour who scores the highest in a points competition in which points are awarded at all full-field domestic events and doubled at the LPGA's four major championships. The points system is: 150 points for first; 80 points for second; 75 points for third; 70 points for fourth; and 65 points for fifth. After fifth place, points are awarded in increments of three, beginning at sixth place with 62 points. Rookies who make the cut in an event and finish below 41st each receive five points. The award is named after Louise Suggs, one of the founders of the LPGA.
- 2006 Winner: Seon Hwa Lee. Runner-up: Julieta Granada