Golf McDonald's LPGA Championship 2008

LPGA Tour
McDonald's LPGA Championship 2008
by Coca Cola

The Second Women Majors Golf Championship

Dates: 05-08 Jun 2008
Club: Bulle Rock Golf Course
City: Havre de Grace, M.D, USA
Purse: $2,000,000
Past Winner: Suzann Pettersen

TV Coverage: ESPN / ThaiTV7
More Information: Final Field and parings goto Official Site

Back Ground

The LPGA Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the McDonald's LPGA Championship presented by Coca-Cola, is the second-longest running tournament in the history of the Ladies Professional Golf Association surpassed only by the U.S. Women's Open. It is one of four majors on the LPGA tour, but is not recognized as a major by the Ladies European Tour.
With a purse exceeding $2 million, the winner of this tournament automatically qualifies for the season-ending LPGA Playoffs at The ADT.

Prior to 2005, the LPGA Championship had a professionals only rule. This is in contrast to events such as the U.S. and British Opens, which have long had both amateur and professional entrants. The LPGA Championship is the LPGA's own event, and the LPGA was created specifically to provide opportunities for women in professional golf. In 2005 this rule was revoked, effectively to allow then-amateur Michelle Wie to compete in order to attract more media coverage and sell more tickets, though this was not publicly acknowledged by the LPGA. Some professionals objected to this move as they felt that places given to amateurs would come at the expense of the LPGA Tour's less successful professionals, who need to play regularly to make a living. One of the leading professionals, Laura Davies, stated objections to the change were shortsighted.[citation needed] In 2006, the LPGA Championship reverted to its professionals-only status, with only professionals in the field. Michelle Wie participated that year as a professional, having turned pro the previous October upon signing multi-million dollar endorsement contracts with Nike, Sony and other sponsors.

Credit: Wikipedia