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McDonald's LPGA Championship

By Brent Kelley, About.com

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Juli Inkster - McDonald's LPGA Championship

Juli Inkster is a 2-time winner of the McDonald's LPGA Championship, taking the trophy in 1999 and 2000.

Doug Pensinger / Getty Images

About the McDonald's LPGA Championship:

The LPGA Championship was first played in 1955, just a few years after the LPGA itself was founded. It is the championship of the Ladies Professional Golf Association, just as the PGA Championship is the championship of the PGA of America, and is one of the LPGA Tour's four major championships.

2009 Tournament
Rookie Anna Nordqvist of Sweden won her first title as a pro at this major, closing with a 68 for a 4-stroke margin over runner-up Lindsey Wright. Nordqvist had played in only four LPGA tournaments prior to winning here.

Leaderboard

2008 Recap
Nineteen-year-old rookie Yani Tseng defeated Maria Hjorth on the fourth hole of a playoff for her first victory on the LPGA Tour. Tseng closed with a 68 in the final round, Hjorth with a 71, as both finished at 276. They traded pars on the first three playoff holes before Tseng sank a 5-foot-9 birdie putt on the fourth extra hole.

Official Web site
LPGA tournament site

LPGA Championship Records:

Low 18-hole round: 63 - Patty Sheehan, Jack Nicklaus Sports Center, 1984; Meg Mallon, DuPont Country Club, 1999
Low 72-hole score: 267 - Betsy King, Bethesda Country Club, 1992

LPGA Championship Golf Courses:

The McDonald's LPGA Championship is currently played each year at Bulle Rock Golf Course in Havre de Grace, Md., where it moved in 2005.

The LPGA Championship does not rotate among courses; the tournament is played at a "home course," but those home courses have changed throughout the years. Prior to Bulle Rock, the LPGA Championship was played at DuPont Country Club in Wilmington, Del., from 1994-2004; before that, Bethesda Country Club in Bethesda, Md., 1990-93.

The Jack Nicklaus Sports Center course in Kings Island, Ohio, and Pleasant Valley Country Club in Sutton, Mass., are two other host courses from the past.

LPGA Championship Trivia and Notes:

The LPGA Championship was first played in 1955, making its the second oldest tournament on the LPGA Tour (behind only the U.S. Women's Open).

Beverly Hanson won that first tournament, defeating Louise Suggs 4 and 3 in the championship match. Yes, the first LPGA Championship ended in a match-play finale, although the first three rounds were stroke play. That was the only time match play was used in this tournament.

When Sandra Post won in 1968, she was a rookie, just 19 years old, and defeated Kathy Whitworth in a playoff. Post was the youngest major champion in LPGA history until Morgan Pressel's win at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2007.

Mickey Wright is the only four-time winner of this event. Her victories occurred in 1958, 1960-61 and 1963.

The LPGA Championship is the only major won by Nancy Lopez during her illustrious career, but she did win it three times: 1978, 1985 and 1989.

Beth Daniel won just one major, and it was the 1990 LPGA Championship.

Other three-time winners are Kathy Whitworth (1967, 1971, 1975); Patty Sheehan (1983-84, 1993); Se Ri Pak (1998, 2002, 2006); and Annika Sorenstam (2003-05).