Golf Local, Rochester

View photos from the round 4 of the 2011 Wegmans LPGA Championship at Locust Hill Country Club in Rochester, NY.

Photography Staff: David VanScott, Jesse Horning

View photos from the round 3 of the 2011 LPGA Wegmans Championship at Locust Hill Country Club in Rochester, NY.

Photography Staff: David VanScott, Cody Dalton

View photos from the round 2 of the 2011 Wegmans LPGA Championship at Locust Hill Country Club in Rochester, NY.

Photography staff: David VanScott

View photos from the first day of the 2011 Wegmans LPGA Championship at Locust Hill Country Club in Rochester, NY.

Photography staff: David VanScott

Paula Creamer is once again finding herself near the top of the leader board at the 2011 Wegmans LPGA Championship at Locust Hill Country Club. Creamer carded a 5 under par 67 in her opening round to find herself 1 stroke back of 1st round leader Yani Tseng.

Creamer, aka the Pink Panther had 5 birdies and no bogey’s, opening with birdies on 3 of the first 4 holes. Since joining the LPGA in 2005, Creamer has 9 LPGA tour victories and is currently ranked 11th in the world.

Over a year ago Creamer had a surgically repaired left thumb and wondered how it would hold up. Her thumb is fine and her game is even better. Creamer is looking to move up the rankings with a strong finish this weekend and hopes to be in the same sentence as #1 ranked Yani Tseng and #2 ranked Suzanne Pettersen.

Photos from Day 1 of the Wegmans LPGA Championship

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Video of Paula Creamer after 1st round

Currently ranked 39th on the LPGA Tour Beatriz Recari is looking to have a break out year in 2011. She has earned just over $100,000 in 9 events this year with 8 cuts made and a best finish of 11th at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. Here scoring average has dropped almost 10 strokes since 2007 and is currently at 67.30 this year.

Beatriz started playing golf at the age of 11 and credits her father as the individual who influenced her career the most. Recari enjoyed her amateur career by winning the 2004 Spanish Amateur Championship, the European Team Championship with Team Spain and in 2005 she won the French Amateur Championship.

In 2005 Beatriz decided to turn professional. She competed on the Ladies European Tour (LET) from 2006 – 2009, and won the Finnair Masters. Her game really started to come together in 2009 when she finished 10th at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament. In 2010 Recari became a Rolex First Time Winner at the CVS/Pharmacy LPGA Challenge, tied for 7th at LPGA Tour Championship and tied 9th at the Sybase Match Play Championship and the Sime Darby in Malaysia.

Beatriz had her best finish, a tie for 11th at the ShopRite LPGA Classic in 2011. Other finishes include 15th, 18th, 35th, 37th and 43rd respectively. When Beatriz is not playing golf she enjoys listening to music, reading, playing tennis, working out at the gym and cross country skiing. Some of her sponsors include Daily Sports, Tech Nutrition and ProStance.

Beatriz will be opening her round on the front 9 of Locust Hill with playing partners Mina Harigae and Amanda Blumenherst. If you want to learn more about Beatriz you can visit her website at www.beatrizrecari.com or become a friend on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/beatrizrecari.

Yani Tseng is one of the youngest players in the LPGA , yet she is ranked No. 1 in women’s golf. Following her in the Rolex Rankings is Cristie Kerr at No. 2 and Suzann Pettersen at No. 3. They will all be going for the championship title this week at the Wegmans LPGA Championship. Tseng has won three majors already and will go for her 4th. She won the 2008 LPGA Championship, 2010 Kraft Nabisco Championship and the RICOH Women’s British Open in 2010.

Tseng has proven she is a great golfer, and in 2010, she claimed the title as the 2010 Rolex Player of the Year. This title had been held by Lorena Ochoa from 2006-2009 and Annika Sorenstam from 2001-2005. This title 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 Tour Championship.

The winner of the Wegmans LPGA Championship will have a big impact on the 2011 rankings and if Christie Kerr can defend her win from last year she could move to the top of the board. It is going to be a great week of women’s golf in Rochester, NY.

Paula Creamer and Natalie Gulbis are two of the most popular women in the LPGA and will be playing this week at the Wegmans LPGA Championship. They both bring to each round a great show of talent and fan appreciation.

Locust Hill Country Club, Rochester, New York, April 21, 2011—

The Wegmans LPGA Championship leadership team has announced that Lexi Thompson has been invited to compete in the 2011 Wegmans LPGA Championship and has accepted the invitation. This will mark Lexi’s first visit to Rochester and her first opportunity to play in the LPGA Championship.

Her resume is very impressive:

• She was named Golfweek’s 2009 Junior Amateur Player of the Year (18 and under) and 2009 Amateur Player of the Year (18 and over), becoming the youngest, at just 14, to ever win both of these honors at the same time and the first in 15 years since Cristie Kerr accomplished this at the age of 18.
• Lexi is the youngest to compete at Locust Hill CC in the Wegmans LPGA Championship.
• Lexi is the youngest person to qualify for the US Women’s Open at age 12.
• Lexi turned pro in June of 2010 at the age of 15 and played in the US Women’s Open finishing tied for tenth place.
• Lexi finished 2nd at the 2010 Evian Masters.

“It will be a great experience for our spectators to watch Lexi compete against the best women golfers from around the globe at LHCC. We look forward to welcoming Lexi to the Wegmans LPGA Major Championship and to Rochester, New York,” said Jerry Stahl, Tournament Co-Chairman. “This adds to the excitement in Rochester as we celebrate 35 years of LPGA at Locust Hill Country Club. Joining us for the Wegmans LPGA Championship celebration will be LPGA Hall of Fame and Rochester Champions Nancy Lopez, Pat Bradley and Patty Sheehan” states Linda Hampton, Tournament Director.”

About Graduation in the Goal

All proceeds from the Wegmans LPGA Championship will benefit United Way of Greater Rochester’s Graduation is the Goal, the charitable mission of the Tournament. Graduation is the Goal aids evidence based program that show significant promise in delivering on its mission. In 2010, proceeds of $400,000 were donated and will be distributed in mid May.

Photo credits: www.alexis–thompson.com