By Flint Wheeler
The ANA Inspiration golf tournament is part of the LPGA Tour and is one of the five major championships in women’s golf. ANA stands for All Nippon Airlines, a Japanese carrier that became title sponsor beginning in 2015. ANA replaced Kraft Nabisco as title sponsor.
Despite all the changes in title sponsors, the ANA Inspiration has always been played at Mission Hills Country Club in California. The tournament was founded by entertainer Dinah Shore, a strong supporter of women’s golf and the LPGA. Shore died in 1994, but there is a statue of her at the host course. It is tradition for the tournament winner to jump in the lake next to the 18th green.
When: April 2-5, Where: Mission Hills Country Club (Dinah Shore Tournament Course), Rancho Mirage
Lexi Thompson earned her first victory in a major championship by three strokes. Thompson, at age 19, became the second-youngest major winner in tour history. Thompson and Michelle Wie began the final round tied at 10-under. Wie had a solid 71 and finished second, but Thompson jumped ahead early and finished with a 68 for a 274 total.
This tournament is now and always has been played at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif. The ANA Inspiration takes place on the club’s Dinah Shore Tournament Course (the club’s other two courses are the Arnold Palmer Course and Pete Dye Challenge course), which was designed by Desmond Muirhead and tips out at 7,250 yards. For this tournament, the course is set up as a 6,702-yard par-72. The ANA Inspiration is one of five majors on the LPGA Tour, but it hasn’t always been that way. From its founding in 1972 through 1982, what was then called the Colgate Dinah Shore was a big event – but did not have major championship status. Winners from 1983 forward are credited with major championship wins.
The first three-time winner was Amy Alcott, whose third victory came in 1991. Betsy King joined Alcott as a 3-time champion in 1997, and Annika Sorenstam in 2005.
After Alcott’s second victory, in 1988, she inaugurated what is now known as the “Champions Leap” when she spontaneously rushed off the 18th green and leaped into the greenside lake. That leap has since become a tradition at the tournament.
When Morgan Pressel won this tournament in 2007, she became the youngest-ever LPGA major championship winner. Pressel was about two months shy of her 19th birthday.
A couple of LPGA major championship scoring records were set here. The 62 Lorena Ochoa posted in the first round in 2006 is tied for lowest 18-hole score in a women’s major; and Dottie Pepper’s 19-under in 1999 is tied for the lowest score in relation to par in a women’s major.
Brittany Lincicome won the 2009 KNC by making eagle on the final hole. It is the only time in either a men’s or women’s major championship that a final-hole eagle determined the winner.
In other golf news…
For the first time since 1996, Tiger Woods is not among the top 100 golfers in the world rankings.
Woods, who has not played since he withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open on 6 February, falls to No104 this week. The last time he was out of the top 100 was on 29 September 1996, when he was at No225.
The following week, Woods won the Las Vegas Invitational as a 20-year-old for the first of his 79 PGA Tour victories.
It is not clear when Woods will return to the sport. He said in February that his scores were not acceptable and he would not play until his game was in tournament shape.
Woods is not required to announce if he is playing the Masters until the tournament starts 9 April.
Meanwhile, Paul Casey will be returning to Augusta after securing his place.
The 37-year-old has not played in the season’s first major for the last two years but will return due to his position in the world’s top 50.
The Englishman, whose world ranking got as high as No3 in 2009, came into the new season outside the top 50 but a second-placed finish at the Northern Trust Open followed by a tie for third at the Honda Classic saw him move back in and his place at Augusta has now been assured. Casey’s best Masters finish was a tie for sixth on his debut in 2004.
