Annika Sorenstam |
Sorenstam is the tournament's two-time defending champion and will need the victory to reach her 2005 goal of winning golf's Grand Slam. The Swede won the first of the four major women's events at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in March.
Among those in the field are 15-year-old Michelle Wie and 18-year-old Paula Creamer of the United States. Creamer became the youngest player in 53 years to win a tour event when she captured the Sybase Classic last month in New York.
Wie, still an amateur, is in the normally professionals-only LPGA Championship by virtue of a special invitation. Playing against the pros this year she has finished as high as second, 12th and 14th.
Wie's scoring average of 71.06 would be fourth on the tour. She's been playing as an amateur in pro events for four years, and the teenager even has competed against men.
Some information for this report provided by AP.