By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
After notching her third win of the season at the NW Arkansas Championship last week, Shin Ji-yai expressed her hope of becoming the player of the year.
And the 21-year-old rookie will look to continue her pursuit of that goal against 20 elite golfers at the Samsung World Championship, scheduled to tee off Thursday at Torrey Pines in San Diego.
The 29th annual tournament features the top 20 players on the LPGA Tour, including the winners of the four major events and the current money leader.
The strong field will include defending champion Paula Creamer of the United States, Vare Trophy Winner Lorena Ochoa, Nabisco Championship winner Brittany Lincicome, LPGA Championship winner Anna Nordqvist, U.S. Women's Open winner Ji Eun-hee, Women's British Open winner Catriona Matthew, LPGA Hall of Fame member Karrie Webb, European Tour leading money winner as of Aug. 31 Sophie Gustafson, LPGA Tour leading money winner as of Aug. 31 Cristie Kerr and Juli Inkster (sponsor's exemption).
The field is rounded out by the rest of the top money winners as of Aug. 31: Ai Miyazato, Kim In-kyung, Yani Tseng, Suzann Pettersen, Angela Stanford, Kim Song-hee, Lindsey Wright, Kristy McPherson, Choi Na-yeon and Shin.
The world No. 2 Shin has established herself as a burgeoning star on the Tour and is leading the pack in the player-of-the-year and rookie-of-the-year races. She is in a position to become just the second golfer to win both awards in the same year, besides retired Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez in 1978.
In addition, the South Korean is currently atop the official money list with $1,498,861 in earnings.
For Shin, who claimed three LPGA Tour victories as a non-member last season, the $1 million tournament, with a $250,000 winner's prize, will be important in her title run, although there are still six more competitions to play.
Despite winning the HSBC Women's Champions in March and the Wegmans LPGA in June, she had struggled with her putting early in the year.
But an improvement in her putting of late helped her win in Rogers, Ark. last weekend and place tied for 10th at the Canadian Women's Open two weeks ago.
Ochoa, who has struggled since her second victory of the year in April, seeks to find her rhythm after a week off at home last week, and Creamer will look to grab her first win of the season.
Torrey Pines is well known as the site of the 2008 U.S. Open, where the injured Tiger Woods defeated Rocco Mediate in a 19-hole playoff for his 14th major title.
This event will mark the second time that an LPGA tournament will be played at the famed golf course ― the first was the Inamori Classic in 1983 ― and it will be the first visit to the San Diego area for the LPGA in over 15 years.
Only once has a Korean golfer won the tournament, which is title sponsored by the nation's largest conglomerate ― Pak Se-ri, a Hall of Famer and 24-time winner on the LPGA Tour, took the trophy in 1999.