Cristie Kerr returns to defend her State Farm Classic title this week, taking on a star-studded field that includes LPGA Player of the Year Yani Tseng of Taiwan.
Brittany Lincicome, winner on Sunday at Galloway, New Jersey, will try to keep the momentum going. All the players go into the event at Springfield’s Panther Creek Country Club well aware that the future of the tournament is in doubt, with insurance company State Farm’s 19-year sponsorship set to expire after this season.
“I love this tournament. I’ve been here since I was a rookie and everybody is so nice,” said Tseng, currently ranked number one in the world. “I really love this place, so anything I can do.”
Kerr, who is trying to win her third State Farm Classic crown, agreed, and added that sponsorship of the women’s tour, with its global reach agreed, is good value.
“The LPGA is one of the best investments out there,” Kerr said. “There is unlimited upside to what our tour can deliver, not only from a standpoint of customer entertainment, but the value we bring to any community.”
Kerr has four top-10 finishes this year, including two runner-up finishes. She was second at the Sybase Match Play Championship and on Sunday finished tied for second with South Korea’s Jiyai Shin a shot behind Lincicome in New Jersey. “I played great. I can’t complain,” Kerr said. “A couple of putts on the back nine on Sunday go in and I’m winning two tournaments in a row. “It’s encouraging,” she added. “A little bit frustrating, but it’s a good problem to have.”
Lincicome’s victory was her first on the LPGA Tour since she won the 2009 Kraft Nabisco Championship.
“It has been kind of crazy,” she said. “I had an outing Monday and I was rushing to the airport on Sunday and then got here late. Everyone was like, ‘Did you party? Did you celebrate?’ I haven’t had time.” Lincicome had finished second at the RR Donnelly LPGA Founders Cup in March and 13th at the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
But she had struggled in the weeks leading up to last week’s tournament, although linking up with a new caddie helped.
“It’s been a great partnership so far,” Lincicome said of hiring A.J. Eathorne, a former LPGA Tour regular from Canada who has also caddied for Kris Blanks on the US PGA Tour.
“I just needed that change. I just needed to hear something different.”