D.I. tournament to bolster LPGA

Bob Cloud

Tuesday, Sept. 10, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

LPGA Hall of Famer Patty Sheehan certainly is no stranger to the Desert Inn golf course.

As a youngster, the Reno resident hit range balls with her father when the elder Sheehan came to town for an annual member-guest tournament. As a golf professional, she won an LPGA tournament at the Desert Inn in 1985.

Now, she'll have the opportunity to compete for the championship of the LPGA tour on the course.

The inaugural $700,000 ITT LPGA Tour Championship will be contested on the 7,065-yard tract Nov. 21-24. The tournament will be the final official stop of the 1996 tour season, and will feature a field consisting of only the top 30 money winners.

Sheehan currently stands 12th on the money list with $281,690.

"It was always fun for me to come down here with my father each spring," Sheehan said during the Tour Championship's media day activities Monday. "I enjoyed getting to come where it was warm and get to hit off of ground which wasn't frozen solid."

Sheehan, the winner of six major titles including the Nabisco Dinah Shore earlier this year, said the addition of a season-ending event featuring a select field should boost interest in the LPGA tour. Both the PGA and Senior PGA tours have similar events.

"It certainly helps us gain more respect," she said. "For all those who don't really follow the sport, a tournament like this helps heighten interest. It's great to have this type of event as the final tournament. It will be a final exclamation point to our season.

"It's a tournament we've never had before, and it'll be one which gives the players great incentive. It's playing against the top players in the world. Also, it'll be a great thrill to return to Las Vegas, where we haven't been for a few years. I'm sure players will really want to get here."

LPGA Commissioner Jim Ritts said he foresees the championship as a premier event on the yearly tour schedule. He pointed out the $150,000 winner's check will be the largest for any first-year event in the history of the LPGA.

"It's a tremendous boost for our tour to have this season-ending tournament," said Ritts. "With all the tournaments we play all over the world, it's exciting to have it all come to an end here in Las Vegas. It's an event which will grow in stature over the years to come."

For Sheehan, the tournament represents yet another step in the continuing evolution of women's professional golf.

"I've been out on tour 16 1/2 years and the tour has grown tremendously," she said. "The players have gotten bigger and stronger, and purses are up. A big tournament when I came up had a purse of $100,000, now we have million-dollar purses. The media and television exposure we've gotten has also grown greatly."

Sheehan predicted it will take shot-making ability and driving accuracy to prevail on the Desert Inn court.

"I think the course favors the player that hits it straight and hits greens," Sheehan said. "You can get into a lot of trouble off the tee here. I think you'll see the longer hitters use irons off the tee here to keep it in the fairway."

Tickets for the event are already on sale. Season badges, good for all seven days, are $40 if purchased before Oct. 18, while clubhouse badges are available for $75. A flex-book, which contains 10 good-any-day tickets, is $100.

Patty Sheehan