Wednesday, March 17, 2004 | 9:18 a.m.
Peter Benton's golf column appears Wednesday.
Jim Webb, tournament director of the upcoming LPGA Takefuji Classic, informs me that this year's event again promises to have a truly stellar field with most of the top female golfers in the world already committed to play.
The $1.1 million tournament, which has $165,000 going to the winner, will be played over the Las Vegas Country Club, April 15-17.
Fourteen players from an extremely strong LPGA rookie class are sharpening their claws and are eagerly awaiting to challenge the top lady professionals.
Aree Song, Shi Huyn Ahn, Ju-Yun Kim and Reilly Rankin, who are all expected to make a run at the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Award, are the class players of the rookie contingent.
Other up-and-comers entered into our Classic include Isabelle Beisiegel, Il Mi Chung, Meredith Duncan, Reiko Higashio, Julie Hilton, Brandi Jackson, Seol-An Jeon, Laura Myerscough, Nadine Taylor and Chiharu Yamaguchi.
Song, of Korea, is the youngest player on the LPGA Tour at 17. She turned professional in August after receiving an age exemption from the LPGA Tour. She has already competed in 15 Tour events since 2000, making the cut 13 times. Song has made the cut in all six majors she has competed in, including a couple of top-10 finishes.
Ahn, who is 19, played on the Korean LPGA Tour last year. By winning the 2003 CJ Nine Bridges Classic for her first LPGA victory, it made her the first non-LPGA member to win an official LPGA event since Australia's Karrie Webb won the 1995 Weetabix Women's British Open.
Kim, 22, gained exempt status by finishing fourth on the Futures Tour Money List. She was one of the top amateur golfers in Korea where she won 19 tournaments, including the 1998-99 Korea Junior Championship. She won the Bank of Ann Arbor Tournament on the Futures Tour last year.
Rankin, who will celebrate her 25th birthday during the final round of the Takefuji Classic, once suffered a broken back after driving off a 70-foot cliff and feared she would never walk again. A two-time winner on the Futures Tour last year, she played college golf for the University of Georgia and gained exempt status by finishing fifth on the 2003 Futures Tour.
Candie Kung, who held off a late challenge by LPGA Tour Player of the Year Annika Sorenstam last year to win her first LPGA title, is the defending champion at the Takefuji Classic, and will be back looking for a repeat.
The schedule of events for the Classic begins with a qualifying round on Monday, April 12, followed by practice rounds on Tuesday, April 13, with the LPGA Takefuji Classic Pro-Am. on Wednesday, April 14. The 54-hole tournament begins Thursday, April 15, and continues through Saturday April 17.
Tickets are $10 for the practice rounds and the Pro-Am and $15 for each of the three days of the Classic. (Monday admission is free.) A weekly ground pass, good for admission to grounds throughout tournament week, is $30, with a weekly club house pass, good for admission to the grounds and the clubhouse, $50.
For further information regarding tickets or for volunteering your services, please call the Tournament Office at (702) 898-4653.
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