The 2011 LPGA Tour was a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world that began in Thailand on February 17, 2011, and had its last official event end on November 20, 2011, in Florida. The tournaments were sanctioned by the United States–based Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA).

Season overview There were 23 official tournaments on the 2011 LPGA, the lowest number in nearly 40 years. More events were held outside of the United States, with eleven different countries hosting tournaments, the highest number in the history of the LPGA Tour. Thirteen tournaments were held in the United States, the lowest number in several decades.

Yani Tseng from Taiwan, was the dominant player on the 2011 Tour. She won seven of the 22 tournaments in which she played and had fourteen top-10 finishes. Her wins in the Women's British Open and the LPGA Championship made her the youngest player ever, male or female, to win five career major tournaments. She won the LPGA money list title with $2,921,713 in official earnings; American Cristie Kerr finished second with $1,470,979.

Tseng also won the Player of the Year award and the Vare Trophy given to the player with the lowest scoring average for the season. Korean Hee Kyung Seo won the Rookie of the Year award.

Changes in the 2011 season Three new events were announced at the start of the season: the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup in Arizona in March, the Imperial Springs LPGA in China in August, and the Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship in October. The Imperial Springs event was postponed from early August to late September, then canceled outright on September 13. The new RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup, held in honor of the LPGA's founders, did not have a cash purse. Instead, a $1 million mock purse was awarded. This purse counted toward the players' annual money list standings, and the event carried a full points allocation toward the World Golf Rankings and LPGA season award races. The sponsor matched the $1 million purse with a donation to charity: $500,000 to LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program and $500,000 to charities of each player's choice for the top ten finishers. The CME Group Titleholders, the successor to the LPGA Tour Championship, had a field made up of three qualifiers from each official tour event—specifically the top three finishers who have not already qualified for the Titleholders. The Tres Marias Championship, scheduled for April in Mexico, was canceled in late January because of security concerns; this created a three-week gap in the LPGA schedule. The Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic was not played in 2011, but will return for 2012 through 2014. The Toledo area hosted the 2011 U.S. Senior Open, a major championship on the Champions Tour.

Schedule and results The number in parentheses after winners' names show the player's total number wins in official money individual events on the LPGA Tour, including that event. The "Titleholders qualifiers" column indicates the three golfers at each official event who qualify for the season-ending tournament, the CME Group Titleholders.

Date Tournament Location Winner First prize($)Titleholdersqualifiers Feb 20 Honda LPGA Thailand Thailand Yani Tseng (6) 225,000 Yani Tseng Michelle Wie Karrie Webb Feb 27 HSBC Women's Champions Singapore Karrie Webb (37) 210,000 Sun Young Yoo Morgan Pressel Na Yeon Choi Mar 20 RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup Arizona Karrie Webb (38) 200,000donation Brittany Lincicome Paula Creamer Cristie Kerr Mar 27 Kia Classic California Sandra Gal (1) 255,000 Sandra Gal Jiyai Shin I.K. Kim Apr 3 Kraft Nabisco Championship California Stacy Lewis (1) 300,000 Stacy Lewis Katie Futcher Angela Stanford Apr 24 Tres Marias Championship Mexico Tournament canceled May 1 Avnet LPGA Classic Alabama Maria Hjorth (5) 195,000 Maria Hjorth Song-Hee Kim Suzann Pettersen May 22 Sybase Match Play Championship New Jersey Suzann Pettersen (7) 375,000 Sophie Gustafson Ai Miyazato Julieta Granada May 29 HSBC Brazil Cup Brazil Mariajo Uribe (n/a) 108,000 n/a Jun 35 ShopRite LPGA Classic New Jersey Brittany Lincicome (4) 225,000 Catriona Matthew Anna Nordqvist Brittany Lang Jun 12 LPGA State Farm Classic Illinois Yani Tseng (7) 255,000 Se Ri Pak Mindy Kim Wendy Ward Jun 26 Wegmans LPGA Championship New York Yani Tseng (8) 375,000 Meena Lee Mika Miyazato Azahara Muñoz Jul 11 U.S. Women's Open Colorado So Yeon Ryu (1)1 585,000 So Yeon Ryu Hee Kyung Seo Inbee Park Jul 24 Evian Masters France Ai Miyazato (7) 487,500 Caroline Hedwall Amy Yang Paige Mackenzie Jul 31 Ricoh Women's British Open Scotland Yani Tseng (9) 392,133 Candie Kung Dewi Claire Schreefel Karen Stupples Aug 21 Safeway Classic Oregon Suzann Pettersen (8) 225,000 Hee Young Park Vicky Hurst Ryann O'Toole Aug 28 CN Canadian Women's Open Quebec Brittany Lincicome (5) 337,500 Hee-Won Han Jenny Shin Jennifer Johnson Sep 11 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship Arkansas Yani Tseng (10) 300,000 Amy Hung Belén Mozo Mi-Hyun Kim Sep 18 Navistar LPGA Classic Alabama Lexi Thompson (1) 195,000 Lexi Thompson Tiffany Joh Giulia Sergas Sep 25 Solheim Cup Ireland Europe n/a Oct 9 LPGA Hana Bank Championship South Korea Yani Tseng (11) 270,000 Jimin Kang Chella Choi Shanshan Feng Oct 16 Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia Malaysia Na Yeon Choi (5) 285,000 Christel Boeljon Amanda Blumenherst Mina Harigae Oct 23 Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship Taiwan Yani Tseng (12) 300,000 Pat Hurst Alison Walshe Grace Park Nov 6 Mizuno Classic Japan Momoko Ueda (2) 180,000 Momoko Ueda Christina Kim Pornanong Phatlum Nov 8 Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge Nevada Champions Tour n/a Nov 13 Lorena Ochoa Invitational Mexico Catriona Matthew (4) 200,000 Juli Inkster Natalie Gulbis Beatriz Recari Nov 20 CME Group Titleholders Florida Hee Young Park (1) 500,000 n/a Tournaments in bold are majors. 1Ryu was not an LPGA member at the time of her win and her win was not counted as an official LPGA win.

Season leaders Money list leaders RankPlayerCountryEarnings ($)Eventsplayed1 Yani Tseng 2,921,713 222 Cristie Kerr 1,470,979 223 Na Yeon Choi 1,357,382 214 Stacy Lewis 1,356,211 235 Suzann Pettersen 1,322,770 206 Brittany Lincicome 1,154,234 217 Angela Stanford 1,017,196 218 Ai Miyazato 1,007,633 199 Paula Creamer 926,338 2110 Amy Yang 912,160 22

Full 2011 Official Money List – navigate to "Official Money List"

Scoring average leaders RankPlayerCountryAverage1 Yani Tseng 69.662 Na Yeon Choi 70.533 Cristie Kerr 70.714 Jiyai Shin 70.815 Paula Creamer 70.84

Full 2011 Scoring Average List – navigate to "Scoring Average"

See also 2011 in golf 2011 Ladies European Tour 2011 LPGA Futures Tour

References

External links Official site