Fantasy Golf for Fans of the LPGA

Segment 2 of the 2013 Ladies Dream Golf season kicks off with the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic. This tournament began in 2008 and has been played every year since, with the exception of 2009. In previous years, the tournament was known as the Bell Micro LPGA Classic (2008, 2010) and the Avnet LPGA Classic (2011). The Mobile Bay LPGA Classic is a 4-round, 72-hole tournament, with a field of 144 players, two of which will be determined by the Monday Open Qualifier. The tournament will be played on the "Crossings Course" at Magnolia Grove, on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, a collection of championship caliber golf courses in Alabama, designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr.

Who to Watch

Stacy Lewis is the defending champion of the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic. Stacy, as well as all other previous winners at the Crossing Course are among the field in 2013, including Maria Hjorth (2011), Se-Ri Pak (2010), and Angela Stanford (2008). Only 2 of the current top-10 ranked players are participating in the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic: Stacy Lewis and Jiyai Shin. This is a great opportunity for players farther down in the rankings to contend or win this week.

Players in the field currently "trending" in the positive direction include:

• Stacy Lewis: Stacy continues to play well, despite her relinquishment of the number 1 position on the Rolex Rankings. Without most of the recent challengers in the field, she should dominate. She has finished in the top 10 of every tournament she has played this year, with the exception of the Kraft Nabisco Championship (T32) and the Australian Open (T15).
  
• Ariya Jutanugarn: Ariya received one of the two sponsor exemptions for this tournament. She has moved up the Rolex Rankings this year from 171 to 16! She's played in 4 LPGA tournaments in 2013 and has finished no worse than 4th.
  
• Angela Stanford, Anna Nordqvist, and Sandra Gal all finished in the top 10 two weeks ago at the LPGA Kingsmill Championship, and all three are in the field this week.
  

Notable players not participating in this tournament include Inbee Park, Suzann Pettersen, Na Yeon Choi, Yani Tseng, So Yeon Ryu, Shanshan Feng, Ai Miyazato, Cristie Kerr, Paula Creamer, Lizette Salas, Danielle Kang, and Gerina Piller.

Ladies Dream Golf Notes for the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic

On Monday (May 13), a pre-tourney Open Qualifier will be conducted, resulting in two additional players being added to the field. These two players will be added at the end of Group 4 once their names are released.

This is the first tournament in Segment 2 of the season. This is your chance to start with a clean slate! It is also the perfect time for new players to join in. If you have friends you think would enjoy Ladies Dream Golf, please encourage them to join now.

A new feature has been added which may be helpful in making your picks. There is a new tab on the Make Picks page called LPGA Player Stats. On the LPGA Player Stats page, you simply enter a string in the text box to match against LPGA player names (not case sensitive). If the string you enter matches more than one player, stats for all matched players will be included. The statistics returned are for all 2013 LPGA tournaments to date and include the following for each tournament played by the selected LPGA player(s): Tournament Name, Rolex Ranking at the time of the Tournament, Tournament Ranking, and Points Earned for the Tournament. Give it a try!

TV Coverage

May 16 - Golf Channel 6:30 PM-8:30 PM EST
May 17 - Golf Channel 6:30 PM-8:30 PM EST
May 18 - Golf Channel 5:00 PM-7:00 PM EST
May 19 - Golf Channel 5:00 PM-7:00 PM EST