The Rolex Women’s Golf championship goes underway at the Panther Creek Country Club beginning June 14, 2010. This the first time the LPGA tour will be held without two of its most famous protagonists: Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa. However, it is felt that the time is ripe for the contenders to stake their claim for the number one position.

Until now the LPGA tour has been dominated by the rivalry between Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa. However, with Lorena’s retirement there is a sudden vacuum in the LPGA tour that needs to be filled in order to build the next big rivalry; so necessary to market the game.

The contenders include South Korea’s Jiyai Shin, who took over the top position after the retirement of Lorena Ochoa last month.  However, Jiyai Shin opted to give the tournament a miss citing ill health. Also missing would be the third seed, Suzann Pettersen of Norway, because of injuries.

However, the absence of the duo does not demean the competition in any way as there would be others gunning for the $255,000 top prize, come Sunday afternoon.

Angela Stanford, one of the highest paid female golfers in the world, was happy with the status quo as it opened up the field.  According to her, it was good for the sport because everybody would be up and ready to make the next move. Other contenders include Taiwan’s Yani Tseng, ranked fourth in the world, Cristie Kerr and Michelle Wie.

The Rolex Women’s Golf Tour is waiting for its first American winner. Angela Stanford, Cristie Kerr, Stacey Lewis and Brittany Lincicome have all done well at one point or the other. However, none of them have won a Rolex Women’s Golf Tour event.

According to Stanford, winning the championship and getting to the number one ranking was at the back of her mind but it was not going to be easy as there would be other competitors who would be trying equally hard.

Mike Whan, first year LPGA commissioner, said that he was thrilled to take control at a time when the tour was looking forward to its next household name. He was also happy that the current jousting for the number one position had increased interest in the sports all over the world. Citing the example of Ai Miyazato, he said that the interest generated by the Japanese was good news for the sports. He was also pleased about the rise of Michelle Wie, Paula Creamer, and Christie Kerr in the United States.

The Rolex Player of the Year Award recognizes the player with the highest points based on a formula that rewards points for top-10 finishes. This year only two American professional golfers, in addition to Cristie Kerr of course, made it to the top 10 list for the Rolex Player of the Year based on their points. Though Angela Stanford and Paula Creamer had a good season at the LPGA Tour it seems it was not enough to grab the award or move higher up on the rankings. While Angela Stanford came in on number 8 on the list, Paula Creamer came in on number 10. Angela Stanford collected a total of 103 points that made for a huge distance between her and Lorena Ochoa, who was on number one with 160 points. Paula Creamer had collected 97 points in total to just make it to the top ten.

Angela Stanford had a total of 11 top ten finishes in her 2009 season. She participated in a total of 21 events that made for an average of 0.524 points. With the 21 events Angela Stanford has participated in, she ranks tenth on the official money list with a total of $1,081,916 in her kitty. Angela Stanford has had a total of 5 professional wins in her golf career. Her first career win was in the year 2000 with the Summit Consulting SBC Futures Tour Championship. In 2003 she won the ShopRite LPGA Classic. She then went on to win the Bell Micro LPGA Classic and Lorena Ochoa Invitational in 2008. For the current season, she won the SBS Open at Turtle Bay. In the 2009 Kraft Nabisco Championship Angela Stanford tied 12^th and then tied 5^th in the LPGA Championship. Although she did not make the cut for the U.S. Women’s Open she tied on the 20^th position in the Women’s British Open.

Paula Creamer has made it to the top 10 finish ten times in the current season. She participated in a total of 21 that got her point average to 0.476. Paula Creamer sits on number 9 on the official money list with a total of $1,151,864 from 24 events. The 23 year old is also known as the ‘Pink Panther’. Paula Creamer has a total of 10 professional wins that did make her a good candidate for the Rolex Player of the Year Award; however with no wins in the current season she did not stand much of a chance. Paula Creamer won the Sybase Classic and Evian Masters in 2005. In 2007 she won the SBS Open at Turtle Bay as well as The Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions. She then went on to win the Fields Open in Hawaii, SemGroup Championship, Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic and the Samsung World Championship in 2008. For the 2009 season she tied 17^th at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, then tied 16^th at the LPGA Championship. She had better luck at the U.S. Women’s Open as she tied 6^th as well as at the Women’s British Open where she tied 3^rd. With there still being some time left in the 2010 season, both players are hoping to put behind the current season and push up their game further.

A dream to stand as equal was seen as a defiance of the patriarchal system and prevented women from following a passion that surged deep within the soul. However the will to be able to follow a dream triumphed over obsolete notions and other hindrances and paved the w ay for women every where to pursue the aspect of individualistic perfection. Fifty years back the concept of holding an international golfing challenge for women would have been rebuked upon and would have found no sponsors. Nevertheless the innate quality of a brand like Rolex to sponsor exceptional talent and propound the aspect of perfection completely disregards the differences drawn on the basis of class, race and most of all gender. As a part of its global design of inspiring individuals everywhere, Rolex sponsors a number of international golfing challenges around the world that acts as a platform for the development of the sport as well as the talented women that participate in the event.

Associating with prolific golfing associations like the AJGA and LPGA to hold internationally celebrated women’s golfing events like Solheim Cup, the Evian Master’s and junior golf tournaments for young women, finally rendering the unrealized dream to become a reality. Now regarded by the world as formidable events in the world of sports, the golfing challenges like the Evian Masters boast of a top prize of 325000 Euros. Golfing championships supported by Rolex have transformed into premier events that draw top women golfers from around the world. Showing tremendous playability and skill many women golfers have stunned millions around the world with their excellent swing and situation handling. Around the world women are inspired to take on the fantastic game of golf and wager their chances on turning into a world class golfer.

As a part of its ongoing effort to support women’s golfers Rolex created and maintains the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. This elaborately created effort constantly checks performance in every single game of international repute and tallies the points in order to create a ranking system based on performance. According to the precise results of the Rolex rankings, women golfers from United States are performing exceedingly well. The position of the country with the highest number of players in the top ten is currently held by the United States with three golfers in the top ten. Cristie Kerr currently at number four, Paula Creamer at number five and Angela Stanford at number seven are leading the United States women golfers to greater heights.

Constantly performing to stay on top the trio of talented women from America Cristie Kerr, Angela Stanford and Paula Creamer are bound to go further ahead in the Rolex rankings. Over the years women golfers have transformed into formidable golfers who are respected even in the men’s circuit for their excellent talent and skill. Rolex has constantly associated with golfing organizations as its principal partner or its official timekeeper and borne witness to transforming history and the new era that brings with it the dawning of women golfers.