This year’s LPGA’s Tres Marias Championship has marked the beginning of a new chapter in the career of South Korea’s pride Jiyai Shin who with her impressive performance during the Japan LPGA tour took over the No. 1 rank in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. The tournament also marked the farewell of celebrated champion Lorena Ochoa who had stayed at the Rolex No. 1 rank for 158 weeks since April 2007. Jiyai Shin piped Lorena Ochoa for the No.1 spot with a score of 9.29 merely 0.09 points ahead of Lorena Ochoa who scored 9.20 in the weekend tournament of LPGA in Mexico. Jiyai Shin was also anointed as the Rookie of the Year LPGA Tour after the talented woman laid a claim on the money list, closely taking over the title of player of the year during last year.

Jiyai Shin made her debut in the LPGA tour during the year 2007. The Rolex World No. 1 woman golfer soon broke all previous records under the Korean LPGA tour after proving her worth in the 10 events out of a set of19 events. The same year saw her becoming a part of the three major women’s golfing championships. Jiyai Shin also participated as a non member in 10 tournaments under the LPGA tour out of which she was victorious in three events including the ADT Championship and the Women’s British Open. This was followed by a stint at the Evian Masters, a major event in the LPGA tour. By the end of year 2007, Jiyai Shin had reserved 8th position for herself in the world rankings which also made her the highest ranked South Korean golfer of all times.

For Lorena Ochoa, who had announced her retirement plans from the LPGA Tour last month, the LPGA Tres Marias Championship remained a bitter sweet affair. The exit was long planned but the fact that she left the LPGA Tour after losing the No. 1 spot on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings to Jiyai Shin is not going down well with her fans. However, the woman golfer who was the first Mexican from either gender to bag the World’s No.1 position will always be remembered as the most celebrated golfer of her times.

The event also witnessed Japan’s top golfer Ai Miyazato take over the title of the best player in the women’s game. Her impressive performance in the LPGA Tres Marias Championship established her as one of the most dominant faces of the LPGA season. This title has also added to the list of titles earned by her so far, taking the number of titles won this year to three which has also given her a considerable lead when it comes to competing for the Rolex Player of the Year title. The prestigious Rolex rankings are the sole rankings which count the performance of the players from all the five major women’s golfing tours including Ladies European Tour (LET), Australian Ladies Professional Golf (ALPG), Ladies Professional Golfers’ Association of Japan (LPGA of Japan), the Ladies Golf Union (LGU) and the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA).

The only significant victory that Michelle Wie had to her credit until Sunday was her win at the 2003 USGA Women’s Amateur Public Links. The Stanford student recorded her first professional victory at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational on the 15^th of November. Her win at the LPGA Tour made her the sixth Rolex First Time Winner of the Year and raised her Rolex Rankings by three spots and helped her crack into the top 15. Michelle Wie is currently on number 12 on the Rolex Rankings with a total of 210.30 points in 27 events. The Rolex Rankings are updated each week and are sanctioned by the five major women’s professional golf tours. Rolex Rankings are for female golfers and are based upon the same principles as the ranking for their male counterparts.

Rolex makes an effort to recognize the best talent in the world of sports by sponsoring and supporting various sports competitions. The Rolex First Time Winner of the Year and Rolex Rankings are some of the ways adopted by Rolex to honor the winners and achievers on the LPGA tour. The Rolex Rankings were in fact established as an effort to credit female golfers as well as male golfers and recognize their achievements by weekly updating points and ranks. Rolex lends its name and support to sports like sports car racing, eventing and sailing besides golf and junior golf. Rolex’s main aim is to promote human excellence and highlight the achievements of sportspersons who push themselves to outperform everyone at each competition. Participants not only look forward to competing at these prestigious events but also aim for the reward which usually is a cash prize accompanied by a Rolex timepiece.

Winning first place in the LPGA Tournament earned Michelle Wie prize money of $220,000. The win came after a long wait for Michelle Wie as this was her 18^th tournament as a member. With this achievement Michelle Wie is the fifth American winner on Tour this season and also joins six other Rolex First-Time winners. A 30-yard sand shot to one foot on the 72^nd hole for abirdie brought about the accomplishment for the 20 year old talent. With birdies on hole one and three, Michelle Wie made a strong start for the day. She made a recovery from a three-putt bogey on hole five by smashing a 15-foot birdie on the seventh hole that made her turn the day at 2-under. She managed an outright lead by swinging another birdie at hole eleven.

The scenario turned extremely interesting as Michelle Wie approached hole 12. She knocked her drive on the cart path for which she was given relief. Her second shot set her back 50 yards when it caromed off a tree. While she strived for a bogey, she got some relief and a boost when Creamer bogeyed at 14 and 17. Soon after Cristie Kerr, who was leading along with Michelle Wie early in the back nine, bogeyed at 15 and 16. With Cristie Kerr and Creamer dropping out of the hunt Michelle Wie could picture victory. She sealed her position when she put her 5-wood into the front left bunker at 18 and tapped in range for a birdie. Michelle Wie is a student at Stanford University and has managed eight top ten finishes for the season. She has also had 18 starts in this season and tops it all with Rolex First Time Winner of the Year honor.

Na Yeon Choi made a clean sweep and swung her way to a second victory on Rolex sponsored LPGA Tour of her career. Na Yeon Choi hit a brilliant birdie at the last hole for a 5-under-par 67 on Sunday, Nov. 1. Her one stroke victory on the 18^th hole helped her finish at 10-under. With the last stroke she managed to gain victory over her closest competitors, Maria Hjorth from Sweden and Yani Tseng from Taiwan. Na Yeon Choi won the 2009 Hana Bank KOLON Championship despite the windy conditions. The event was held at Sky 72 Golf Club’s Ocean Course that hosted the LPGA’s annual tour stop in South Korea.

Na Yeon Choi stated that her win for Korea made her extremely proud. The 22 year old shared the lead into the final par-5 hole before winning the Samsung World Champioships in September. When faced with a similar situation this weekend she was much more comfortable than she was in the September event. With each passing event Na Yeon Choi is gaining confidence. This is the kind of passion and confidence that Rolex supports by its association with various sports events. Rolex has been an active supporter for over three decades of sports events and has been a sponsor for competitions like golf, sailing, sports car racing, eventing and more. Rolex supported events have created new benchmarks in each category. Rolex sponsored events are not only fan-friendly and action-packed but also are extremely encouraging for all sports persons as they help nurture new talents and polish professionals.

Rolex has been a pioneer in the world of watch-making and is now trying to inculcate in sportsmen similar qualities. Each Rolex event is truly world-class and invites talent from all over the world. Yani Tseng gave stiff competition to the contenders and also made a birdie on the final hole in order to secure second place. A regular on the Korean LPGA Tour, Ran Hong, shot a 3-under 69 and finished four strokes off the lead. She was one ahead of Song-Hee Kim. South Korea’s Jiyai Shin finished with a 70 to finish alone in sixth which is was done in by a 6-over 78 in the third round. Brittany Lang from America, Anna Nordqvist from Sweden and Se Ri Pak and Inbee Park from South Korea all rounded a finish at 2 under 286. Closing with a final-round 73 to end at 6-over was Lorena Ochoa. Lorena Ochoa the number rank holder in the Rolex Rankings tried very hard but eventually could only manage a tied position at 44.

All Rolex ceremonies that mark the end of an event are grand and all the hard-work and determination of the players is rewarded handsomely and with panache. Rolex pays special attention in making each celebration extremely special and memorable for each sportsman. Na Yeon Choi was dressed in traditional Korean attire for the ceremony. Her victory was rewarded with a trophy. The LPGA Tour will move on the Japan and Mexico before closes with the inaugural Tour Championship in Houston. Being a part of the Rolex sponsored LPGA Tour provides a dream platform for any golfer and same has been true this time also.

As the Rolex sponsored Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) enters its final stages of the season 2009 the atmosphere is buzzing with the talk of ever rising close competition between the top two performers of the year, Jiyai Shin and Lorena Ochoa. The situation has many interesting dimensions, the most important being the prestige and feeling of achievement that comes with being right at the top of the Rolex World Golf Rankings where only the best of golfers are made part of. The race to top spot has always been the hallmark of the LPGA Tour and this year it has been one of the most interesting of all years.

Mexican Lorena Ochoa who is presently heading the table is a veteran golfer and has won dozens of events and has quite nearly lived up to her potential in the year 2009 too. On the other hand Korean Jiyai Shin is only enjoying her rookie season on the LPGA Tour. But her performance has been nothing less than extraordinary. The way the year has turned out for her so far she has all but won the Rolex Rookie of the year award. With the Rolex Rookie almost in her kitty the young golfer has concentrated all her energies towards earning the biggest reward in the golf world for women, the Rolex World Golf Rankings top slot. But with Lorena Ochoa being there to challenge her all along the way it is not going to be easy for either to outrank other at the Rolex World Golf Rankings.

Among the various honors that any golfer can dream of being at top of the Rolex Rankings is undoubtedly one of the most sought after. The fact of the matter is that it is not easy to be ranked well in the Rolex Rankings considering five major women’s professional golf tours from all over the world are a part of the ranking system. Right from the LPGA to Ladies European Tour to Japanese, Korean and Australian Tours, women professional golfers from all over the world taking part in golfing event at different places in the world compete for the top honors and ensure that race to the top of Rolex Ranking always the most fiercely fought. By performing at the top of their games throughout the 2009 golf season both Jiyai Shin and Lorena Ochoa have made sure that they are far ahead of other golfers in the Rolex Rankings. But the most coveted spot is always the top spot and that is which both the golfers are eying.

Lorena Ochoa has won 27 LPGA Tour events in her career with three of them coming in the 2009 season whereas Jiyai Shin has six victories to her name in the LPGA Tour, half of them coming in the present season. With exactly equal number of tour victories and closely comparable overall performance both the golfers are always in the contention for being the numero uno. With not many tournaments left in the 2009 season it would be really interesting to wait and witness who would end the season at the top of Rolex Rankings.

The philosophy behind the support that Rolex renders to multiple events including woman’s golf is to ensure that virtues like human ambition, will power, tireless hard work and single minded dedication can be offered sufficient opportunities for unbridled growth. Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) in the world of golf is involved in running numerous golfing tournaments for female professional golfers across the world. Rolex has been actively assisting the Florida based organization in ensuring that the purpose behind LPGA as well as Rolex’s own values can be served in the best possible manner.

The year 2009 is turning out to be one of the most exciting in the history of LPGA and a major reason for that has been one player who has managed to outshine others achievements by long margins. Jiyai Shin is not only a rising star but the way she plays and what she has achieved so far makes her perhaps one of the most promising players to have ever played golf. The 1988 born South Korean player has done so many amazing things in a short career that to some all this might seem like a dream. She started off by winning her first KLPGA event in 2005 as an amateur while she was still in her high school. In 2007 she played in 19 events of KLPGA and won a staggering 10 out of them. In fact she has practically broken all KLPGA records. In 2008 she entered the LPGA Tour but only as a non-member and surprised everyone by picking three trophies including prestigious Women’s British Open. Winning the very first of these qualified her for the LPGA membership for the upcoming season, 2009.

Taking forward her achievements, Jiyai Shin has done tremendously well for herself in her rookie year at the LPGA as a member. With a slight shaky start at the beginning of the season she caught up fast and went to win her third event of the year, HSBC Women’s Champions. What has followed throughout the year so far and is likely to for the rest of the year was one of the rarest performances by a female golfer in the LPGA history in her rookie year.

With many finishes among the top she also won Wegmans LPGA cup and the recently concluded P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship. This level of unprecedented success has pulled her to super stardom and she all set to end the year on a high which no one has witnessed so far. By the end of last weekend she had won as much as $1,498,861 in prize money through the 19 event she participated in which she enjoyed a top 10 finish in 7 of them. The end result of that has put her at the top of the money list so far this season.

Also, she has earned good 127 points to be ahead of everyone in the race to the top of the Rolex Player of the Year trophy. Being a rookie and such marvelous performances has all but ensured her the coveted Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year award. With 1,269 points she is miles ahead of her nearest rival Michelle Wie who is placed second with 684 points.

When Jiyai Shin goes on to win these multiple Rolex awards, it would a suitable tribute to the game of golf and the support Rolex ensures for promoting the game.

The 2009 season’s first Rolex First-Time winner was named Sunday afternoon as South Korean star Jiyai Shin, a LPGA Tour rookie, won the HSBC Women’s Champions - and a $300,000 paycheck - by two strokes over 54-hole leader Katherine Hull. Shin overcame a four-stroke deficit on the back nine to take the lead in the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year race. Shin, 20, six strokes behind Hull at the start of the round and four back with nine holes to play, had an 11-under-par, 277 total to earn her first victory as a member of the LPGA Tour. “I’m very surprised and very happy,” said Shin, the Women’s British Open winner last August at Sunningdale. “I’m thinking, I had chance for top 10, not for win.” Shin broke a LPGA Tour record in 2008 for most wins by a non-member with three (considered unofficial for her LPGA career). Called the “Final-Round Queen” in South Korea, Jiyai Shin birdied the first four holes – opening with nine- and 12-foot putts, chipping in from 45 feet on No. 3 and adding a 15-foot shot – to put herself in position to take advantage of Hull’s back-nine meltdown. “I make it to the 15th hole, make a birdie. And Katherine, she at number 13, makes double bogey. I think she feels more pressure,” Shin said. “She start as the leader and I start tied for sixth. She looks at the score, she gets more, I think, big pressure. So I know the score, so I’m more set in my game. Just keep it on the fairway and greens.” With the win, Shin earned 150 valuable points to take the lead in the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year race with 194 points, ahead of Michelle Wie (80 points), Mika Miyazato (67 points), Vicky Hurst (45 points) and Stacy Lewis (30 points).

The Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Award is awarded to the first-year player on the LPGA Tour who scores the highest in a points competition in which points are awarded based on a player’s finish in an event. The points system is: 150 points for first; 80 points for second; 75 points for third; 70 points for fourth; and 65 points for fifth. After fifth place, points are awarded in decrements of three, beginning at sixth place with 62 points. Points are doubled in the major events and at the season-ending LPGA Championship. Rookies who make the cut in an event and finish below 41st each receive five points. The award is named after Louise Suggs, one of the founders of the LPGA. Suggs was an inaugural inductee into the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame, established in 1967, and later was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1979. She is also a member of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. Rolex has been the proud sponsor of the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Award since its inception. One of the cofounders of the LPGA in 1950, Louise Suggs is happy to see both the excellence of LPGA Rookie Jiyai Shin and just how far the LPGA has come since the beginning.