Links - Looking back on the 2009 LPGA season - North River Minor Hockey Association

Looking back on the 2009 LPGA season LOGINREGISTERHELPYOU ARE NOT LOGGED IN NHLNBAMLBCFLNFLCurlingTennisGolfSoccerNASCARFormula OneIndyCar NASCAR Canadian Tire SeriesNationwideCamping WorldAuto RacingWorld JuniorsSpengler CupMenS WHCWomenS WHCHockey CanadaAHLBoxingCanada GamesCHLCISECHLFigure SkatingLacrosseMMANCAASkiingSummer SportsWinter SportsMoreOlympicsFantasyDaily LineShowsTSN TalentCommunityMainScheduleResultsPlayersLeaderboardMoney ListLeader ListWorld RankingsFedEx Cup StandingsPGA TOUR ScheduleResultsLeaderboardMoney ListLeader ListWorld RankingsLPGA Tour ScheduleResultsLeaderboardMoney ListLeader ListChampions Tour ScheduleResultsLeaderboardEuropean Tour ScheduleResultsLeaderboardNationwide Tour ScheduleResultsLeaderboardMoney ListCanadian Tour Golf on TSNeotText SizePhiladelphia PA (Sports Network) Later when we look back on the 2009 LPGA Tour season we will reflect on a year of economic and organizational turmoil that portended a lean nearfuture for womens golfWhether or not the LPGA can bounce back remains to be seen although a complete rebound in 2010 appears unlikely after the tour released an upcoming schedule with only 24 tournaments on it The downsized schedule there were 34 official events in 2008 and 27 this year reflects the tours struggles to hang onto sponsors during the economic downturn The turmoil resulted in a player uprising that led to the firing of commissioner Carolyn Bivens in July Acting commissioner Marty Evans will give way to new LPGA head Mike Whan who will be charged with turning things around in the new year Despite changes to the tours power structure one thing remained a constant The LPGA put forth a good product again this year and remained a truly international circuit Of course one player remained on top even as the gap between her and the rest of the tour narrowed considerably PLAYERS OF THE YEAR Lorena Ochoa and Jiyai Shin Like the official award handed out by the LPGA Tour our Player of the Year race came down to the last week of the season In the end it was impossible to pick between two evenlymatched stars Lorena Ochoas secondplace finish at the LPGA Tour Championship in November vaulted her past Jiyai Shin on the tours seasonlong points list giving the Mexican star her fourth consecutive Player of the Year award But while the LPGAs honor is decided mathematically ours takes into account other factors And weve never seen two seasons so close in so many ways Shin won more money than Ochoa this season ($1807 million to $1489 million) but she also played in three more tournaments Both players captured three victories but Ochoa also collected four secondplace finishes to Shins one Shin though collected three thirdplace finishes to Ochoas none Both players had eight topfives but Ochoa bested Shin with 13 top10s to Shins 12 Ochoa won in March April and then not again until Oct...