Yani Tseng will return to the RR Donnelley Founders Cup as the defending champion this week. It is the first LPGA event of 2013 that will be played in the continental United States.
The RR Donnelley Founders Cup was envisioned as a tribute to the women that started the LPGA and began in 2011 with a unique concept. The first year it offered a $1 million purse, but none of it was paid directly to the players.
100 percent of the purse in 2011 went to charity. $500,000 went to the tournament’s designated charity and the other half of the purse was divided among each player’s individual charity of choice based on their order of finish.
Karie Webb won the 2011 RR Donnelley Founders Cup and her charity, the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, received $200,000 for her efforts.
Brittany Lincicome’s charity, The First Tee of St. Petersburg, and Paula Creamer’s charity, the Japan Relief Fund, each received $77,500 for their efforts of finishing tied for runner-up.
RR Donnelley, a large commercial printing corporation headquartered in Chicago, is the main sponsor of this event and in 2012 the tournament returned to a standard format with the total purse of $1.5 million paid to the players.
The 2012 RR Donnelley Founders Cup was the second win of the year for Yani Tseng. She will also defend next week at the Kia Classic which was the site of her last win on the LPGA Tour.
She has been the No. 1 ranked women’s golfer for over two years but has not played like the golfer that won five major championships while still 22 years old.
Tseng has mentioned in the press lately that she has definitely felt the pressure of being No. 1 and trying to live up to the expectations that go along with that lofty title.
2012 LPGA Player of the Year, Stacy Lewis is coming off her win at the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore and should be the favorite heading into the tournament this week.
Jiyai Shin won the first event of the year in Australia and Inbee Park won in Thailand.
2012 U.S. Open Champion Na Yeon Choi has also been playing well this year. Other players to watch are Paula Creamer and Lexi Thompson.
With just two events left before the first women’s major of the year, the Kraft Nabisco Championship, all of the ladies on the LPGA Tour are working to get their game ready for Palm Springs in four weeks.
The RR Donnelley Founders Cup can be seen on the Golf Channel, Thursday, March 14 and Friday, March 15, 6:30-8:30 PM EDT. Weekend coverage on Golf Channel will air, Saturday, March 16 and Sunday, March 17, 4:00-7:00 PM EDT.