Standard Register Ping Golf Tournament (LPGA)
First played: 1980
Last played: 2009
This tournament is most famous as the site of the first round of 59 in LPGA Tour history, shot by Annika Sorenstam on her way to winning in 2001. The year before that, Annika's sister Charlotta was the champion. With Annika's win in 2001, the Sorenstams became the first pair of sisters to both win official LPGA Tour tournaments (not to mention the same tournament).
Sorenstam's 59 happened in the second round in 2001, and she wound up finishing at 261 that year. Both marks were tournament records, and both marks were also all-time LPGA records (but the 261 has since been lowered as the LPGA's 72-hole scoring record). Annika won three times total, but the tournament record for wins is held by Laura Davies with four. And Davies' wins happened in consecutive years, from 1994 through 1997. At the time of Davies' fourth in a row, she set an LPGA Tour record for consecutive years winning the same event. (That record was later broken by Sorenstam.)
Two big things happened at the 1988 tournament: Ok-Hee Ku won, becoming the first Korean winner ever on the LPGA Tour. And, during the Monday qualifying round, Mary Bea Porter saw a family in the backyard of a house next to the golf course desparately trying to revive their young son, who had fallen into the swimming pool. She jumped the 6-foot fence and applied CPR until paramedics arrived, saving the boy's life.
Juli Inkster's win in 2006 was the 31st and last of her LPGA career.
Also known as: Name in its final year was J Golf Phoenix LPGA International, and it debuted as the Sun City Classic. In-between, names included Samaritan Turqouise Classic; Standard Register Turquoise Classic; Safeway Ping; and Safeway International
Winners of the Standard Register Ping
1980 — Jan Stephenson, 2751981 — Patty Hayes, 277
1982 — Beth Daniel, 278 (def. Carole Jo Kabler in playoff)
1983 — Anne Marie Palli, 205 (54 holes due to weather)
1984 — Christa Johnson, 276
1985 — Betsy King, 280 (def. Patty Sheehan in playoff)
1986 — Mary Beth Zimmerman, 278
1987 — Pat Bradley, 286
1988 — Ok-Hee Ku, 281
1989 — Allison Finney, 282
1990 — Pat Bradley, 280
1991 — Danielle Ammaccapane, 283
1992 — Danielle Ammaccapane, 279
1993 — Patty Sheehan, 275
1994 — Laura Davies, 277
1995 — Laura Davies, 280
1996 — Laura Davies, 284
1997 — Laura Davies, 277 (def. Kelly Robbins in playoff)
1998 — Liselotte Neumann, 279 (def. Rosie Jones in playoff)
1999 — Karrie Webb, 274
2000 — Charlotta Sorenstam, 276
2001 — Annika Sorenstam, 261
2002 — Rachel Heatherington, 281 (def. Annika Sorenstam in playoff)
2003 — Se Ri Pak, 265
2004 — Annika Sorenstam, 270
2005 — Annika Sorenstam, 277
2006 — Juli Inkster, 273
2007 — Lorena Ochoa, 270
2008 — Lorena Ochoa, 266
2009 — Karrie Webb, 274
Golf Courses: Over its history was most commonly played at Moon Valley Country Club; ended at Papago Golf Course, and also visited Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club.
