By Greg Robertson
ESPN Golf Online
Sunday, March 26

Details
When	Thursday-Sunday
Course	Mission Hills Country Club, Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Par/Yardage	Par 72; 6,460 yards
Purse	$1.25 million (Winner: $187,500)
1999 champion	Dottie Pepper
Tournament record	19-under 269 (Dottie Pepper, 1999)
Television	Thursday-Friday: 3:30-5:30 p.m. ET (ESPN) Saturday: 4:30-6 p.m. ET (ABC) Sunday: 4-6 p.m. ET (ABC)

The tournament

	Hole by hole
	Hole	Par	Yards
	1	4	357
	2	5	504
	3	4	409
	4	4	375
	5	3	158
	6	4	352
	7	4	378
	8	3	166
	9	5	508
	Out	36	3207
	10	4	368
	11	5	506
	12	4	379
	13	4	386
	14	3	148
	15	4	379
	16	4	390
	17	3	171
	18	5	526
	In	36	3253
	Total	72	6460

The first major of the season has arrived on the LPGA Tour with plenty of players in the hunt for the title.

The Nabisco Championship, formerly known as the Nabisco Dinah Shore, arrives with several golfers playing well. And they'll have to have their "A" games ready on one of the longest courses the LPGA sees all season. Mission Hills Country Club measures 6,460 yards and includes four par-5s all measuring more than 500 yards each.

Nobody handled the par-5s better last year than Dottie Pepper. In fact, nobody handled anything better than Pepper, who raced to a six-shot victory and set a scoring record for LPGA majors with her 19-under 269 score.

Pepper opened quietly with a 70 on Thursday, trailing Meg Mallon by four shots. But a 66 on Friday pulled her within one of the lead, and she followed it with weekend rounds of 67 and 66 for a six-shot margin over Mallon. Karrie Webb was next in line, 11 shots behind Pepper.

Pepper began the final round with a three-shot cushion, but she put away any doubts that the tournament was hers on the front nine. She birdied the first two holes and four of the first 10, then set her sights on the scoring record.

Pepper arrives for her title defense riding a so-so season to date. In five tournaments, she has a pair of top-10 finishes but hasn't really contended for any titles. She was fourth two weeks ago at the Welch's/Circle K Championship and seventh at the Los Angeles Women's Open.

One player who is on a roll is Karrie Webb, who saw her perfect 2000 season come to an end last week in Phoenix --- but just barely. Webb won her first four starts of the year before finishing second to Charlotta Sorenstam last week at the Standard Register Ping.

Webb leads virtually every major statistical category, including earnings and scoring average. The reigning player of the year, Webb picked up her first career major last year at the du Maurier.

Charlotta Sorenstam is just one of the Sorenstams Webb will have to contend with. Although the Standard Register Ping was her first title, she has two other top-10 finishes this season and stands fourth on the money list.

Older and more-famous sister Annika Sorenstam is second on the money list, having won in Tucson two weeks earlier. Over her last three tournaments, Sorenstam has won one playoff, lost another and finished third. She qualified for the Hall of Fame with her win in Tucson and has plenty of experience in majors, having won the U.S. Women's Open twice.

Another player to keep in mind is Laura Davies, who has committed to a full season on the LPGA Tour this year instead of bouncing between the United States and Europe. Davies went wire-to-wire in Los Angeles earlier this year, was third at the Australian Masters and seventh in Tucson.

Betsy King heads a list of Hall of Famers with a great history in this event. King, who won in Hawaii earlier this season, has three Nabisco titles to her credit, most recently in 1997. She joins Amy Alcott as the only three-time winners in the field.

Juli Inkster, who has three top-three finishes this year already despite taking a six-week break from the tour, is a two-time winner of the Nabisco. Past champions Helen Alfredsson, Donna Andrews, Nanci Bowen, Sally Little, Pat Bradley, Nancy Lopez and Patty Sheehan are also in the field.

Two young players to keep an eye on are Se Ri Pak, who won two majors her rookie year in 1998 but has struggled this season, and Grace Park, the former NCAA champion playing her first professional season. Park, who dominated the Futures Tour last year, is starting to get comfortable on the LPGA Tour, finishing seventh at the Takefuji Classic three weeks ago for her best finish.

A slew of amateurs in the field will also draw some attention, particularly twins Aree and Naree Song Wongluekiet. At 13, they are the youngest participants in the history of the event.

Other top amateurs in the field include Duke sophomore Beth Bauer, the top-ranked amateur in the country, and 1999 U.S. Amateur runnerup Jimin Kang.

Veterans such a Mallon, Sherri Steinhauer, Kelly Robbins and Chris Johnson also seem to elevate their games when a major is at stake. And don't forget about Pat Hurst, the 1998 champion just getting back into top form after having her first child last year. She lost a playoff to Annika Sorenstam two weeks ago.

The $1.25 million purse is the largest on the LPGA Tour so far this season. The winner will take home $187,500 and the chance at much more. A bonus program will pay the winner an additional $250,000 for a second major title, $1 million for a third major and $2.5 million for sweeping all four this year.

This is the first of 12 LPGA events this year to pay at least $1 million in prize money.

Following this event, the LPGA Tour will take two weeks off before returning for just two events in April.