Standard Register Ping breakdown
By Greg Robertson
ESPN Golf Online
Thursday, March 16

Details
WhenThursday-Sunday
CourseLegacy Golf Resort, Phoenix
Par/YardagePar 72; 6,392 yards
Purse$850,000 (Winner: $127,500)
1999 championKarrie Webb
Tournament record275, 17-under (Patty Sheehan, 1993)
TelevisionThursday: 1-3 p.m. (ESPN)
Friday: 11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Saturday: 6-7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Sunday: 5-7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
The tournament
  Hole by hole
  Hole Par Yards
  1 4 364
  2 4 410
  3 4 376
  4 3 191
  5 4 368
  6 5 517
  7 3 136
  8 5 528
  9 4 418
  Out 36 3308
  10 4 405
  11 3 137
  12 5 459
  13 4 370
  14 5 533
  15 3 165
  16 4 389
  17 3 157
  18 5 469
  In 36 3084
  Total 72 6392
There are plenty of storylines around the Standard Register Ping, one of the best stops on the LPGA Tour, but everything goes back to Karrie Webb.

Webb has been perfect in 2000, winning all four of her starts, three of them official LPGA Tour events. She is just two wins shy of the LPGA Tour record of five set by Nancy Lopez, and her three straight victories are the longest streak on tour since 1982.

Webb is the favorite again this week, coming into the Register Ping as the defending champion. But there's a different twist on this year's tournament, which has moved from Moon Valley Country Club after 13 seasons. The new home is the Legacy Resort, a typical desert course where keeping the ball in the fairway and out of the junk is key.

The 18th at Legacy is the showcase hole, a reachable par-5. But fairway bunkers look to take away the shot at eagle, and a well guarded green also create problems on this narrow, straight hole.

Webb has plenty of players to keep an eye on this week, with Laura Davies, Annika Sorenstam and Juli Inkster at the top of the list.

Davies owned this tournament when it was held at Moon Valley. She won it four consecutive years, from 1994 to 1997, and comes to Phoenix as Webb's nearest pursuer on the 2000 earnings list. Davies won earlier this season at the Los Angeles Women's Championship, going wire-to-wire for her first win in two seasons.

Sorenstam is coming off two hot weeks, losing a playoff to Webb at the Takefuji Classic in Hawaii, then winning a playoff last week over Pat Hurst at the Welch's/Circle K Championship. That victory earned her enough points for entry into the Hall of Fame once she reaches the mandatory 10 years on tour, which won't come for another 3½ years.

Inkster has played just three events this year, and she has top-three finishes in all of them. The closest pursuer to Webb last year and a winner of five tournaments, Inkster has always played well in the Arizona events.

Players will not only be thinking about winning this week, but many will have their eyes on tuning up for the year's first major next week. The Nabisco Championships, won last year by Dottie Pepper in record fashion, kicks off a string on majors on the LPGA, Senior and PGA tours over the next several weeks.

The Nabisco Championships is followed by just two events during April, the Longs Drugs Challenge outside Sacramento, Calif., and the Chick-fil-A Championship hosted by Nancy Lopez at the end of the month.
ALSO SEE
Webb takes aim at LPGA record books

Harig: Webb weaving her own history

Standard Register Ping field

Standard Register Ping past champions

1999 Standard Register Ping results

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