Sophie Sandolo: Italian player Sophie’s 2005 and 2006 glamour calendars have brought her worldwide attention and as a result, in February, she was nominated for ESPN’s “Hottest Female Athlete of the Year” Award. She joined the Tour in 2000 and has experienced two runners’ up spots and 11 top ten finishes in her six seasons as a professional. She finished 15th on the 2005 Money List and the next logical step is securing her first victory, which would appear to be just around the corner. Sophie, 29, is a member of the Ladies European Tour’s Board of Directors.
Paula Creamer: This all-American, blue-eyed girl is back in her second season with the LPGA Tour, having burst onto the scene last year, seemingly from nowhere. The LPGA Rookie of the Year, Paula secured two LPGA wins in 2005: at the Sybase Classic and the Evian Masters in France; with two more wins in Japan. She was the media darling of The Solheim Cup, (USA versus Europe), earning three-and-a-half points out of five and thrashing Laura Davies in the singles.
At the age of 18 years, 9 months, she was the youngest player to win on the LPGA at the Sybase Classic and then, with her second win at the Evian Masters, she was the youngest and fastest to earn US$1 million. The same year she finished second to Annika on the US money list with more than $1.5 million in earnings.
Not content to take second place, at 19, Paula is determined to go one better this year and end Annika’s five-year reign of superiority.
“My rookie season was very exciting and the Solheim Cup was the best experience of my career,” she said. “But there was still a big hole in my goals. I had wanted to win a major.”
With her will to win, that goal is highly possible for Paula. A victory at the US Women’s Open at Newport Country Club at the beginning of July would certainly be a fan-favourite.
Natalie Gulbis: Natalie, along with Paula Creamer, is one of the new breed of glamorous players on the women’s pro circuit, who always cuts a figure on the golf course and is attracting a broader fan base to the game.
As one of America’s star players, she is even featured on the computer game, ‘Tiger Woods Golf’, had her own swimsuit calendar and a reality TV show on the Golf Channel; all means of attracting new viewers to women’s golf.
Aside from the glamour, Natalie is a seriously talented player. She was one of the rookies on the winning US Solheim Cup Team last season and along with Paula Creamer, she also represented the USA in the Women’s World Cup of Golf in South Africa.
Despite not yet having won a tournament, (her best finish so far was tied third at both the Michelob ULTRA Open and the State Farm Classic), Natalie posted an additional ten top tens in 2005, hinting that a win on the LPGA Tour is a strong possibility this year.
Helen Alfredsson: “Alfie”, as she is known on Tour, will be Captaining The European Solheim Cup Team in her home country of Sweden in 2007, (The Solheim Cup is the female equivalent of the men’s Ryder Cup). There could be no better leader than this non-conformist personality to do the job.
Unafraid to speak her mind, Helen is a breath of fresh air in the game of golf and likes to point out that she shares a birthday with Seve Ballesteros. As an 18-year-old, she ran off to Paris to become a model and in her past, she also flew with the ‘Blue Angels’: the all girl Red Devils. Now aged 40, she races dragsters on her days off and instills the virtues of “living every moment” to her young colleagues on Tour.
She says:
“We need to speak out to young kids today and get them hooked on golf – show that it’s fun. We want people to be sitting up and thinking, “Oh my God, golf is a cool game.”
Helen made seven consecutive appearances in The Solheim Cup as a player and also has 19 worldwide victories to her credit. The 2007 Solheim Cup countdown has already begun with players earning points from February. Expect Helen to feature heavily this season – and to see her in contention.
