SAFEWAY CLASSIC
Site: North Plains
Schedule: Friday-Sunday.
Course: Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, Ghost Creek Golf Course (6,552 yards, par 71).
Purse: $1.5 million. Winner’s share: $225,000.
Television: Golf Channel (Friday, 3:30-5:30 p.m.; Saturday, 3:30-6:30 p.m.; Sunday, 4-6:30 p.m.).
Last year: Norway’s Suzann Pettersen won the second of her two 2011 titles. She overcame a nine-stroke deficit with a 7-under 64 and beat Na Yeon Choi with a par on the first hole of a playoff.
Last week: South Korea’s So Yeon Ryu won the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic, making six straight birdies in a final-round 62 en route to a seven-stroke victory. She also won the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open.
Notes: The tournament is in its fourth year at Pumpkin Ridge after 18 at Columbia Egdewater in Portland. Hilary Lunke won the 2003 U.S. Women’s Open at Pumpkin Ridge, holing a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole of an 18-hole playoff with Angela Stanford and Kelly Robbins. ... Top-ranked Yani Tseng leads the tour with three victories. She has struggled in her past five starts, tying for 59th in the LPGA Championship, missing the cut in the NW Arkansas Championship, tying for 50th in the U.S. Women’s Open, and missing the cut in the Evian Masters and Toledo Classic. ... Japan’s Ai Miyazato, a two-time winner this year, won the 2010 event. ... The Canadian Women’s Open is next week at The Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam, British Columbia.
