Two LPGA tournaments coming to New Jersey

Fans of the LPGA Tour will get two chances to see their favorites over the next month on courses that are a reasonable drive from the Philadelphia area.

The ShopRite LPGA Classic is back for its third year since being restored by a group led by tournament executive director Tim Erensen. The 54-hole event begins June 1 on the Bay Course at Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club.

The field is led by defending champion Brittany Lincicome, who won last year's event by one stroke over Cristie Kerr and Jiyai Shin with an 11-under-par 202 total, and Yani Tseng, the world's No. 1-ranked golfer who already owns three victories this season.

Tournament officials said 94 of the world's top 100 players, including 2012 tour winners Jessica Korda, Angela Stanford, Sue Young Yoo, Ai Miyazato and Stacy Lewis, will be competing. Others scheduled to play are Kerr, Shin, Paula Creamer, Suzann Pettersen, Karrie Webb, Morgan Pressel and Michelle Wie.

Two weeks before the ShopRite, the LPGA will be in Gladstone, N.J., about 30 miles north of Princeton, for the Sybase Match Play Championship, the only non-stroke-play competition on the tour. The tournament begins May 17 at Hamilton Farm Golf Club.

A field of 64 players will begin the tournament in 32 first-round matches on May 17, with the pairings based on the May 14^th update of the Rolex World Rankings. The second round will be played on May 18, followed by the third round and quarterfinals on May 19, and the semifinals and championship match on May 20.

Pettersen is the defending champion, having defeated Kerr in last year's 20-hole final. The field includes Tseng, the No. 1 seed, along with all the players mentioned above who are competing at the ShopRite LPGA Classic.

Further information can be obtained by visiting the web sites of the respective tournaments:

www.ShopRiteLPGAClassic.com

www.sybasematchplaychampionship.com

--Joe Juliano