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Australian Hall of Famer Karrie Webb, second on the LPGA Tour money list, will try for her fourth title of 2006 at the LPGA Safeway Classic that starts here on Friday.
World No. 1 Annika Sorenstam of Sweden and tour money leader Lorena Ochoa of Mexico are skipping the 1.4 million-dollar tournament at Columbia Edgewater Country Club.
Sorenstam successfully defended her title at the Scandinavian TPC last weekend in her home course at Stockholm.
Ochoa also played in Sweden, finishing runner-up to Sorenstam, and like the Swede decided to take a week off.
That puts Webb squarely at the head of the field.
The seven-time major champion has rejoined the elite of the LPGA Tour after a winless campaign in 2005.
She added to her major total with a victory in the Kraft Nabisco Championship in April and also won the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill in May and the Evian Masters last month.
Webb said she was looking forward to the challenge of a tournament where she has never really contended.
"I've never really had a decent chance at winning here for whatever reason," she said. "I've always played really well, and I've always enjoyed my time out here. The greens, as great as they roll, you have to be very precise on the greens here. As fast as they are, they're pretty undulating.
"You have to be really accurate with your distance control and give yourself plenty of uphill putts.
"On this course, you have to hit the middle of the hole," she added. "If you hit the edge they lip out. So it's almost like the hole's a little bit smaller on the greens out here."
Kim, the 2000 champion here, is fourth on the money list behind Ochoa, Webb and Sorenstam.
She is one of the best putters on Tour, which should help her on Columbia Edgewater's pristine greens.
After three winless seasons, Kim boasts two titles this year.
Soo-Yun Kang posted her first career LPGA Tour win here last year, a relatively easy four-shot victory.
The 30-year-old South Korean joined the LPGA in 2001 after winning eight times on the Korean LPGA Tour.
She has struggled all season with a disk injury in her neck. The stiffness forced her to withdraw from the Canadian Open on the second day last week.
A return to Oregon, however, had worked wonders, Kang said.
"It was cured as soon as I got here," Kang said. "I know I can win again."
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Golf-USLPGA
AFP 171739 GMT 08 06
COPYRIGHT 2006 Agence France-Presse. All rights reserved.
