The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) has announced it will add the LPGA Classic to its tour. The Classic will be presented by J Golf on March 22-28 at the La Costa Resort and Spa and will mark the start of the 2010 LPGA season.

La Costa will host the LPGA Classic.

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Making the announcement was incoming LPGA commissioner Michael Whan. “This is our first full event of the season,” he says, emphasizing that all of the standout LPGA players should be in attendance, competing for the tournament's $1.7 million purse.

Expected competitors include Mexican superstar and Rolex Ranking number-one Lorena Ochoa, Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Jiyai Shin, American number-one Criste Kerr and American superstar Michelle Wie.

Whan believes the LPGA is special because it does have standout personalities, and there is no predictability of who will win any given tournament.“ Our winners come from different places every week,” says Whan.

Tournament director Jim Felechner believes the competitiveness of the LPGA is the reason why, “our viewership is getting better every year...We just feel the stories and personalities of these players are really compelling.”

As a new commissioner, Whan says: “I am completely surprised and overwhelmed at how interactive our players are with our fans.”

Felechner concurs. “The tour players are super accessible," he says. "They love to take pictures and give autographs.” He adds that admission is free for kids.

Mina Harigae, a 20-year-old native of Monterery, will be among those friendly, accessible golfers making her tour debut. Hariage finished the 2009 season as the Duramed Futures Tour’s Players of the Year and Rookie of the Year. She earned $90,000 on the LPGA’s developmental tour, posting a scoring average of 70.89. Harigae says: “I am super excited to be starting off on the West Coast here in San Diego.”

San Diego native Tiffany Joh, a rookie of the Duramed Futures tour, will likely receive a sponsor’s exemption that would allow her to compete on her home turf at the LPGA Classic. Joh recently graduated from UCLA where she was the 2008 PAC 10 Golfer of the Year and runner-up at the 2008 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship. Joh is also a past winner of the U.S Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship (in 2006), and she was a teammate of Harigae in the victorious 2008 U.S. Cup Team.

You can see Joh, Harigae and Wie for free by volunteering at the LPGA Classic. Information on volunteering and purchasing tickets can be found at www.lpgalacosta.com, or call the tournaments office at 760-579-7365.