Miyazato starts LPGA Championship from top spot

Ai Miyazato of Japan will be putting her new No. 1 ranking on the line and shooting for her first major title today when the LPGA Championship gets underway at Locust Hill Country Club in suburban Rochester, N.Y.

The LPGA Tour's second major of the year will have 15 of the top 15 players in the Rolex Ratings in the field, but you can bet that tournament organizers are hoping an American player such as Cristie Kerr, Michelle Wie or Paula Creamer can mount a challenge and boost television ratings.

Taiwan's Yani Tseng won this year's first major, the Kraft-Nabisco. Miyazato became Japan's first world No. 1-ranked golfer after winning last week's ShopRite Classic in Galloway, N.J., for her fourth victory in nine events this season.

Jiyai Shin, the former No. 1-ranked player, returns to action after an emergency appendectomy two weeks ago. A field of 150 players will vie for a $2.25 million purse on a course that has held regular LPGA events since 1977 but has been lengthened and toughened for this week's major. Shin last year won the Wegmans LPGA at Locust Hill so along with defending LPGA Championship winner Anna Nordqvist it's like two players will be defending their title. Nordqvist won the LPGA Championship last year when it was held at Bulle Rock.

The tournament is being televised by the Golf Channel (today: 12:30-2:30 p.m.; Friday: 12:30-2:30 p.m.; Saturday: 4-7 p.m.; Sunday: 4-7 p.m.).

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PGA Tour fans who missed seeing birdies by the bunches at last week's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach will be able to feast on such offerings today when the Travelers Championship gets underway at the TPC River Highlands in Hartford, Conn.

Defending champion Kenny Perry, who shot a 63 in the final round last year for a 22-under 258 total, is back as 11 of the top 30 from the money list are in the field. Perry's 63 was good enough to forge a three-shot victory over David Toms and Paul Goydos.

TPC River Highlands is a par-70 course that measures 6,841 yards and has a course rating of 72.7 and a slope rating of 131. The most famous portion of the course, a three-hole stretch from No. 15 to No. 17, incorporates a 4-acre lake that has been nicknamed the "Golden Triangle." Those three holes, along with the 18th, make up one of the top finishing stretches on the PGA Tour.

The tournament will be televised by the Golf Channel (today: 3-6 p.m., 8:30-11:30 p.m.; Friday: 3-6 p.m., 8:30-11:30 p.m.; Saturday: 1-4 p.m.; Sunday: 1-4 p.m.) and CBS (Saturday: 3-6 p.m.; Sunday: 3-6 p.m.).

Information from Reuters.com, GolfObserver.com, and PGATOUR.com contributed to this post.