LPGA: 7 Predictions for the 2012 Season

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The 2012 LPGA season starts tomorrow in Melbourne, Australia with the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open. Although this will be the 21st edition of the event, it's the first time the LPGA has co-sanctioned it.

With a total of 29 confirmed stops, two of them non-official, Michael Whan has proven to be the right choice as commissioner.

Furthermore, the competition is fiercer than ever, and with a bunch of youngsters ready to take over the most prestigious women's tour, this season promises to be one of the best.

Here are some bold predictions.

Michelle Wie Won't Pick It Up After Graduation

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Michelle Wie may be in her senior year at Stanford and ready to graduate in March, which means she'll be a full-time LPGA member, but that doesn't guarantee her success.

The truth is, Wie has been playing quite regularly. In 2009, she signed up for 19 tournaments out of 28 official events. A year later she also participated in 19, but the schedule only had 24 official tourneys.

Last season, the LPGA also featured 24 official tournaments, including the Solheim Cup; Wie played 20.

Trophy-wise, Michelle has two—she holds trophies from the 2009 Lorena Ochoa Invitational and the 2010 CN Canadian Women's Open.

Suzann Pettersen Will Be a Player to Follow

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After being winless for 22 months and six runner-up finishes in 2010, Suzann Pettersen finally hoisted a trophy at the Sybase Matchplay Championship. Three months later, she won the Ladies Irish Open and the Safeway Classic.

Pettersen's performance sent her straight to the second spot at the Rolex Rankings, 6.23 points behind Yani Tseng.

Suzann will continue to win in 2012. A major is not out of the question—actually she has already won the LPGA Championship (2007) and last year she tied for third in that same event.

Paula Creamer Will Be Back to the Winners' Circle

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Without a question, 2011 was one of the toughest seasons for fan-favorite Paula Creamer. The Pink Panther couldn't win and struggled with her swing.

After hoisting the U.S. Women's Open trophy in 2010, Creamer posted 10 Top-10 finishes last season, including two runner-ups.

It hasn't been a secret to anybody that Paula wants to be the number one golfer in the world, which she has stated since coming into the LPGA scene back in 2005.

This year, Creamer will end the drought, expect her to win in the first half of the season.

Europeans Will Be a Major Force

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The Solheim Cup was one of the most exciting tournaments of 2011, but most importantly it showed that European players are getting better.

This year the LPGA will have 39 European players, including veterans like Suzann Pettersen and Catriona Matthew, to young guns like Azahara Muñoz and Caroline Hedwall, all of them part of the 2011 European Solheim Cup team.

There were four European champions in 2010: Suzann Pettersen (won twice), Catriona Matthew, Sandra Gal and Maria Hjorth. Meanwhile, Azahara Muñoz and Anna Nordqvist captured runner-up finishes.

Rookie of the Year: Alexis Thompson

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One of the subjects of interest this year will be teenager Alexis Thompson. The 16-year-old phenomenon has already proven she has what it takes to win at the highest level.

Last year, as a non-member, Thompson hoisted two trophies: Navistar LPGA Classic and Dubai Ladies Masters. She became the youngest to win a LPGA title and the youngest professional to accomplish the feat on the LET.

Lexi's toughest rival will be So Yeon Ryu, who won the U.S. Women's Open at age 21.

Player of the Year: Yani Tseng

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This may be a no-brainer to some. Granted, Yani will continue to dominate and will be named LPGA Player of the Year, but will it be easy?

Last year she won 12 events worldwide and had the most successful season of any golfer, man or woman. She'll slow down a bit in 2012—nine trophies all over the world seems like a good number.

The main reason is competition. Yani set the bar higher than ever and she's dominating like Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa did in their prime, but in 2011 no other LPGA player won more than twice.

This season she'll have to compete head-to-head with players like Alexis Thompson, So Yeon Ryu and others with as much experience as her: Suzann Pettersen, Stacy Lewis and Brittany Lincicome; all of them had breakthrough years last season.

The Major Champions Will Be...

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This is the boldest prediction of all.

So, who will win each of the LPGA major championships? Based on previous performance in each one of them and the way they played last season, I'll pick:

Kraft Nabisco Championship: Brittany Lincicome

Wegman's LPGA Championship: Suzann Pettersen

U.S. Women's Open: Cristie Kerr

British Women's Open: Yani Tseng