The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

After coming up short in an effort to qualify for the past two years, Raquel Riley will finally have her opportunity to take on some of the best players on the LPGA tour.

The second event of the 2015 LPGA season, the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic, kicks off this morning at the Ocean Club Golf Course, Paradise Island.

Riley is slated to tee off at 1pm on hole 10 with a trio that also includes American Jackie Stoelting and Sakura Yokomine of Japan.

Stoetling finished 3rd on the Volvik Race for the Card money list to earn LPGA Tour membership for 2015 while Yokomine finished tied for No. 11 at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament to earn her tour card for 2015.

Riley, 33, earned the exemption berth this year when she beat our Georgette Rolle in the Bahamas Golf Federation’s recent qualifier. Riley, who is in the process of completing her LPGA accreditation to become a certified LPGA teaching professional, said it’s a dream come true to be playing before the home crowd in the prestigious $1.3 million tournament.

“There is a little bit of a homecourt advantage, but not so much because I haven’t played here that much. I played a lot here during my junior golf days,” she said. “In the professional ranks, I haven’t played here that much, so I think the homecourt advantage will come from the Bahamian people supporting me all around the course.”

The third annual Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic is the second of 33 events on the LPGA schedule. It offers a $1.3 million purse with $195,000 going to the winner. Last year, Jessica Korda won her second career LPGA title with a one-stroke victory over Stacy Lewis.

Seven of the top 10 players in the Rolex Rankings and 18 of the top 25 have committed to play in the tournament, including defending champion Korda.

The early list also includes world No. 1 Inbee Park, No. 2 Lydia Ko and No. 3 Stacy Lewis.

The remainder of the top 10 entered are No. 5 Suzann Pettersen, No. 6 Michelle Wie, No. 8 So Yeon Ryu and No. 10 Lexi Thompson.

In addition, four of five majors winners from last year are in: Park (Wegman’s LPGA Championship), Thompson (Kraft Nabisco), Wie (US Women’s Open) and Mo Martin (RICOH Women’s British Open.

Other notables in the field are Paula Creamer, Cristie Kerr, Anna Nordquist, Christina Kim, Natalie Gulbis, Brittany Lincicome, Na Yeon Choi, Ai Miyazato, Morgan Pressel, and 2013 champion Ilhee Lee.

Golf Channel will provide 10 hours of live coverage of the $1.3 million tournament beginning on Thursday, February 5 from 11:30am to 2:30pm EST. Live second-round coverage on Friday also is 11:30am to 2:30pm, while live coverage of the final two rounds Saturday and Sunday will air 3-5 pm. Admission is free for all spectators.