The LPGA's trials continue

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- It has not been a good year for the LPGA, which can't seem to catch a break, even with one of its showcase events, the Samsung World Championship.

It is being played this year on the South Course at Torrey Pines, site of the 2008 U.S. Open and the annual Buick Invitational, all of which is good. However, it is being played the same weekend that the San Diego Chargers are playing at home, against the Baltimore Ravens.

Kickoff is 1:15 p.m. (PDT) on Sunday, or about the same time the leaders at Samsung will have made the turn. Right now, the football game is not a sellout, and unless it is, it won't be televised locally. However, only 1,100 tickets remain and are expected to sell.

Should that happen, a crowd that already figured to be small promises to be sparse.

The best it can hope for at this point is that Lorena Ochoa is in contention, given the large Latino population in the area and its proximity to Ochoa's native Mexico.

-- John Strege