Inkster looks to regain title in Tucson

By Ryan Finley,
Contributor

For Juli Inkster, that purse is worth 105,000 dollars----the first prize total for the 2000 Welch's/Circle K Championship, which takes place March 9-12 at Tucson's Randolph Golf Course.

Juli Inkster is coming off of the best professional year of her life. So, needless to say, people are looking for her to enter into a letdown season.

Just don't tell Juli Inkster.

After nearly 17 years on the LPGA Tour, Inkster has established herself as one of the association's top money-earners and personalities----a family woman, Inkster is married to a golf pro and is mother to two children.

The 1999 season saw Inkster win five tournament titles, two of them majors.

She made the all but one cut in her 28 starts, placing in the top ten 18 times. In the Welch's/Circle K Championship, Inkster shot a 15-under par 273, good for a one-stroke victory over Dottie Pepper.

Bouyed by her stellar season, Inkster was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame, being the most recent member of the tour to earn that distinction.

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"(My life) has not changed a whole lot, but people do recognize me and my golf game more," Inkster told LPGA.com. "My outlook on golf is still very much the same. It's really hard to think of myself as a member of the hall of fame."

"It (the season) has been hard and I need to take some time off," she said. "I have been busy and would like to be home and get away."

With her break over, Inkster appears ready to regain her title as the champion of Tucson's only LPGA event..and the large purse that comes with it.