Rosales braces for Chick-fil-A title defense

Jennifer Rosales returns to defend her title in the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship hosted by Nancy Lopez at the par-72 Eagle’s Landing Country Club in Stockbridge, Georgia, hoping to dish out the form that netted her a breakthrough victory on the LPGA Tour last year.

Rosales rallied with a seven-under par 65 in the final round to win by one shot over the quartet of Jung Yeon Lee, Rosie Jones, Becky Morgan and Grace Park, snapping a five-year title drought on the tour.

With the win, Rosales became a Rolex First-Time Winner and used the victory to build momentum for the summer, which saw her take a lead into the final round of the US Women’s Open and gain four other top-10 finishes.

Having a breakout year under her belt, Rosales won the 2005 season-opening SBS Open in Hawaii, finishing with an eight-under-par total to hold off Cristie Kerr and Michelle Wie by two.

Although battling a wrist injury that has plagued her on-and-off this season, Rosales also has recorded two top-15 finishes in the four events she completed.

The listing of Chick-fil-A Charity Championship past champions reads like a who’s who of women’s golf. Rosales joined the likes of Se Ri Pak (2003), Juli Inkster (2002), Annika Sorenstam (2001), Sophie Gustafson (2000), Rachel Hetherington (1999), Liselotte Neumann (1998) and tournament host Nancy Lopez (1997).

But getting the $240,000 winner’s portion of the $1.6 million purse this year isn’t going to be easy. The tournament field has the top-10 players from the ADT Official Money List, including Sorenstam, who is looking for her second Chick-fil-A Charity Championship.