The 2009 LPGA Tour Championship sponsored by Rolex saw Jiyai Shin loosing the prestigious title- ‘Player of The Year’ to Lorena Ochoa in a very close race. This year the upcoming LPGA season will see the duo competing again for the top honors. Last year, during the final leg of the championship, Jiyai Shin got her birdie chip from 20 feet which simply slipped by the hole. This prevented Jiyai Shin from bagging the coveted title, making way for Lorena Ochoa to get the title to her name for the fourth time in a row. Had the title fallen into Jiyai Shin’s kitty, she would have got her name registered as the only player to have bagged the rookie and player of the year award in the same season after Nancy Lopez.

However, the determined girl Jiyai Shin, who lost the top honor of the championship by just two inches and one point, kept her spirit alive. She remained victorious three times and bagged the maximum prize money title. Talking about the upcoming scheduled LPGA Tour Championship, Jiyai Shin said that she needs to put in more focus and concentration. Jiyai Shin has already earned about 30 professional titles which include as many as six LPGA Tour titles. Jiyai Shin went on to add that she had a good off season as far as productivity is concerned. Considering her experience at the last season a great one, Jiyai Shin still felt that she could have done better and rated herself at 70 on the count of 100. She wishes to be more consistent in the upcoming season of the LPGA Tour Championship sponsored by Rolex and looks forward to performing the best and enjoy her experience on the golf course.

Where Jiyai Shin looked completely infused with confidence and high spirited, Lorena Ochoa is also geared up for the coming season. Lorena Ochoa, who is married to Andres Conesa, CEO of Aeromexico is a mother to three children from her previous marriage. Despite having a bundle of responsibilities on her head, the wonder woman stays committed to Golf. If Lorena Ochoa gets lucky and maintains her performance, she may end up winning fifth Player of the Year award in the LPGA Tour Championship. She will be the second player to win the five titles consecutively joining the league of Annika Sorenstam. Talking about her practice for the tournament, Lorena Ochoa said that she has been working hard for about six to seven hours a day and also keeps a track of her workout sessions in the gym. Like every event her coach would be joining to help her with some techniques and see her play the tournament. The lady has 27 titles to boast of which include two major championship titles and her fourth consecutive Vare Trophy for which she piped Jiyai Shin by a few points.

The other big names who will be competing this year would be Paula Creamer, Suzann Pettersen, Cristie Kerr, Yani Tseng and Angela Stanford together with the first time winning trio from last year- Ali Miyazayo, Anna Nordqvist and Michelle Wie. With Jiyai Shin and Lorena Ochoa again uniting for the tough race to the title of ‘Rolex Player of the Year’, this year’s Rolex sponsored LPGA Tour Championship is again going to be one high on excitement meter.

The much coveted Pirelli P Zero Bonus Points fell into the kitty of the winners of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car series’ season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, held on January 30^th-31^st Action Express and Speedsource for winning the 48^th running of America’s premier endurance race. The No.9 Action Express, after winning the overall race and the Daytona Prototype Class registered itself for the Pirelli P Zero Bonus Points, while the No. 70 Castrol Syntec/Speedsource Mazda RX-8 team got its way by being victorious in the GT Class. Both the teams marked the beginning of the new Pirelli P Zero Club Bonus Program. This program will apparently award with $120,000 in cash during the 2010 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No.16.

One has to be a part of the Pirelli P Zero Club which comprises of the race teams that finished inside the top 10 in final 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype and GT points standings, so as to earn the eligibility to enter this newly introduced program. Any member team of Pirelli Club which wins its first victory in either Daytona Prototype or GT Class, earn a $5,000 Pirelli P Zero Bonus. If Action Express or Speedsource is victorious in any more race during the rest of Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series season, the bonus $ 5,000 will get rolled over and will continue to get built until some other member team from the Pirelli Club marks its first 2010 victory.

The team members will get another chance to lay their claims over the Pirelli P Zero Bonus during 2010 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series season finale which is scheduled to be held at Miller Motorsports Park on September 11^th. All member of the club will be eligible for the bonus regardless of the fact as to whether they have won earlier or not. The victorious teams Action Express and Speedsource thanked Pirelli Tire North America for introducing the brand new surprise factor to the race and making it all the more eventful. The winning drivers also gave the credit for their win to the series standard Pirelli P Zero Racing slicks.

Speaking about his experience, Terry Brocheller who was a part of the 2004’s Rolex 24 At Daytona as well as 2003’s Grand-Am Rolex Series Daytona Prototype Championship, said that he was mighty impressed with the Pirelli slicks and that they made it fairly consistent to drive in the damp and cold conditions. Adding to the praise, his teammate Ryan Dalziel won his second career Daytona Prototype following his first one at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2008, said that the Pirellis helped them stay in control and make double-stint whenever they needed to. After a contact incident which forced the team to take a long trip to garage, the GT winning Speedsource No. 70 lost pace and lagged behind by as many as six laps. In spite of setbacks the determined team got back to the tracks only to win by nearly four laps. The winners have also bagged the very impressive the Rolex Daytona Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph watches.

The world will have to get used to the face of talented Lindsey Vonn who is a recent Rolex Testimonee because her ski racing abilities have brought her recognition and success in abundance. Lindsey Vonn is an alpine race skier from the US Ski Team. After winning consecutive World Cup Championships in 2008 and 2009, she registered her name as the first American woman for being victorious back to back. This sports star has gathered eyes from all corners as far as the Winter Olympics is concerned which is going to take place in Vancouver from Feb 12 to 28, 2010.

This sports woman is an exception when it comes to getting a hold over discipline and looking gorgeous in the field, radiating the qualities of Rolex masterpieces which deliver stupendous performance yet manage to look good all the time. This beauty is the reigning World Cup Ski champion who had an outstanding year while defending her cup in the ongoing series this year. Lindsey Vonn has just completed a hattrick by bagging three victories in three days which marked a total of 28 all-time World Cup victories of Lindsey Vonn following the footsteps of Bode Miller from US who has 31 wins. With such an impressive profile Lindsey Vonn fits the bill of the leading face of Winter Olympics.

Lindsey Vonn’s forte includes the Downhill, the Giant Slalom, the Super-G and Combined. She also earned the World Cup discipline championships in downhill which was again consecutive and the Super G for which she was again tagged as the first woman to do so. After getting as many as 31 World Cup wins in the four disciplines to her credit, bagging two gold medals and two silver medals in World Championship, Lindsey Vonn became the most successful American woman skier in World Cup history. Another prestigious title that Lindsey Vonn was given recently is that of Clorado Athelete of the year 2009.

After she won the super-G race at St. Moritz, her last World Cup event before the Winter Olympics Lindsey Vonn said that she felt ready and very much in tune with the spirit. She went on to add that she was very much mentally and physically prepared for the games ahead. Speaking about the strength, Lindsey Vonn admitted that one really needs to be mentally strong for the World Cup Championship as well as for the Olympics. She also spoke about how getting an injury during the race hampers the performance and has a ripple effect on other events as well. Lindsey Vonn also cited that she got a huge relief after she made it safely out of World Cup with no injuries. While considering injuries to be the worst thing to happen she said that it was always on her mind to come out injury-free from the World Cup championship and said that it comes with maturity and experience. The 25 year old is now all geared up to enter the Winter Olympics which are scheduled to take place in Vancouver. She credits her husband Thomas for helping her regain her lost perspective every time.

Gorgeous and super talented Lindsey Vonn is being seen as the newest face of the Vancouver Games which has put a lot of pressure on her. But the Rolex Testimonee says that she feels healthy, strong and is highly infused with right confidence to take the Winter Olympics in her strive. It’s because of her hard work, spirited performances and stupendous success along with the right attitude that she has been honored with the Rolex Testimonee, the most prestigious of recognitions.

Michael Shank Racing Team secured fifth position overall in the Rolex 24 At Daytona 2010. As the race approached its end, team drivers John Pew, Ozz Negri, Burt Frisselle and Mark Wilkins racing in No. 60 Crown Royal XR Ford-Riley made their way to a top five finish in the Rolex 24 At Daytona speedway on Sunday. It turned out to be great day for the Canadian racer Mark Wilkins who has made a satisfactory start to the 2010 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. With the crack of the morning, Michael Shank team, all geared up in Ford Riley, maintained their speed for the run to the podium, but due to a driveline failure and just one hour remaining for the finish, Michael Shank could not make it to the checkered flag as the automobile was registered as seventh at the finish. Michael Shank which is backed by the title of double top-ten team, opened in a grand way at the 2010 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series championship. The team gave a display of tremendous speed on the course over the four-day season opening event.

Michael Shank was expected to continue its glory, however, the final results of the Rolex 24 At Daytona revealed a different story altogether with Michael Shank registering fifth position in the championship. The long preparations were joined in by some pit work in the garage even as the crew of Michael Shank replaced the clutch and the splitter of the vehicle on Sunday morning while the race was on. But much damage had been done. These setbacks resulted in the car ending the race at the fifth position. The team owner Mike Shank apparently looked disappointed as he saw the final day not turning out to be as rewarding for the team Michael Shank. With the team scoring fifth position in the race, Mike Shank spoke about how the team members had delivered stupendous performances back-to-back during the weekend but could not achieve what they deserved. He maintained the spirit of the team and praised their efforts as well as that of the car Ford Riley.

The team members appeared happy with their achievement but reiterated the fact that there was a scope to do better in the championship. While team member John Pew, who had a great race after a long time at Daytona 24 felt elated with the success and admired his team for delivering an excellent performance even after many setbacks, Brian Frisselle felt that the race was an uphill task to complete following long hours of fatigue and dehydration. He considered it unfortunate that the team could not secure a place in top positions and looked forward to do better at Homestead. Another team member Ozz Negri who despite of grave pains in foot drove the speedway added that No. 60 Crown Royal XR Ford-Riley delivered good performance at Daytona. He felt that he had an interesting race overall. The optimistic racer hoped to get rid of the pains and perform well in the coming championships. Racer Mark Wilkins mentioned that Ford Riley drove very well and only got better as the race progressed. After making it to the fifth position in the Rolex 24 At Daytona 2010, the Michael Shank team is also set to hit the Homestead.