Last week, the organizing committee of the LPGA Futures Tour presented the player roster that will participate in the Riviera Nayarit Classic. The tournament will be played in this destination April 4-10, 2011 at the El Tigre Golf & Country Club at Paradise Village in Nuevo Vallarta.

Five Mexican contenders will play as locals, and the tournament will see the return of last year's winner Cindy LaCrosse. Sophia Sheridan from Guadalajara and Lili Alvarez from Durango are currently in 28th and 62nd places respectively, and will head the group of national players, which also includes Pamela Ontiveros, Marcela Leon and Tanya Dergal.

The Riviera Nayarit Classic will offer over $125,000 USD in prizes for professional golfers who seek to gain a ticket to the LPGA Tour, and the earnings from this tournament will be destined to the Lorena Ochoa Foundation.

El Tigre Golf & Country Club is the only course outside the United States that has hosted this tour, which is considered an entry to the LPGA, and this year, once again, there will be six Mexican contenders.

The strong support that the Banderas Bay area is receiving through events like the Riviera Nayarit Classic of the LPGA's Futures Tour promoted by the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) guarantees to attract not only competitors, but also to generate an important media exposure when different networks cover the events.

According to the organizers, professional golfers will begin arriving to Mexico on April 4 to attend the Pro-Am on the 6th and 7th. This tournament is open to the public and offers the opportunity for fans to play as a team together with any of the professionals, and to win attractive prizes.

The Riviera Nayarit Classic will begin on April 8th and final round will be played on the 10th. The Mexican contenders have been working hard and will try to become champions in their own land.

MEXICO IN THE FLESH

Sophia Sheridan (Guadalajara, 1984)
Professional since 2006 when she became a member of the Duramed Futures Tour after playing for 4 years at the University of California, Berkeley in the NCAA Division 1. Sophia finished her college years by setting a record for the 36 and 54-hole games in the history of the University. She's been accepted as a member of the LPGA Tour in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011, and is the best-ranked Mexican in the Futures Tour, currently placed in the 28th position in the money leaders list.

Tanya Dergal (Durango, 1984)
Tanya has been a member of the Duramed Futures Tour since 2008, although she began her professional career in 2007 after playing for the South California University. During her first year on the tour she was ranked 51st, and her best position so far has been 6th place.

Lili Alvarez (Durango, 1983)
A professional since 2007, she entered the Duramed Futures Tour in 2008. She had played for the University of Tulande, achieving a record of three top-ten, including the Conference Championship in the United States. Last year she participated at the Big Break, a reality show from the Golf Channel, in which she earned the second place, and was also ranked as the best Mexican at the El Tigre Golf & Country Club.

Pamela Ontiveros (Gomez Palacio, 1985)
This is her second year as a player for the Futures Tour. She played for the Oral Roberts University, winning two tournaments. In 2007 she was invited to the Master Card Classic Bosque Real, which was part of the LPGA Tour.

Marcela León (Monterrey, 1981)
During her school years, she was part of the San Jose State University Team in California, and became a professional in 2002. She's been playing at the Duramed Futures Tour since 2003, and was best ranked in 2003, when she ended up 2nd at the Lima Hospital Memorial Futures Golf Classic.