LPGA Championship Moving Home

Friday, September 22nd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) â€” The LPGA Tour is bringing golf back to its headquarters, scheduling the season-ending Tour Championship at the new Legends course at LPGA International.

Played in Las Vegas since its inception in 1995, the Tour Championship needed a new home because the Desert Inn on the Strip was sold and the golf course was deteriorating as its employees left to find new jobs.

Commissioner Ty Votaw believes he found a perfect fit at LPGA International, which did not have a tournament this year because of sponsorship problems with the Titleholders.

``We think we're a good corporate citizen at Daytona Beach,'' Votaw said Friday. ``As part of that, we want to bring an LPGA event here on as regular a basis as we can.''

Votaw said he looked at two sites in Las Vegas and two in Florida. It was not clear whether the Tour Championship, sponsored by Arch, would return after this year.

The Tour Championship, played Nov. 16-19 with a $1 million purse, is for the top 30 on the LPGA money list. Se Ri Pak won last year in a playoff over Karrie Webb and Laura Davies.

Webb won the last time a tournament was played at LPGA International, winning the Titleholders on the Champions course in 1999.

Votaw said the Legends course, designed by Arthur Hills, would lend itself to better television presentation and has a greater variety of holes.