KAREN STUPPLES starts competing in one of the most prestigious tournament on the US Women’s golf tour today.

The Mitchell Company "Tournament of Champions" at Mobile, Alabama, is only open to players who have won a tournament on the US tour since the start of the 2003 season.

The Florida-based Stupples qualifies for the 72-hole event by virtue of having won twice on the LPGA tour last year.

Stupples will be hoping to end what has sometimes been a frustrating season with a good performance in Alabama. She is currently 41st in the money-list with earnings of $294,856, and the top 30 players after the "Tournament of Champions" qualify for the season-ending $1 million ADT Championship in Florida next week.

The Deal golfer has just returned from the Far East, where she finished tied for 48th place in the Mizuno Classic in Shiga in Japan at the weekend.

Stupples recorded a three-under-par total of 213, 18 shots behind the winner, Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam, for whom it was a record fifth straight success in the event and her ninth tournament victory this year.