SteveElling

Gentlemen, start your search engines.

In what almost certainly represents a first at the professional level, a new event on the LPGA schedule this spring is allowing fans to select the final player in an elite, 16-woman field that will battle for a $1 million purse in Jamaica.

With a commitment list that features stars such as Suzann Pettersen, Paula Creamer, Jiyai Shin, Yani Tseng, Cristie Kerr, Morgan Pressel, Angela Stanford, Brittany Lincicolm and Christina Kim, the general public can determine the final match-play bracket spot in the inaugural Mojo 6 tournament with the click of a mouse.

Wednesday, a list of 12 prospective players will be posted at www.themojo6.com, the tournament Web site. Among those on the list is covergirl/LPGA golfer Anna Rawson, and knowing how most of you knuckle-dragging Neanderthals think, I expect her to win in a voting runaway – especially if you eyeball her publicity stills.

“She definitely has crossover appeal,” laughed Joy Stephenson, one of the tournament founders.

The Mojo format has a certain appeal too, because it’s unlike anything ever devised. The 16 players will go head-to-head over six holes at Cinnamon Hill Golf Course at Rose Hall, which has two holes along the Caribbean. According to their world ranking, the top eight players pick their opponents and each player has three six-hole matches on the first of the two days.

The pairings could get interesting and a little uncomfortable – a top player could pick the same overmatched opponent three times if they are kicking some you-know-what.

Those with the eight best records on day one advance to a second day of elimination play. The tournament, an unofficial event sanctioned by the LPGA, will be played April 15-16 and televised on CBS on May 1-2.

In an era when stroke-play golf has seemingly grown stale with some of its customer base, the Mojo event is certainly offering a new presentation platform -- in all, the 16 players will log 30 six-hole matches in approximately 30 hours.

For a first-year event, the field is loaded and several players lobbied to be included in the mix. The top 12 were picked off their world ranking and the final four slots were sponsor exemptions granted to the eventual poll winner, Kim, Q-school medalist Amanda Blumenherst and an amateur standout from Atlanta, 15-year-old Mariah Stackhouse.

“We are totally excited,” Stephenson said. “We want it to be more than just exhibition golf, to feel like a real golf event.”