01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Cristie Kerr says the face of the LPGA is changing.

Considering how dramatically she has re-shaped her own body and image, going from fat girl to glamour girl by shedding 50 pounds, you have to believe her.

"The general public has this perception of the LPGA of not being young, not being hip, not being exciting," Kerr said in an interview last year with Golf World magazine. "I think the face of the LPGA is changing. It's fresh, it's hip, it's exciting, and I think people are catching on to it."

Once frumpy, Kerr now is a fashion plate who is so hip that she counts Donald Trump among her best friends and, in March, made an appearance on Trump's hit television show, The Apprentice.

Not only did she lose a lot of weight -- she now packs a well-sculpted, 125 pounds on her 5-foot-3 frame -- but gone, too, are the frizzy hair and thick glasses she had as a pudgy teenager.

She's also playing better than ever -- which is saying something, considering that she was so talented as a kid that she went right from high school to the LPGA Tour.

Although hardly an instant success as a professional, the 28-year-old Kerr has come on strong in recent years.

As she has gotten into better physical shape, so, too, has her game improved. She won three tournaments in 2004, then two more last year, when she racked up 11 top-10 finishes and a career-high $1,360,941 in earnings -- good for third on the LPGA list.

The way she's going, she could very well surpass those totals this year. She already has eight top-10 finishes in 12 events in 2006, including a victory last month in the Franklin American Mortgage Championship. With earnings of $620,501 so far, she once again ranks among the top 10 on the money list.

Kerr has yet to win the Open -- or any other major tournament -- but she has played well in it, finishing tied for 10th last year after tying for fourth in 2001, and for second in 2000.

Since her mother, Linda, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003, Kerr has been active in raising money to combat the disease, launching the "Birdie for Breast Cancer" program.

"We were fortunate," Kerr said, "that my mother's cancer was diagnosed and treated early. We are hopeful for a full recovery. But not all families share our fortune. I am determined to make a difference in the lives of women living with breast cancer."

-- JIM DONALDSON