IRVING, Texas (AP) ― Angela Stanford gets to experience a first in her 13 seasons on the LPGA Tour. She gets to stay at home and sleep in her own bed during a tournament.

“It’s great to be home. I’m glad the LPGA is here. You know, I spend most of my time all year telling people how great it is here, so it’s nice to have the whole gang here,” said Stanford, who lives in nearby Fort Worth and went to school at TCU. “It was a little odd getting off the airplane from Hawaii ... like the whole tour was following me.”

The inaugural North Texas LPGA Shootout starts Thursday at Las Colinas Country Club. It is North Texas’ first-full field event in the area since the 1991 U.S. Women’s Open . The area hasn’t been an annual tour stop since 1982.

Las Colinas isn’t far from the TPC Four Seasons course where the PGA Tour will be next month. Part of the PGA Tour’s two-step through Texas includes a trip to Colonial, the site of that U.S. Women’s Open and where Annika Sorenstam teed off with the men 10 years ago.

“I know they see the best men players in the world twice a year here in the Metroplex, and now you’re going to get to see the best female players in the world,” Stanford said. “I’ve always said this area was missing the boat not having an LPGA Tour here, so it’s about time.”

There is a full field of 144 players, 140 pros along with four amateurs ― two college players and two high school players who earned spots in qualifying rounds. The top nine players in the world are in Texas, along with the top 14 on the LPGA Tour money list.

Top-ranked Park In-bee, the 24-year-old South Korean, has won twice on the LPGA Tour this year, including a major at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. She tied for fourth in Hawaii last week.

“I’m still not used to it,” Park said of being No. 1. “I’m very happy with the way I played last week with the pressure. ... I try not to think about it too much, but it’s in my mind for sure.”