PRATTVILLE -- The world's top women golfers will be arriving in Prattville in a few weeks for the $1.3 million Navistar LPGA tournament, and one of them liked what she saw Tuesday as she toured the Robert Trent Jones course.

Julieta Granada of Paraguay, 21, said the prize money is great, but she had her eyes on the gleaming black truck parked outside the clubhouse.

"We will all do our best, and hopefully the winner is me," she said, to loud laughter from local officials and reporters at a news conference. "I would like that. My dad is really looking forward to getting that truck."

The Navistar vehicle costs just under $100,000, but Alejandro Granada's daughter can probably afford at least a down payment since she's already won $1.6 million from her LPGA finishes.

The golf star was joined at the news conference by Prattville Mayor Jim Byard, David Bronner, chief executive officer of the Retirement Systems of Alabama and Daniel Ustian, president and chairman of Navistar International Corp.

Alabama has hosted several professional golf tournaments in the past, but the 72-hole event that begins on Sept. 25 in Prattville tops them all because it is an open field with an estimated 144 women golfers expected to participate.

First place prize money is $195,000 with $118,000 for the second place finisher. Local Alabama charities will benefit from the tournament. Daily tickets are $10.

After the news conference, Granada rode around the sprawling facility with her father and Scott Neal, the pro at the RTJ course in Prattville. "The Senator," one of three courses in Prattville, will be used for the LPGA tournament.

"She was elated by the condition of the course," said tournament director Jonathan Romeo, who added that ground crews will be working hard in the coming weeks to get it in tip-top shape.

The extended summer drought has caused problems at golf courses throughout the South, said Romeo, who added some of the best have seen their fairways "cooked" by temperatures that exceeded 100 degrees.

Byard said interest in the tournament continues to grow as the event draws near "and for good reason."

"There have been LPGA tournaments in Mobile, but this is the only one that has attracted a full field," Byard said during an interview. "This will also be a huge tourism event for the tri-county region because these are big-time golfers."

Byard said the PGA Nationwide Golf Tournament held in Prattville for several years before it was moved to Texas had an economic impact of about $5 million in the tri-county area. He said the LPGA tournament should easily top that.

"This tournament will bring a much larger gallery," said Byard. "We hear so much these days about Prattville competing with Montgomery or Millbrook, but this event will bring all of us together. Most of our hotels and motels are booked for that week."

Bronner echoed Byard's sentiments, saying the Robert Trent Golf Trail -- which stretches from the Tennessee Valley to the Gulf of Mexico -- has made Alabama a major player in industrial recruitment and development.

He said golf's popularity around the world has helped Alabama land such automotive giants as Merdedes, Hyundai, Honda and Toyota along with dozens of suppliers employing thousands of workers.

"The vehicle of golf helped me attract Mercedes and Singapore Aerospace," said Bronner, referring to the German manufacturer in Tuscaloosa and the Asian company he said "is the largest employer in Mobile."

Bronner said Alabama's tourism industry has exploded in the past decade and is due, in part, to the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail and other attractions.

"We've gone from a less than $2 billion industry to almost $9 billion a year from tourism," he said. "I can't attract industry unless I have something for them to be here."

Ustian said he may not be the world's greatest golfer, but he's happy that his company -- a world leader in the transportation industry -- is sponsoring the LPGA tournament in Alabama.

"I usually talk about freeways, but, today, I'm talking about fairways," said Ustian, who indicated that some of his golf outings at times result in fairway shots that head for a freeway near the course where he's playing.

Romeo said seven of the top 10 LPGA money winners and 19 of the top 25 players have committed to play.

"We hope to get some more in the next two weeks," said Romeo. "We are going to have an outstanding field."

One of those the LPGA sponsors are hoping to attract is Annika Sorenstam, who has been among the leading money winners on the tour for many years. Sorenstam has won more than $20 million in prize money since she joined the tour in 1994.

One of the celebrities expected to attend the tournament is Taylor Hicks, who won the American Idol competition two years ago. Hicks is expected to take part in the pro-am event on Sept. 26.

The tournament will be shown live on the Golf Channel throughout the four-day event.