This week the ladies head to Siam Country Club, Pattaya Old Course in Chonburi, Thailand for the Honda LPGA Thailand. This is a 6469 yard Par 72 course that will demand long accurate tee shots as well as solid putting for the large, fast and tricky greens. Last year Yani Tseng successfully defended her title winning by one stroke over Ai Miyazato who won here in 2010(setting the course record along the way with a -21/267). Tseng the worlds number one female golfer also charged last week narrowly missing the title in last weeks Womens Australian Open finishing in solo second two strokes off of winner Jiyai Shin.
This is a limited 70 player field with no cut this week. However don't be fooled by the short list of players as this is one of the most talented fields you will see in a ladies event outside of the majors all season. 56 of the top 60 LPGA players will be teeing it up with bragging rights along with a sizable purse up for grabs the ladies will not be holding anything back.
I may look to add tourney and daily H2H plays for this event time permitting. Last week I passed on the ladies event but did get an outright winner two weeks ago as well as a place for 5th in the New Zealand event.
Here are my picks to win the event:
Jayai Shin 9/1
Last weeks winner, Shin, finished solo 3rd here a year ago. Last years RICOH Women's British Open winner will be on her game looking for her second victory in as many weeks on the young LPGA season. Already has 11 career wins Jiyai knows how to win. Last season ranked 5th GIR, 3rd driving accuracy, 3rd scoring avg. Also was 1st on tour in rounds under par.
Stacy Lewis 14/1 T-3rd
Stacy was the Rolex LPGA Player of the Year in 2012 picking up 4 wins and nearly $2,000,000. She did show some signs of early season rust last week finishing in a T15. I think she'll be getting back in the grove and play well this week. Finished in a T5th here last year. She ranked 3rd on the LPGA in GIR last season, 3rd in putts per GIR and 4th in scoring avg.
Ai Miyazato 18/1
Miyazato I mentioned came in solo second here a year ago and got the victory in 2010. The Japan native picked up 2 wins last year as well as 11 top tens and currently ranks 9th on the Rolex rankings. Making her season debut she'll be looking to get off to a good start in 2013. Last season ranked
Suzann Pettersen 16/1 E/W
Winner here in '07 and T8th in '11 Suzann will look to get back in the winners circle this week. Ranked 7th in the Rolex standings Pettersen does have nearly $10,000,000 in career earnings since '03. Making her season debut I expect little rust from an experienced player. Last season Suzann ranked 8th GIR, 7th scoring avg and 7th driving distance
Amy Yang 46/1 E/W
Yang looks to be a little undervalued here. Finished solo 4th here last year and solo 7th in '11, T10th in '10 Yang will have a good chance for her first LPGA victory this week. Making her season debut she does have 21 top tens to her credit along with nearly $3,000,000 in earnings since '08. Last season Ranked 21st GIR, 12th scoring avg, 18th rounds under par.
2013 Golf Records:
PGA (20) EPGA (8) LPGA (5) Other (4)
18 Hole 63-56-18 +18.93 10-7-1 +3.2 1-2 -2.8
72 Hole 29-27-3 +14.94 5-3 +3.26 6-2 +6.3
Futures 13-138 +21.5 5-42 +15.7 2-21 +2.0 0-19 -19
Other 9-30 -7.8 2-4 -2.2
(Top 10, Props etc)
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Don't forget about the ladies :) This event also tees off today around 4:40 pm pst. I'll probably have some tourney matches posted in a couple hours, stay tuned.
Tourney Match-Ups:
*J. Shin -110 over N-Y Choi -L-
*S. Lewis -130 over L. Ko $W$
*K. Webb -120 over C. Kerr $W$
*1 unit each
Too bad not alot of interest with the ladies event this week. No weather issues and Lewis shot an opening 63 to take a commanding 3 shot lead on the field. All our girls played well to start, have Amy Yang -5 four shots back in an each way bet. Also nice to see early tourney fav Tseng shot a +3/75. All tourneu plays in good shape, might look at some 2nd rd 3 ball & h2h plays later on.
$BOL$
Going to pass for now on 2nd rd plays. Not enough time to dig into it. We're in good shape with Lewis, Yang and tourney plays no need to give anything back.
Stacy Lewis shot a 69 last night to maintain a three shot lead on the field. I did watch most of the round and have to say she looked pretty solid. All the ladies are under par in good shape heading into the weekend. Again I may take a look at some 3rd rd plays, we're still leading all tourney plays so if I fire on anything it'll have to be a good spot.
Ladies event wrapped up last night with I. Park taking it down shooting a 4th rd -5/67 to edge out 3rd rd leader AJ by one shot and finish at -12. Stacy Lewis ended up in a T3rd at -10 after having a 3 shot lead through both of the first 2 rounds. Her final rd of -2/70 wasn't good enough after a 3rd rd 76. H2H goes 2-1 for +.90, a small consolation to a promising week.
Next week the ladies head to Singapore for the HSBC Women's Champions. I'll have another thread up for that one and see if we can get some interest going in the Ladies tour.