Goodbye French Alps, Hello St. Andrews!

Here's how the LPGA money list, the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit, the Rolex Rankings, and the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index look after the Evian Masters. And here's who's already qualified for the British Women's Open (the final 20 spots were decided on the 30th in the last qualifying event, but it looks to me like there was a playoff at +1, so I'm not sure who's actually in).

So who are the favorites to win the first women's major to be held at St. Andrews? I think the last few weeks have cleared certain things up. Even at 85%, Annika Sorenstam is a threat to win any tournament she enters. But Lorena Ochoa is the best women's golfer in the world--even playing terribly for her for much of the Evian Masters, she could have been in a playoff with a par on her 72nd hole or won outright with a birdie. Who else must be considered a leading contender? Given that the difference between the Evian Masters Golf Club and the Old Course at St. Andrews is at least as striking as the difference between the Scottish Open's Loch Lomond course and any of the usual men's British Open sites, I wonder how many players will do what Se Ri Pak--and, from what I can tell from the leaderboard of the AXA Ladies tournament, the top JLPGA players like Yuri Fudoh, Shiho Oyama, and Sakura Yokomine--did this year and spend the week before the Women's British Open resting and prepping for the LPGA's last major and the LET's biggest tournament. Certainly Sophie Gustafson's decision to skip the HSBC didn't hurt her, as she contended this week right up until the last two holes of the tournament and finished T6. On the other hand, the momentum gained by Jeong Jang (2nd), Ji Yai Shin (T3), Momoko Ueda and Sun Ju Ahn (T6), and Eun-hee Ji (T16)--not to mention winner Natalie Gulbis, the resurgent Juli Inkster (T3), the charging Angela Stanford (T6), and the streaky Christina Kim (T6)--may give them an added boost at St. Andrews.

Big question marks, however, remain over many other people I'd expect to contend later this week. Do the fine finishes of Morgan Pressel, Laura Diaz, Paula Creamer, Nicole Castrale, and Meaghan Francella on Sunday portend well for this coming Thursday, or does their otherwise shaky play the rest of the week put them in the same category as Karrie Webb, Mi Hyun Kim, Shi Hyun Ahn, Seon-Hwa Lee, Ai Miyazato, Angela Park, Laura Davies, and Maria Hjorth--likely top 30s but questionable top 10s? And will the bad play of Suzann Pettersen, Cristie Kerr, Brittany Lincicome, Stacy Prammanasudh, Jee Young Lee, Meena Lee, Sherri Steinhauer, and Michelle Wie in France carry over into Scotland?

Well, here are the historical stats on this year's field's finishes at previous British Women's Opens. I wonder if the great play of young Korean golfers from the LPGA and KLPGA in 2007 will inspire Se Ri Pak and Mi Hyun Kim to get over their recent struggles in the UK. I wonder, too, who will step up in the race for the last spots on the U.S. Solheim Cup team, as Nicole Castrale, Christina Kim, Laura Diaz, and Meaghan Francella are fighting to catch Sherri Steinhauer or earn a captain's pick. And if my friend Moira Dunn will make the cut and break the $100K mark on season earnings in her quest to retain her card for the 2008 season. I'll make my picks from Chiba!