Off #1 in the late morning:
Start Time: 8:32 AM
Stacy Prammanasudh
Carin Koch
Mi Hyun Kim
Start Time: 8:43 AM
Cristie Kerr
Laura Davies
Brittany Lang
Start Time: 8:54 AM
Jee Young Lee
Juli Inkster
Louise Friberg
Start Time: 9:05 AM
Annika Sorenstam
Laura Diaz
Morgan Pressel
Start Time: 9:16 AM
Brittany Lincicome
Meg Mallon
Suzann Pettersen
Just a great mix of generations and nationalities and styles of play here, with many players in these groups on the comeback trail from rocky starts to the season. Kim and Kerr get to keep an eye on each other as they race to the $8M mark in career winnings; Sorenstam and Pressel get to reply their Solheim Cup singles match; just as playing with Annika might help Morgan pick her game up, perhaps playing with Pettersen will help defending champion Lincicome snapout of her half-year funk.
How about those going off #10 in the early afternoon?
Start Time: 12:10 PM
Sophie Gustafson
Seon Hwa Lee
Se Ri Pak
Start Time: 12:21 PM
Angela Park
Pat Hurst
Wendy Ward
Start Time: 12:32 PM
Yani Tseng
Karrie Webb
Angela Stanford
Start Time: 12:43 PM
Natalie Gulbis
Jane Park
Christina Kim
Start Time: 12:54 PM
Lorena Ochoa
Paula Creamer
Nicole Castrale
Lee and Pak playing together? Heavenly! (Only way it could have been improved would be to switch Gustafson and Park--I would have loved to see the two most recent rookies of the year paired with the most recent Hall of Famer, especially as all 3 have struggled by their standards in 2008.) Putting Tseng with Webb and Stanford is a great honor and a great experience for the rookie. Pairing Gulbis with two of the great personalities and raw talents on tour should be a lot of fun for all 3. And then allowing Creamer to face off with Ochoa from the start is a great idea--although unfortunately for her this is not a course on which she has a great track record--not to mention a great experience for Castrale to be a part of.
Plus, there are other great pairings starting on the back Thursday, such as Hee Young Park/Na Yeon Choi (going off unaccountably early at 8:32 am), Hee-Won Han/Lorie Kane (8:43 am), Grace Park/Ji Young Oh (8:54 am), Inbee Park/Meena Lee (9:05 am), and Karen Stupples/Lindsey Wright (9:16 am) in the morning, and Candie Kung/Teresa Lu (1:16 pm) and Sarah Lee/Birdie Kim (1:38 pm) in the afternoon. Off the front, standout pairings include Young Kim/Eun-Hee Ji (12:10 pm) and Jeong Jang/Catriona Matthew (12:32 pm).
Unfortunately, I think Ai Miyazato (off #1 bright and early at 7:26 am) and Momoko Ueda (off the back late at 1:49 pm) have earned their not-ready-for-prime-time pairings; fortunately, they may benefit from playing one round each in the relative calm of early morning. Just once, I'd like to see an all-NY pairing of Diaz or Moira Dunn (#10, 7:37 am) with Meaghan Francella (#1, 12:54 pm) and Danielle Downey (#10, 7:59 am)--preferably as a result of the last three playing up to Laura's level!
I'm really curious to see how the top 10 from the weak field of the Corona Championship fare in this excellent and largely well-rested field. Not to mention how much ground the rest--and practice--will have helped them gain on Ochoa. I'll probably regret my decision to leave Wright and Stupples off my Pakpickers list and keep some of the Young Guns from last week. But I doubt I'll regret picking Ochoa for the win and Sorenstam for the runner-up.
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