Despite these glaring absences, the field is packed. As I emphasized in last year's preview, and as Hound Dog concurs, the course favors the precision players on tour--at least those who can handle its undulating greens. So with my last 2 weeks of PakPicking getting me nowhere, I'm going with my gut this week:
1. Miyazato Ai
2. Kim In-Kyung
3. Shin Ji-Yai
4. Creamer
5. Kim Song-Hee
6. Kerr
7. Ueda
8. Pettersen
9. Miyazato Mika
10. Lee Seon Hwa
11. Yoo
12. Oyama
Alts: Oh, Gulbis, Park Angela
As for the pairings, I find them to be remarkably well-balanced. You can go off any of the prime-time quadrants and follow multiple players with a great chance to win this week. Probably the strongest of them is going off the back in the morning:
Start Time: 8:40 AM
Ya Ni Tseng
Seon Hwa Lee
Wendy Ward
Start Time: 8:50 AM
Helen Alfredsson
Brittany Lang
In-Kyung Kim
Start Time: 9:00 AM
Meaghan Francella
Brittany Lincicome
Song-Hee Kim
Start Time: 9:10 AM
Suzann Pettersen
Lindsey Wright
Morgan Pressel
Start Time: 9:20 AM
Paula Creamer
Ji-Yai Shin
Na Yeon Choi
Unless of course you think those going off the front in the afternoon are more impressive:
Start Time: 12:10 PM
Laura Davies
Eun-Hee Ji
Shanshan Feng
Start Time: 12:20 PM
Rachel Hetherington
Teresa Lu
Alena Sharp
Start Time: 12:30 PM
Christina Kim
Vicky Hurst
Natalie Gulbis
Start Time: 12:40 PM
Cristie Kerr
Angela Stanford
Ji Young Oh
Start Time: 12:50 PM
Kristy McPherson
Michelle Wie
Laura Diaz
Sure, there are a few more players who have been struggling in this quadrant, but how could you not be bowled over by the 12:30 group? I'm sure Golf Channel will be, if they can spare any cameras away from the 12:50 one!
That leaves the Japanese, Korean, and European media to get psyched for the morning front-side pairings:
Start Time: 8:40 AM
Lorie Kane
Liselotte Neumann
Maria Hjorth
Start Time: 8:50 AM
Louise Friberg
Hee Young Park
Silvia Cavalleri
Start Time: 9:00 AM
Carin Koch
Momoko Ueda
Pat Hurst
Start Time: 9:10 AM
Inbee Park
Meena Lee
Ai Miyazato
Start Time: 9:20 AM
Jee Young Lee
Hee-Won Han
Se Ri Pak
If only Jeong Jang's wrist were fully healed from surgery, I'm sure she would have been in that 9:20 pairing. The Japanese media, in particular, had better be in good shape, as their other 2 countrywomen on tour are going off the back in the afternoon. And Shiho Oyama even gets in the prime-time pairings:
Start Time: 12:10 PM
Nicole Castrale
Brandie Burton
Mi Hyun Kim
Start Time: 12:20 PM
Stacy Prammanasudh
Katherine Hull
Angela Park
Start Time: 12:30 PM
Sophie Gustafson
Il Mi Chung
Jimin Kang
Start Time: 12:40 PM
Candie Kung
Meg Mallon
Louise Stahle
Start Time: 12:50 PM
Sun Young Yoo
Michele Redman
Shiho Oyama
And Mika Miyazato's going off right after Oyama. Other notables include LET wunderkind/LPGA slow-starter Amy Yang (8:10 am off #1), comeback-trailer Aree Song (8:20 am off #10), New Yorker Moira Dunn (8:30 am off #1), sponsor exemption Anna Nordqvist (8:30 am off #10, cruel to someone who just jetted over from the Swiss Alps and a top 10 on the LET!), and rookie M.J. Hur (1:30 pm off #1, coming off her best-ever LPGA finish last week), among many others.
The Constructivist family heads off to Japan this Friday morning--we'll be back just in time for the Wegmans Featuring Cheyenne Woods, which I hope to see in person, if jet lag (and the Full Metal Archivist) permits. We'll see how our summer vacation (and my summer writing schedule) affects the golf blogging....
4 comments:
Our first four picks are eerily similar. We'll either battle for the trophy or the cellar!
Have a good and safe trip!
Thanks, man! We must be on the same wavelength!
TC,
Just a wild guess on why Juli is not here. It could be related to her daughters. Its prom time.
9 of your top 12 picks are Asian. I'm guessing that the top 12 will contain less than 3! A few years ago your theory held water but the Americans, Europeans, Hispanics, etc. have risen to the challenge, much like PGA golfers have risen to Tiger's level.
The bigger question is CAN CHARLES BARKLEY DUNK?
Frankie C
http://overthetopgolf.com
http://iwantcharlesbarkley.blogspot.com
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