Ricoh Women's British Open Preview & Pairings

Following the 9-hole playoff between Paula Creamer and Jiyai Shin, the tour moves to the United Kingdom, for the playing of the Ricoh Women's British Open.

This will be the 20th of 27 tournaments, and the fourth and final major championship of the season.

Here are some key details:

Course:  Royal Liverpool Golf Club
Where:  Wirral, United Kingdom
Defending Champion:  Yani Tseng
Winning Score: 71-66-66-69=272

Final Field:  144 players
Par:  35/37=72
Yardage:  (Information not yet available)
Purse:  $2,750,000

My strength of field rating is 72%, making it the third strongest field of the year, behind the United States Open and The Kraft Nabisco Championship. The only notable players not teeing it up this week are Jennifer Johnson and the injured Se Ri Pak.

Here are the pairings for the first 2 rounds.

Here are the television times:

Sep 13 - ESPN 9:00 AM-12:00 PM EST

Sep 14 - ESPN 9:00 AM-12:00 PM EST

Sep 15 - ESPN 9:00 AM-12:00 PM EST

Sep 16 - ESPN 9:00 AM-12:00 PM EST

Predicting the top 12 for the British Open, in my opinion, is the toughest of all the tournaments. With all the best European players in the field, it makes it that much harder. Here are my picks:

1- Catriona Matthew
2- Stacy Lewis
3- Shanshan Feng
4- Inbee Park
5- Paula Creamer
6- Na Yeon Choi
7- Suzann Pettersen
8- Sophie Gustafson
9- Melissa Reid
10-Yani Tseng
11-Jiyai Shin
12-So Yeon Ryu 

Other Tidbits:

Morgan Pressel, who had averaged about 2.5 missed cuts per season in her career coming into this year, has now missed 7 consecutive cuts.

Lexi Thompson must love the number fourteen, as she has finished in 14th place 4 times this year.

Titleholders Update:

Danielle Kang, Dewi Claire Schreefel, and Maria Hjorth are the latest to qualify. Sophie Gustafson remains the highest-ranked player on the priority list yet to get in.

Rolex Movers of the Week:

Paula Creamer moves up 4 spots, from #18 to #14. Jiyai Shin moves up 3 spots, from #13 to #10.

Who's Hot:

Stacy Lewis's 9th place finish at the Kingsmill Championship was her 12th top ten finish of the year. No one else has more than nine.

Taylor Coutu has three top-25 finishes in her last four starts, which has saved her season, resulting in her retaining full-time status next year.

Who's Not:

Sun Young Yoo has failed to finish in the top 30 in her last 5 starts.

Katie Futcher has not finished better than 50th in her last 5 starts.

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