Save the Date and Spread the Word: Public Good U Is Coming!

Imagine an institution that meets the ideals of public higher education:  call it Public Good U.  What does this institution look like, who does it serve, how is it funded and governed, and what service does it return to the community?

SAVE THE DATE!

Public Good U: Strengthening the Case for Public Higher Education

February 7-9, 2025

Albany, New York

Join us for a groundbreaking national conference exploring the vital role of public higher education as a public good in the 21st century. This timely event will bring together educators, academic administrators, policy makers, and business leaders to address the challenges and opportunities facing public higher education institutions, students, faculty, and staff.

Conference Highlights:

- Welcome Remarks: SUNY Chancellor John B. King and CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez

- Keynote Conversation: Davarian Baldwin (Author, In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower) and Sara Goldrick-Rab (Author, Paying the Price and Reinventing Financial Aid), facilitated by Cathy Davidson (Author, The New Education and co-author, The New College Classroom)

- Panel Discussion: state university system heads from across the nation on current issues in public higher education, facilitated by Chancellors King and Matos Rodríguez

- Closing Address: the view from the New York State capitol on the value of public higher education

Conference Tracks:

1. Democracy in America: Educating Citizens Equitably

2. The New College-Educated Workforce

3. Research for the Public Good: Creativity, Innovation, and Impact for the 21st Century

4. Reimagining Town/Gown Relations: Community Building, Civic Engagement, and Economic Development

5. Perennial Issues in Urban Public Higher Education: Lessons From the Past, Tools for the Future

6. What Should the State Provide? New Public Good U Foundations and Funding Models

Organized by:

SUNY University Faculty Senate, SUNY Faculty Council of Community Colleges, SUNY System Administration, and CUNY University Faculty Senate

Full conference details, including a call for papers and registration information, coming soon at http://www.suny.edu/PublicU. Mark your calendars for this essential event in shaping the future of public higher education!

It's a Big Week in Women's Golf!

Even in an off-week for the LPGA, there's a lot going on in the world of women's golf, not least the news that the LPGA will kick off the 2014 season in the Bahamas and may soon be closing deals for new domestic tournaments in other "destination" locations.

Probably the most important tournament of the week starts tomorrow in Miyagi, Japan, the Miyagi TV Cup Dunlop Ladies Open.  Consider the way in which their prime-time pairings bring together "rising generation" Japanese players with established Japanese stars:  JLPGA money-list leader Rikako Morita tees it up with Ai Miyazato and Chie Arimura; rising stars Mamiko Higa and Yumiko Yoshida join Sakura Yokomine; Yukari Baba and Asako Fujimoto have the privilege of playing with Yuri Fudoh; rising stars Natsuka Hori and Misuzu Narita play with Momoko Ueda; Kumiko Kaneda and Erina Hara start alongside Shiho Oyama; Miki Saiki and Megumi Kido get to test themselves against Ayako Uehara; and Kaori Ohe and Miki Sakai share the stage with Shinobu Moromizato.  Next generation Japanese hopefuls also tee it up early, including 19-year-old Ayaka Watanabe, 23-year-old Misae Yanagisawa, and 25-year-old Lala Anai leading off on the 1st tee, followed by 20-year-old amateur Seira Oki and 20-year-old pros Miho Mori and Mami Fukuda.  That should help make up for the fact that most of the top Korean players on tour like Mi-Jeong Jeon, Sun-Ju Ahn, Bo-Mee Lee, and Ji-Hee Lee (along with Okinawa's own Mika Miyazato) are taking the week off in advance of next week's major and most prestigious event on the JLPGA's schedule, the Japan Women's Open (which has also drawn Ji-Yai Shin and In-Kyung Kim into its field).

There's plenty of star power in Korea, as well, where Se Ri Pak defends her KDB Daewoo Securities Classic title against Inbee Park, Na Yeon Choi, So Yeon Ryu, and Chella Choi.

Over in Europe, the Lacoste Ladies Open de France kicks off today and features the star pairings of Gwladys Nocera/Carlota Ciganda/Charley Hull and Lee-Anne Pace/Azahara Munoz/Karine Icher.

And last but certainly not least, the Symetra Tour heads over to Daytona Beach for the 72-hole, $125,000 Symetra Tour Championship, where my faves Hannah Yun (last week's winner!) and Mitsuki Katahira are trying like everyone else to come away with a 2014 LPGA card in hand at the conclusion of this season-ending event--or at least win an exemption into the final stage of LPGA Q-School in December.  Although the tournament organizers decided to tamp down the drama a little by not pairing everyone based on their position on the money list, expect plenty of fireworks, as everyone in the top 33 still has a chance to end up in the top 10 (LPGA card) and even more golfers can play their way into the next 10 (LPGA Q-School Stage III).

Evian Championship Questions

The LPGA's 5th and final major of 2013 is here:  the Evian Championship.  Tony Jesselli provides his usual high-quality preview, but a few questions have occurred to me and I'd love to hear what you think!

• It appears that the field of 120 is made up entirely of LPGA and LET members (plus Lydia Ko).  Do you think the tournament organizers should have reserved spots for the top KLPGA and JLPGA golfers to round out the field?  Or is exempting the top 40 from the Rolex Rankings as of 3 September 2013 enough?
• This year's tournament has been scheduled opposite majors on both the KLPGA and JLPGA.  Do you think that the tournament organizers should seek to avoid such conflicts in the future, particularly if they want top golfers from those tours to make the trip to Evian-les-Bains?
• Check out the course description at LPGA.com and the course overview and course map at the Evian site.  The course has been renovated and some holes have been redesigned or created from scratch--for details, see the press kit.  The most dramatic change to me is that the 18th hole has gone from being a short par 5 to the longest par 4 on the course.  What do you think of that?  I'm willing to be convinced it's a good idea.  I love the way anything can happen on short closing par 5s, so I'm fairly skeptical.
• Does this feel like a major to you yet?  Is 1.5 hours on network TV enough for a major?

[Update 1 (9/11/13, 5:55 am):  Check out Ruthless Mike's thoughtful answers to my questions!]

[Update 2 (4:35 pm):  Fantastic yes to my 4th question from Brent Kelley!]

Who Are Your Picks for the North Texas LPGA Shootout?

Looking at LPGA.com's, Steve DiMeglio's, Tony Jesselli's, and Ruthless Mike's previews of the North Texas LPGA Shootout, it's pretty obvious the players who will contend this week at Las Colinas must be good wind players, which to me translates to a combination of very solid ball-striking, good putting, the ability to grind, bounce back, and get on tears, and a good track record at traditionally windy events.  So who in the field meets these criteria?

Here are my picks for this week's Seoul Sisters.com PakPicker:

1. Miyazato Ai
2. Lewis, Stacy
3. Pettersen
4. Park Inbee
5. Stanford
6. Salas
7. Creamer
8. Choi Na Yeon
9. Webb
10. Kim In-Kyung
11. Kang Haeji
12. Ernst

Alts: Shin Ji-Yai, Ryu, Seo

Yes, I know many of Ai-sama's wins have come at hillier events, but I'm convinced she's very close to breaking through.  I would have put Stanford higher on my list, but even though she's putting great by her standards, she's not up to her usual stuff with the ball-striking so far this season.  I'll admit I picked Ernst not only because she's making a ton of birdies this year, but also because her first name is Austin.  Normally not a good enough reason to pick her ahead of Ji-Yai Shin, who's hitting an amazing 86% of her fairways, but I don't know the state of Ji-Yai's back, beyond the fact that she didn't play on the JLPGA as planned after the KNC.  I feel bad for leaving Catriona Matthew, Nicole Castrale, Gerina Piller, and Mo Martin off my list, but there's only room for 15.

So who are your top picks this week?

If You're Looking for Tony Jesselli's Founders Cup Preview....

...you can find it over at his new blog, Tony's LPGA Report, at http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2013/03/rr-donnelly-founders-cup-preview.html.  You can always find the link to his most recent post in the "Mostly Harmless Golfarama" section over on the left sidebar.

I want to thank Tony for everything he did here at Mostly Harmless, but particularly for keeping MH alive while I took a long sabbatical from golf blogging for most of the last five months.  For awhile there when he and I were both contributing regularly to MH--and for some time after I took off--it was the #1 golf blog according to Technorati (and was consistently in their top 5 for virtually his entire tenure).  Tony's relentless search for new readers and eagerness to reach out to new audiences on discussion forums and fan sites around the world no doubt played a huge role in MH's rise in Technorati's rankings.  But I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that it's Tony's ability to capture the big picture concisely and zoom in to focus on significant details and emerging trends that's the true source of his appeal as a golf writer.  He always calls it like he sees it, even when it means pointing out that a golfer he likes a lot isn't playing very good golf.  These qualities served him well at MH and will serve him well at Tony's LPGA Report.

Tony, I can't wait to see what you do in and with your new digs!  Here's hoping that every single Mostly Harmless regular becomes a regular at your place and that you continue to bring new fans and better coverage to women's golf!  Best of luck, and don't be a stranger--feel free to cross-post here any time!

LPGA Q-School Stage II: Enter Arimura, Uehara, Reid, Simon, Pace...

Here are the 1st-round pairings for the 2nd stage of the LPGA's Qualifying Tournament.  Unlike the 1st stage's mildly controversial 36-hole cut, this one has no cut.  It's 72 holes to decide which of the 157 golfers in the field make it to the top 70 and ties.

There are plenty of LETers trying to make it to the 3rd and final stage at the end of November, including Melissa Reid, Ashleigh Simon, Lee-Anne Pace, Anne-Lise Caudal, Caroline Masson, Line Vedel, Frances Bondad, Felicity Johnson, Stacy Lee Bregman, Vikki Laing, and American Dawn Shockley.  ALPGers Cathryn Bristow, Stephanie Na, and Jody Fleming have entered the mix, as well.  But the players I'm most excited about are Chie Arimura and Ayako Uehara of the JLPGA.  Yes, we have no Sakura Yokomine or Sun-Ju Ahn, but the 28-year-old Uehara is a 3-time winner on tour who's been solidly in the top 25 on their money list over the last 6 seasons (including this one).  And the 24-year-old Arimura is one of the top players on tour, a 13-time winner who's currently #3 on the money list and has hovered within the top 6 the last 4 seasons.  Both are playing their 1st event since the brutal Japan Women's Open, so let's hope they've recovered from its uber-windy conditions!

It'll be very interesting to see how these seasoned and in some cases stellar professionals stack up against hotshots like Moriya Jutanugarn, Brooke Pancake, Austin Ernst, Natalie Sheary, Jaye Marie Greene, Marta Silva Zamora, Ginger Howard, Emily Talley, Taylore Karle, Kayla Mortellaro, Guilia Molinaro, Rachel Rohanna, Brianna Do, Lisa McCloskey, Marina Alex, and Michelle Shin.  And to see how those hotshots do against much more experienced Symetra Tour (and sometimes LPGA) regulars like Jean Reynolds, Candace Schepperle, Katie Kempter, Briana Vega, Kim Welch, Angela Buzminski, Renee Skidmore, Tracy Stanford, Libby Smith, Garrett Phillips, Kendall Dye, Lisa Meldrum, Selanee Henderson, Shasta Averyhardt, Blair O'Neal, Shayna Miyajima, Carling Coffing, and Seema Sadekar.

It's nice to see how the LPGA continues to attract diverse players from all over the world and across the United States.  Check out a small selection of names and places that stood out to me:  South Korea's Saehee Son, Jacey Chun, Hye-Min Kim, and Hye-Joo Han, Taiwan's Ki-Shui Liao, Pei-Yun Chien, and Wei-Ling Hsu, China's Jiayun Li, Australia's Inhong Lim, Jessica Speechley, Justine Lee, and Breanna Elliott, Sweden's Caroline Westrup, Canada's Victoria Thompson, Nicole Vandermade, Jessica Wallace, and Sue Kim, Denmark's Theresa Koelbaek, Norway's Benedikte Grotvedt and Marita Engzelius, South Africa's Ulrika Van-Niekirk, Mexico's Marcela Leon, Lili Alvarez, and Alejandra Llaneza, Ecuador's Kitty Hwang, Chile's Paz Echeverria, Brazil's Victoria Alimonda-Lovelady, Paraguay's Andy Jun, the Philippines's Mia Piccio, France's Isabelle Boineau and Fiona Puyo, Germany's Leigh Whittaker, California's Hwanhee Lee, Moah Chang, Joy Trotter, and Vanessa Brockett, New Jersey's Joanna Coe, Hawaii's Britney Choy and Xyra Suyetsugu, Kansas's Tara Goedeken, New York's Michele Low, Tennessee's Callie Neilson, Wisconsin's Carly Werwie, Texas's Tanya Wadhwa, Colorado's Kristin Walla, Oklahoma's Sydney Cox, and Nevada's Justina Yu!  (Not to mention more Floridians than you could shake a baby alligator at!)

Still, it is a little bit troubling that of the 216 available spots, only 157 players entered Stage II this year.  Makes you wonder if an alternate list from Stage I should be developed or reconfigured....  Seems to me that stage's initial cut, whether it comes after 36 or 54 holes or both, should be generous enough that the Stage II field could be filled out with the best from that B-list--following, of course, all those who didn't make the 72-hole cut.  If fewer international players than expected or hoped for enter Stage II, why not give the best of those who struggled in Stage I a second life?

Mobile Bay LPGA Classic This and That

Picking up where Tony Jesselli left off, I'll take a couple of minutes to say a few words about the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic, which starts tomorrow in Mobile, Alabama.  First, here are my guesses for this week's PakPicker competition at Seoul Sisters.com:

1. Choi Na Yeon
2. Kerr
3. Lang
4. Pettersen
5. Creamer
6. Lewis, Stacy
7. Yoo
8. Feng
9. Stanford
10. Thompson
11. Munoz
12. Ryu

Alts: Webb; Seo; Hedwall

It was hard for me to leave defending champion Maria Hjorth off this list, not to mention Karen Stupples, Katherine Hull, Se Ri Pak [Update (10:13 pm): wait, just read on Seoul Sisters.com that she's out with a dislocated left shoulder after a fall, the clubhouse steps yesterday], and Brittany Lincicome, but I have a feeling that some straight shooters and precision players will sneak by them this week.  (For what it's worth, that is:  I certainly jinxed myself by putting my picks on the blog last week instead of just on the discussion board!)

As for who I'm rooting for, I'd love to see Jee Young Lee and Song-Hee Kim, who have some good memories here, start getting out of their far-too-long slumps this week.  I'm rooting for Moira Dunn, Mina Harigae, Tiffany Joh, Mariajo Uribe, and Hannah Yun to put together a few good rounds in a row, as well.  But really, there are so many "New Blood" and "Generation Prodigy" players in the field this week, it's hard not to root for them all!  Not to mention Grace Park, Jeong Jang, and Jane Park....

Pretty cool pairings:  good for Granada, getting to play with Gulbis and Thompson; also a good opportunity for Korda to play with Kerr and Munoz; but the one I'd probably be following on Thursday would be Gulyanamitta, Lindberg, and Nomura (making her LPGA debut this season).

I love Robert Trent Jones courses, having grown up on Colgate University's Seven Oaks.  You definitely can score well on them, but you have to be hitting on all cylinders and any little mistake can end up costing you big-time.  Should be a great week!

LPGA Lotte Championship This and That

Just a quick note to say that yes, I'm alive, and yes, I'm still following women's golf, but no, I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel for this perfect storm of work- and home-related swampitude anytime soon.  Just wanted to note that on the eve of the LPGA's return to action in Hawaii for the LPGA Lotte Championship that Ko Olina most recently hosted the Fields Open from 2006 to 2008 and that reading the Mostly Harmless coverage from back then is really like opening a time capsule.  Take a look at my take on the 2008 results, for instance, or, even worse, my entirely-too-in-jokey 2007 post.  Yeesh!

Anyway, somehow I'm doing all right in Seoul Sisters.com's PakPicker this year (although, truth be told, none of us are really tearing it up thus far), so I figured it's time to summon the Mostly Harmless jinx and put this week's picks on the blog, too!  For what it's worth....

1. Choi Na Yeon
2. Miyazato Ai
3. Shin Ji-Yai
4. Creamer
5. Tseng
6. Lewis
7. Feng
8. Seo Hee Kyung
9. Pettersen
10. Yoo
11. Yang, Amy
12. Kim In-Kyung

Alts: Ryu, Pressel, Hedwall

Apologies in advance to all the players I picked!

JLPGA and LPGA Q-School Previews

With the Final Qualifying Tournaments for both the JLPGA and LPGA starting this week, I thought it would be interesting to compare and contrast the fields for the last stage of Q-School on each tour.

I'll begin with the big news from the JLPGA:  Ai Miyazato (who was just profiled by Lisa Mickey on LPGA.com), Hee Young Park, Meena Lee, and Harukyo Nomura finished outside the top 50 on the 2011 money list but are not playing this week, which most likely means that they will not be dual LPGA-JLPGA members in 2012--unless the JLPGA makes some kind of exception for Miyazato (who after all has 15 career wins on tour) and/or Nomura (who won as a non-member this year in her 1st start on tour as a professional).  I'm guessing that with Miho Koga retiring, #51 on the money list Midori Yoneyama will take her spot, but it's possible she's also retiring, as she isn't playing this week, either.  (In fact, nobody between #51 and #54 is playing--not quite sure what that means.)  It doesn't appear that any big stars from the LPGA, KLPGA, or LET will be trying to join the JLPGA for the 1st time in 2012, either.

OK, enough about who won't be playing in Shizuoka this week.  Who will?  Probably the biggest names in the field belong to Mie Nakata and Erina Hara.  Nakata's been on tour for over a decade but finished this season by making only 2 cuts in her last 16 starts; Hara was one of the young stars of the JLPGA when she joined the tour at age 19 in 2007 and continued to shine brightly in her next 2 seasons, but this is now the 2nd year in a row she has to go to Q-School to try to keep her card.  Nakata and Hara will be joined by fellow veterans Yuko Saitoh, Ikuyo Shiotani, Chie Sakai, Toshimi Kimura, Rie Murata, Mayumi Shimomura, Megumi Shimokawa, Julie Lu, Ya-Huei Lu, Nana Akahori, Kaori Harada, Yuko Fukuda, and Yoshimi Koda, among the many others fighting to rejoin the tour in 2012.  But I'm more interested in the new talent trying to make it on tour for the 1st time--like Aoi Nagata, Porani Chutichai, Da E Na, and a host of Chinese youngsters--or give themselves another chance to get their fledgling careers off the ground--like Yuki Ichinose, Onnarin Sattayabanphot, Erika Kikuchi, Satsuki Oshiro, Tao-Li Yang, Sakurako Mori, Miki Sakai, and Aiko Ueno.

How does LPGA Q-School stack up?  Pretty darn good.  There's a broader range of Asian players in the field, including Mitsuki Katahira, Junko Nakada, and Ayako Kaneko from Japan (Samantha Richdale and Shayna Miyajima are of Japanese descent, as well), Jean Chua from Malaysia, Junthima Gulyanamitta, Patcharajutar Kongkraphan, and Thidapa Suwannapura from Thailand, Yu-Ling Hsieh, Tzu-Chi Lin, and Peiyun Chien from Taiwan, Vietnamese-America Brianna Do, and of course a host of Koreans and Korean-Americans, headed by Danielle Kang, Christine Song, Birdie Kim, Stephanie Kono, Jimin Jeong, Hannah Yun, Hannah Jun, Angela Oh, Kimberly Kim, Esther Choe, Stephanie Kim, Misun Cho, Hanna Kang, Jenny Suh, and Jennie Lee.  There are several good Australians and New Zealanders, from Kristie Smith to Stephanie Na to Julia Boland to Emma De Groot to Cathryn Bristow.  There are a lot of impressive Spanish speakers, from Carlota Ciganda and Mariajo Uribe to Sophia Sheridan and Lili Alvarez, from Paola Moreno and Juliana Murcia Ortiz to Lizette Salas and Victoria Tanco, from Veronica Felibert and Alejandra Llaneza to Macarena Silva and Anya Sarai Alvarez (just to name a few).  Europe is well represented not only by Ciganda and countrywoman Elisa Serramia, but also Minea Blomqvist, Jodi Ewart, Benedikte Grotvedt, Valentine Derrey, and Camilla Lennarth.  Closer to home, Richdale is joined by many other Canadians, including Maude-Aimee Leblanc, Izzy Beisiegel, Rebecca Lee-Bentham, Angela Buzminski, Lisa Meldrum, Adrienne White, Stephanie Sherlock, and Sue Kim.  And of course there are a bunch more Americans than the ones I've already listed who have a chance to win this thing, including Alison Fouch (now Duncan), Nicole Hage, Meredith Duncan, Sara Brown, Cydney Clanton, Natalie Sheary, Jaclyn Sweeney, Mallory Blackwelder, Ginger Howard, Jacqui Concolino, Leah Wigger, Jean Reynolds, and Dori Carter.

Bottom line is, when you look at the long list of developmental tour winners this year, LPGA Q-School has JLPGA Q-School beat, hands-down.  If I had to pick a handful or 2 of favorites in Florida, I'd say to look out for Minea Blomqvist, Kristie Smith, Carlota Ciganda, Mariajo Uribe, Mitsuki Katahira, Junthima Gulyanamitta, Danielle Kang, Christine Song, Victoria Tanco, and Hannah Yun, but there are so many players in their league or close to it coming in with pretty hot hands that I frankly don't see any of them as real locks.  All I can say is it's a good thing LET Q-School comes so late (January 2012!), as there's going to be a large number of very good golfers who won't get LPGA membership come Sunday.

[Update 1 (11/29/11, 12:36 am):  Looking back over my final LPGA Q-School stage 2 post, I was surprised to see that Carlota Ciganda and several others who are in the field this week were originally slated as missing the cut.  Suggests to me that a good number of LPGAers who didn't make the top 100 on the money list elected not to enter the Final Qualifying Tournament.  I knew Moira Dunn was among them, but now I'm wondering how many and who joined her....]

CME Group Titleholders Preview, Predictions, Pairings

I've been dealing with the worst cold of my life--and probably the most intense and lingering illness of my adult life, period--the last 13 days, so I've been unable to write about Catriona Matthews's great win in Guadalajara, Asako Fujimoto's defeat of Sakura Yokomine on the JLPGA, or Daisuke Takahashi's sublime performances at the NHK Cup last week.  Even worse, I really don't have much to add to the fine previews of the CME Group Titleholders, which caps off the LPGA's 2011 season this week, from Hound Dog, Tony Jesselli, and Ruthless Mike (not to mention LPGA.com's own preview, pre-tournament interviews [which includes the news that the LPGA Futures Tour will become the Symetra Tour next year], and Ward Clayton's Stats and Stuff).  In fact, I'll simply note how amazing it is that the likes of Cristie Kerr, In-Kyung Kim, Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel, Michelle Wie, Angela Stanford, Amy Yang, Mika Miyazato, and Anna Nordqvist have 1 last chance to get their 1st LPGA win of 2011!  Is there any better mark of Ya Ni Tseng's dominance this year than the fact that she's blocked so many great and very very good golfers from the winner's circle?

Tony points out in an update to his preview that Ji-Yai Shin, Momoko Ueda, Shanshan Feng, So-Yeon Ryu, Grace Park, Inbee Park, and Juli Inkster qualified for but will not be playing in this week's event.  Shin's season is over, Park is hoping she qualified for the final stage of KLPGA Q-School (it's not looking good for her), Ryu is playing on the KLPGA, Ueda, Feng, and Park stayed in Japan after the Mizuno to close out the JLPGA season there, and Inkster's elbow injury precluded her participation.  Looking at the field, Hound Dog's Hot 20, and the results from last year's LPGA Tour Championship at Grand Cypress (where Maria Hjorth held off Amy Yang, In-Kyung Kim, and Na Yeon Choi, among others), here are my final picks in the 2011 PakPicker competition at Seoul Sisters.com:

1. Choi Na Yeon
2. Creamer
3. Kim In-Kyung
4. Yang Amy
5. Miyazato Ai
6. Tseng
7. Lewis
8. Kerr
9. Pettersen
10. Lang
11. Nordqvist
12. Matthew

Alts: Yoo; Pressel; Stanford

Here are my favorite pairings heading off the 1st tee at Grand Cypress starting in just a couple of hours or so!

10:06 am: Na Yeon Choi, Morgan Pressel, Sun Young Yoo
10:50 am: Ya Ni Tseng, Karrie Webb, Michelle Wie
10:39 am: Cristie Kerr, Paula Creamer, Brittany Lincicome
9:00 am: Mika Miyazato, Meena Lee, Azahara Munoz
9:55 am: Ai Miyazato, Sophie Gustafson, Julieta Granada
7:43 am: In-Kyung Kim, Christina Kim, Sandra Gal
9:44 am: Catriona Matthew, Anna Nordqvist, Brittany Lang
10:17 am: Suzann Pettersen, Maria Hjorth, Song-Hee Kim
10:28 am: Stacy Lewis, Angela Stanford, Katie Futcher
9:22 am: Lexi Thompson, Tiffany Joh, Giulia Sergas
8:27 am: Hee Young Park, Ryann O'Toole, Vicky Hurst
7:10 am: Beatriz Recari, Natalie Gulbis

With Mina Harigae going off at 7:54 am, I'm hoping she gets some early tv time in Golf Channel's coverage, which starts at 1:30.  And I'm hoping I'll be feeling well enough to actually do some golf blogging after I catch up with the coverage on my DVR!

CME Group Titleholders Preview

Congratulations go out this week to Catriona Matthew, for winning the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. It was her fourth career LPGA win.

The LPGA moves back to the United States this week with the CME Group Titleholders. This will be the final official LPGA tournament of the year. Here are the few details that are available as of this writing:

Course: Grand Cypress Country Club
Location: Orlando, Florida
Defending Champion: This is the inaugural year for this event
2011 Winning Score: None

Final Field: 65 players
Par: 72
Yardage: 6518 Yards
Purse: $1.5 Million

Television Schedule:
Nov 17: 1:30 - 4:00 PM ET - GC
Nov 18: 12:30 - 3:00 PM ET - GC
Nov 19: 1:30 - 4:00 PM ET - GC
Nov 20: 1:30 - 4:00 PM ET - GC

Qualifying this past weekend were Natalie Gulbis, Juli Inkster, and Beatriz Recari.

As of this writing, the only player to make the field and skip the tournament, is Jiyai Shin. I will post updates if any additional information is provided.

Highest-ranked players who failed to qualify:
Katherine Hull, Jee Young Lee, Kristy McPherson, and M.J. Hur.

Rolex Ranking Mover of the Week:
Catriona Matthew moves from # 34 to #22

Tony Jesselli's Player of the Year Update:

1- Yani Tseng - 348.84 points
2- Stacy Lewis - 201.86
3- Cristie Kerr - 169.94
4- Suzann Pettersen - 167.84
5- Na Yeon Choi - 149.56
6- I.K. Kim - 145.44
7- Angela Stanford - 144.62
8- Amy Yang - 136.50
9- Paula Creamer - 130.66
10-Brittany Lincicome - 129.82
11-Mika Miyazato - 125.06
12-Morgan Pressel - 116.64
13-Karrie Webb - 116.24
14-Ai Miyazato - 100.86
15-Jiyai Shin - 99.40
16-Maria Hjorth - 96.64
17-Anna Nordqvist - 94.78
18-Brittany Lang - 94.46
19-Catriona Matthew - 86.10
20-Michelle Wie - 85.08

Highest-ranked player this year without a win = Cristie Kerr #3
Lowest-ranked player with a win = Sandra Gal #24
My highest-ranked rookie = Hee Young Seo #30

UPDATE: 11/15/11 5:00PM
The following players are skipping the tournament:
Jiyai Shin, Momoko Ueda, Shanshan Feng,So Yeon Ryu, Grace Park, Inbee Park, and Julie Inkster.

Here is the updated Final Field:

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Lorena Ochoa Invitational Preview, Predictions, Pairings

With all you can find from Hound Dog, Tony Jesselli, and Ward Clayton, along with LPGA.com's preview and pre-tournament interviews, there's little room for me to add anything new about this year's Lorena Ochoa Invitational.  Suffice to say there's a lot less drama entering the tournament this time around.  Unlike the last 2 years, where all the season-ending races came down to the wire, we've known for a long time who the top dog on tour is.  And with Na Yeon Choi finally taking a week off, we don't even have the entire cast of players fighting for the #2 spot on tour in the field!

It is worth noting, though, that my 2010 preview is probably more accurate about Guadalajara Country Club than my 2009 preview:  with all different kinds of golfers winning this event in its short history, from a straight shooter like Angela Stanford to a bomber like Michelle Wie to a precision player like In-Kyung Kim, the course doesn't seem to favor any particular style of play.  Which makes my already mostly-futile PakPicking this year at Seoul Sisters.com even less likely to succeed than usual.  But here goes anyway!

1. Creamer
2. Yang
3. Tseng
4. Kim In-Kyung
5. Pressel
6. Stanford
7. Miyazato Ai
8. Pettersen
9. Kerr
10. Lewis
11. Miyazato Mika
12. Matthew

Alts: Munoz, Nordqvist, Lang

With so many great pairings all going off the 1st tee, I hope we get to see a lot of golf the next 4 days from a real range of golfers.  Here's my own personal ranking by my level of interest and overall quality of the threesome:

12:10 pm: Suzann Pettersen, Ai Miyazato, Paula Creamer
12:21 pm: Ya Ni Tseng, Cristie Kerr, Michelle Wie
11:59 am: In-Kyung Kim, Stacy Lewis, Brittany Lincicome
11:15 am: Angela Stanford, Mika Miyazato, Meena Lee
10:31 am: Se Ri Pak, Maria Hjorth, Karen Stupples
11:26 am: Juli Inkster, Azahara Munoz, Song-Hee Kim
10:20 am: Catriona Matthew, Beatriz Recari, Mindy Kim
11:37 am: Candie Kung, Sandra Gal, Chella Choi
10:42 am: Sophie Gustafson, Hee Young Park, Katie Futcher
11:48 am: Amy Yang, Brittany Lang, Sophia Sheridan
11:04 am: Morgan Pressel, Hee Kyung Seo, Lili Alvarez
10:53 am: Anna Nordqvist, Natalie Gulbis, Regina Plasencia

I'd sure love to see Ai Miyazato break the $1M barrier in season winnings this week!

Momoko Got it Done, in Tournament Twenty-One. Lorena Ochoa Invitational Preview

Congratulations go out this week to Momoko Ueda for winning the Mizuno Classic.  It was her first career win as an LPGA member. For more details see Bangkokbobby and The Constructivist.

The LPGA moves from Asia to Mexico this week with the Lorena Ochoa Invitational.
Here are some details:

Course: Guadalajara County Club
Location: Guadalajara, Mexico
Defending Champion: I.K. Kim
2011 Winning Score: 69-68-68-64=269 (-19)

Final Field: 36 Players
Par: 72
Yardage: 6644
Purse: $1 Million

You may recall that this is the tournament where I.K. Kim gave away her entire winning purse to charity last year. Among the players not participating this week include Na Yeon Choi, Jiyai Shin, Song Hee Kim, Inbee Park, Sun Young Yoo, and Karrie Webb.

The Titleholders Championship:
Qualifying this past weekend were Momoko Ueda, Pornanong Phatlum, and Christina Kim.

There are only 3 women in this week's field that have not yet qualified. They are Juli Inkster, Beatriz Recari, and Natalie Gulbis. All they will have to do is finish the tournament to get in.

Rolex Ranking Mover of the Week:
Momoko Ueda moves from #81 to #54.

Battle for 2012 Sybase Match Play spots:
There was some very big moves this week, but none bigger than Momoko Ueda, who moved from outside the top 48 on the money list to #33. She now has a spot wrapped up.

Here are the ladies who are still fighting for one of the 48 automatic spots.

44 Wendy Ward - $198,103.00
45 Vicky Hurst - $197,667.00
46 Ryann O'Toole - $188,990.00
47 Eun-Hee Ji - $181,743.00
48 Paige Mackenzie - $180,383.00
49 Natalie Gulbis - $171,730.00
50 Pat Hurst - $170,348.00
51 Christel Boeljon - $166,370.00
52 Mina Harigae - $166,184.00
53 Mi Hyun Kim - $161,849.00
54 Amanda Blumenherst - $158,868
55 Kristy McPherson - $157,025.00

The only player on the above list playing this week is Natalie Gulbis. Since she got in as a sponsor's exemption, the money she earns will not be official money, and will not count towards Sybase. It will all come down to the final event the following week.

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Mizuno Classic Preview, Predictions, Pairings

With Ya Ni Tseng having wrapped up victories in all the major LPGA season-long races and taking a well-deserved week off after winning her 10th event on a major women's tour last week, this week's Mizuno Classic is much more significant for the JLPGA and the golfers who are members of both tours than it is for the top women's tour on the planet.  As Hound Dog and Tony Jesselli document, many of the LPGA's top players are joining Tseng in skipping this tournament.  Amy Yang, who won the last KLPGA major of the year last week, is probably the biggest surprise among the many no-shows to me, although I agree with HD that it's odd that Paula Creamer has never played the Mizuno.  That's why I find it strange that LPGA.com's preview, which rightly focuses on '08 and '10 champion Ji-Yai Shin and Mizuno girl Stacy Lewis (along with Ai and Mika Miyazato), never mentions Na Yeon Choi, who's making a strong end-of-season push to follow up last year's #1 ranking in both winnings and scoring average with a #2 ranking this year.  It's no surprise, though, that LPGA.com also failed to focus on what the Mizuno means to the JLPGA's season-long races and to the many dual LPGA-JLPGA members in the field.  So let me try to fill those gaps.

Chie Arimura's win last week means that Sun-Ju Ahn has not yet clinched her 2nd-straight JLPGA money-list title and Player of the Year award.  With Ji-Hee Lee playing steady but not spectacular golf and Sakura Yokomine struggling by her lofty standards, the most likely showdown for this year's top spot will be between Ahn and Arimura.  Ahn, who has 4 wins, 2 runner-ups (both coming in her last 4 starts), 8 top 5s, and 11 top 10s in only 17 JLPGA starts in 2011, is coming off a rest week and looking to improve on her T18 finish here last year (10 shots behind Shin and 1 shot behind Arimura).  Arimura, meanwhile, has 3 wins, a silver, 2 bronzes, 7 top 5s, and 13 top 10s in 21 JLPGA starts--and perhaps even more important has also played great in her LPGA starts this year, with a near-win at the HSBC Women's Champions and a T7 at the Kraft Nabisco Championship (to go with an uncharacteristic missed cut at the Wegmans LPGA Championship and surprising no-shows at the Evian and Ricoh Women's British Open).  However, before last week's win she had endured her longest run without a top 10 finish all year, most likely caused by a wrist injury that lead to her actually having to miss an event. 

So if Arimura doesn't step it up this week, who from the JLPGA is most likely to instead?  Yokomine (who has a gold, a silver, 4 bronzes, 8 top 5s, and 14 top 10s in 24 JLPGA starts but has finished outside the top 20 7 times, is coming off 2 straight starts in which she failed to crack the top 30, and hasn't made the top 10 in the Mizuno in the last 3 years) is actually something of a long shot, despite the fact that she's also coming in rested.  Lee (with a gold, 4 3 silvers, 8 top 5s, and 16 top 10s in 23 JLPGA starts) may seem like a better bet, but her recent record at the Mizuno has been even less impressive than Yokomine's.  So I'd focus on players like Shiho Oyama, who seems finally to have found her game after a long recovery and comeback from elbow surgery (she has a gold, a silver, and a bronze highlighting her ongoing 5-event top-10 streak and is also coming off a week off), Mi-Jeong Jeon (who finished T5 here in 2009 and is riding an 8-event top 20 streak that includes a runner-up finish a few weeks ago), and Yukari Baba (who has a gold, a silver, and a T4 in her last 5 starts and finished T8 here last year).  Everyone else in the top 20 on the money list is either absent (Yuri Fudoh), in a nosedive (Miki Saiki), struggling (Hiromi Mogi, Rui Kitada), inconsistent (Ayako Uehara, Saiki Fujita, ex-LPGAer Na-Ri Kim, and '09 champion Bo-Bae Song), or inexperienced (Ritsuko Ryu, Mayu Hattori, Kumiko Kaneda, and Rikako Morita).  And ex-LPGAers Young Kim, Soo-Yun Kang, and Teresa Lu just haven't had very good 2011s.

Which is my cue to finally bring up Shanshan Feng.  I held off on mentioning the #10 player on the money list, the winner of the Meiji and Miyagi events this year, the runner-up in the Konica Minolta Cup (a JLPGA major), and a T3 finisher last week because she belongs in a discussion of the dual LPGA-JLPGA members in the Mizuno field.  While her rookie season on the JLPGA hasn't been quite as impressive as Inbee Park's last year (she had 2 wins and 6 runner-up finishes in 14 starts), a Feng win here would certainly make me rethink that judgment.  Park, meanwhile, has done little to follow up her season-opening win on the JLPGA, but even in the midst of a mini-sophomore jinx, it's hard not to be high on someone who finished T8 and T5 at the Mizuno the last 2 years.  The crazy thing is, however, that the rest of the dual members are actually fighting to keep their JLPGA cards.  2007 Mizuno champion Momoko Ueda has 4 top 10s in 12 JLPGA starts this year, but she's missed the cut a shocking 5 times and failed to crack the top 40 twice, so she's actually lucky to be #44 on the money list right now (the top 50 keep their cards; the rest go to the final stage of Q-School to compete against the qualifiers from this week's 2nd stage).  Even 2-time Mizuno champion Ji-Yai Shin has been struggling on the JLPGA for the 1st time in her career--not only is she #54 on the money list, but she also needs a win this week to qualify for the season-ending Ricoh Cup and get the 7th start she needs to meet the tour's minimum appearance requirement.  Ai Miyazato is in the exact same boat, except she's even lower on the money list (at #69), while even if Meena Lee (#103) were to win, she definitely hasn't played enough on tour to keep her card without going back to Q-School.  And Harukyo Nomura, who's fighting to finish high enough on both tours' money lists to keep her dual membership in 2012 (she's #94 on the LPGA and #73 on the JLPGA), didn't even qualify for the Mizuno.  That leaves Hee Young Park, who's #91 on the money list in 6 starts.  Can the 2010 Q-School champion make enough money in her 7th start of 2011 to avoid a return to Q-School?

Here's my best guess as to how things will shake out this week for my entry in the PakPicker competition at Seoul Sisters.com:

1. Miyazato Mika
2. Choi Na Yeon
3. Arimura
4. Oyama
5. Feng
6. Park Hee Young
7. Shin Ji-Yai
8. Miyazato Ai
9. Park Inbee
10. Lewis
11. Ahn
12. Jeon

Alts:  Munoz; Kim In-Kyung; Baba

The pairings for Friday's opening round are already out.  Here's a baker's dozen of the ones I'm most excited about:

1st tee, 9:50 am: Na Yeon Choi, Ai Miyazato, Chie Arimura
1st tee, 9:30 am: Karrie Webb, Mika Miyazato, Hee Kyung Seo
1st tee, 10:00 am: Ji-Yai Shin, Sun-Ju Ahn, Azahara Munoz
10th tee, 9:20 am: Hee Young Park, Candie Kung, Tiffany Joh
1st tee, 9:40 am: Stacy Lewis, Sakura Yokomine, Beatriz Recari
10th tee, 9:40 am: Mi Hyun Kim, Hee-Won Han, Meena Lee
1st tee, 9:20 am: Inbee Park, Eun-Hee Ji, Ryann O'Toole
10th tee, 9:30 am: Shanshan Feng, Catriona Matthew, Chella Choi
10th tee, 10:00 am: In-Kyung Kim, Jimin Kang, Mindy Kim
10th tee, 8:30 am: Mi-Jeong Jeon, Yukari Baba, Miki Saiki
10th tee, 8:50 am: Na-Ri Kim, Pornanong Phatlum, Cindy LaCrosse
1st tee, 9:10 am: Momoko Ueda, Mayu Hattori, Paige Mackenzie
10th tee, 9:50 am: Song-Hee Kim, Vicky Hurst, Amy Hung

I'm sadly not surprised that Golf Channel couldn't afford to buy TV rights from the JLPGA and Japanese TV.  I'm too busy at work to try to find an online feed, but I will go back to doing round-by-round reports as early as possible.  Stay tuned!

[Update 1 (5:42 am):  Here's a photo of Tiger with Miho Koga, Shinobu Moromizato, and Rui Kitada at their charity outing yesterday.  And here's Ward Clayton's latest Stats and Stuff post from LPGA.com.]

Mizuno Classic Preview

After a one-week break, the LPGA tour resumes this week with the Mizuno Classic.

Here some of the details:

Course: Kintetsu Kashikojima Country Club
Location: Shima-shi, Mie, Japan
Defending Champion: Jiyai Shin
2010 Winning Score: 65-66-67=198 (-18)

Final Field: 78 Players
Par: 72
Yardage: 6,506 Yards
Purse: $1.2 Million

This tournament is only 54 holes.

I assure you this IS an LPGA event. Unfortunately, it seems someone forgot to inform the girls. Here is a list of the major players who will NOT be competing this week:

Yani Tseng, Suzann Pettersen, Cristie Kerr, Paula Creamer, Michelle Wie, Katherine Hull, Morgan Pressel, Amy Yang, Brittany Lincicome, Sun Young Yoo, Angela Stanford, Jee Young Lee, Maria Hjorth, Anna Nordqvist, Juli Inkster, Sophie Gustafson, Se Ri Pak, Brittany Lang, Karen Stupples, Wendy Ward, Natalie Gulbis, Sandra Gal, and Katie Futcher.

As you can see the top 3, 6 of the top 10, and 24 of the top 50 players in the Rolex Rankings are not in attendance, making this an extremely weak field, in spite of the fact that all of the great players from the JLPGA are playing.


Here are some of the elite players on the JLPGA tour that will be teeing it up:

Sun Ju Ahn, Chie Arimura, Sakura Yokomine, Ji-Hee Lee, Miki Saiki, Mi-Jeong Jeon, Yukari Baba, Shiho Oyama, Na Ri Kim, Kumiko Kaneda, Ayako Uehara, and Ritsuko Ryu.

The above is an impressive list of JLPGA stars. They are all ranked in the top 50 of the Rolex Rankings. The fact that the Mizuno field is still ranked as one of the 3 weakest of the year is attributed to all the missing LPGA players.

This will NOT be televised in the United States.

Rolex Rankings Mover of the Week:
Chie Arimura, winner this week on the JLPGA tour, moves from #18 to #13.

Hard to Believe Stat of the week:
Suzann Pettersen, the #2 player in the world, is closer to the #37 player than she is to #1. Let's take a look:

#1 Yani Tseng - 18.40 Rolex Rating
#2 Suzann Pettersen - 10.93
#37 Soo Jin Yang - 3.47

I usually don't report the Ladies European tour results, but it is certainly worth mentioning that Yani Tseng won again this week. She beat Pernilla Linberg by 7 shots. Melissa Reid and Lee-Anne Pace were 8 shots back.

[Update 1 (5:58 pm):  It's also worth noting that Amy Yang won the last KLPGA major of the year last week.  So the only winner from a major tour from last week in this week's field is Chie Arimura.--TC]



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Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship Preview, Predictions, Pairings

Ya Ni Tseng and Na Yeon Choi have traded wins the last couple of weeks of head-to-head battles on the LPGA's fall Asian swing, so even though Tseng has already clinched the  Player of the Year race, don't look for either one of them to back down this week on her home turf at the Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship. 

Thanks to Tony Jesselli and Hound Dog, who have helped LPGA.com set the stage for the latest showdown on tour, we know that the field is among the thinnest on tour without Karrie Webb, Angela Stanford, Brittany Lincicome, Michelle Wie, Juli Inkster, Catriona Matthew, the Masters GC-bound Paula Creamer and (as Jamie Belyea pointed out in comments) Teresa Lu (who has clearly decided to focus virtually exclusively on the JLPGA this year, even to the point of not seeking a sponsor exemption for an LPGA event on her home soil), and Shanshan Feng (who's not trying to improve her #9 position on the JLPGA money list this week, either).  But there are still plenty of players who can keep pace with Tseng and Choi at the Sunrise Golf & Country Club, which features big ponds near 5 greens, down 1 fairway, and off 2 tees, lots of strategically-placed bunkers, relatively short par 5s (although the 2 on the back are guarded by ponds), and no par 4s over 400 yards.  The finishing holes--a short par 3 over water, the longest par 4 on the course, and a 521-yard par 5 that will tempt long hitters to flirt with the greenside pond (which will put pressure even on those who choose to lay up on their 2nd shots)--should produce plenty of drama and be a great test of nerves.  Who will excel on it?  Here are my guesses for the Seoul Sisters.com PakPicker:

1. Choi Na Yeon
2. Tseng
3. Yang
4. Shin Ji-Yai
5. Lang
6. Pettersen
7. Lewis
8. Miyazato Ai
9. Park Inbee
10. Kim In-Kyung
11. Pressel
12. Miyazato Mika

Alts: Yoo; Pak Se Ri; Kerr

I'm looking forward most particularly to the following pairings:

10th tee, 8:00 am: Ai Miyazato, In-Kyung Kim, Candie Kung
1st tee, 11:30 am: Na Yeon Choi, Suzann Pettersen, Azahara Munoz
1st tee, 11:40 am: Ya Ni Tseng, Brittany Lang, Anna Nordqvist
10th tee, 7:50 am: Ji-Yai Shin, Stacy Lewis, Maria Hjorth
1st tee, 7:40 am: Mika Miyazato, Ryann O'Toole, Chella Choi
10th tee, 11:20 am: Amy Yang, Tiffany Joh, Mindy Kim
1st tee, 11:50 am: Se Ri Pak, Cristie Kerr, Sophie Gustafson
10th tee, 11:50 am: Hee Kyung Seo, Hee Young Park, Sun Young Yoo
1st tee, 10:50 am: Seon Hwa Lee, Jenny Shin, Jessica Korda
1st tee, 7:50 am: Grace Park, Karen Stupples, Eun-Hee Ji
1st tee, 7:30 am: Belen Mozo, Cindy LaCrosse, Pei-Ying Tsai

With Jennifer Johnson going 1st off the 1st tee, I'm also curious to see if she'll set the pace for the 8 other rookies in the field trying to put some heat on ROY race leader Seo this week.  One of them will need to win to do it--a tall order, even in this relatively depleted field.

[Update 1 (6:14 am):  bangkokbobby has the video of the POY award presentation.  He also has video of Pettersen's challenge to Tseng.]

[Update 2 (6:30 am):  IceCat at Seoul Sisters.com notes that the race for Category 1 is on in a big way this week--Jennifer Song will be fighting to retain her spot at #80 on the money list (and move up it!).]

Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship Preview

With only 4 more tournaments left on the LPGA schedule, the tour moves to Taiwan this week, for the Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship. Here are some of the details:

Course: Sunrise Golf & Country Club
Location: Yang Mei, Taoyuan, Taiwan
Defending Champion: None. This is the inaugural year for this event
2010 Winning Score: None

Final Field: 90 players
Par: 72
Yardage: 6390 Yards
Purse: $2.0 Million

This tournament will have one of the weakest fields in some time.
The following major names are NOT teeing it up this week.

Paula Creamer
Michelle Wie
Brittany Lincicome
Angela Stanford
Karrie Webb
Juli Inkster
Shanshan Feng
Natalie Gulbis
Catriona Matthew

According to my strength of schedule formula, only the RR Donnelley Founders Cup had a weaker field.

Here is the television schedule:
Oct 20 7:30-9:30 PM ET GC
Oct 21 7:30-9:30 PM ET GC
Oct 22 7:30-9:30 PM ET GC
Oct 23 7:30-9:30 PM ET GC

Once again, with the late showing and the 12 hour time differential, if you plan on watching this on TV, stay away from the LPGA website or reading blogs, as the results will already be posted.

The Titleholders Championship:
Qualifying this week are Christel Boeljon, Amanda Blumenherst, and Mina Harigae.

Rolex Ranking Mover of the Week:
Azahara Munoz moves from #51 to #39.

Stat of the Week:
Na-Yeon Choi has not finished worse than T18 in her last 7 tournaments.

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Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia Preview, Predictions, Pairings

Hound Dog, Tony Jesselli, Emily Kay, and LPGA.com have done such a fantastic job of previewing this week's Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia event, the only thing I'll point out is that with the tournament extended from 54 to 72 holes this year, all the water on the par-71 Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club that I talked about in last year's preview will come even more into play and weigh even heavier on the players' minds.  Look for it to be a battle between the tour's most consistent ball-strikers and most accurate precision players! 

Here are my guesses in this week's PakPicker.  I scored more points last time around than the time before, but fell all the way from king of the hill to basement dweller because everyone else did so much of a better job with their predictions than I.  Nowhere to go but up!

1. Miyazato Ai
2. Tseng
3. Choi Na Yeon
4. Creamer
5. Miyazato Mika
6. Pettersen
7. Shin
8. Lee
9. Joh
10. Pressel
11. Lewis
12. Yang

Alts: Feng, Kang, Kerr

Lots of great pairings tomorrow--here are my faves!

1st tee, 10:22 am: Ji-Yai Shin, Ai Miyazato, Michelle Wie
1st tee, 10:33 am: Suzann Pettersen, Na Yeon Choi, Paula Creamer
10th tee, 10:11 am: In-Kyung Kim, Mika Miyazato, Sophie Gustafson
1st tee, 10:44 am: Ya Ni Tseng, Brittany Lincicome, Jimin Kang
1st tee, 10:11 am: Juli Inkster, Karrie Webb, Cristie Kerr
1st tee, 10:55 am: Stacy Lewis, Sandra Gal, Beatriz Recari
1st tee, 9:16 am: Mina Harigae, Caroline Hedwall, Julieta Granada
1st tee, 9:27 am: Amy Yang, Melissa Reid, Tanaporn Kongkiatrai

Last week's LET winner Christina Kim got into the field and is 1st off the 1st tee with Brittany Lang and Ainil Johani, while Tiffany Joh goes off the back a couple of groups later with Kristy McPherson and Amy Hung.  Here's hoping 2 of the best interviews on tour make it into the press room this week!  And that both Miyazatos' near-misses recently on the JLPGA have prepared them for the heat of battle on the LPGA!

Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia Preview

This is getting very repetitious, but let me start by congratulating Yani Tseng on winning her 6th LPGA tournament of the year. With the Player of the Year and Vare Trophy titles already in the bag, she will add ten Hall of Fame points this year (2 of her wins are majors), even without another victory.

Here are some of the details of the Sime Darby LPGA Championship being held this week:

Course: Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Defending Champion: Jimin Kang
2010 Winning Score: 70-69-65=204 (-9)

Final Field: 72 Players
Par: 71
Yardage: 6208 Yards
Purse: $1.9 Million

The tournament has expanded this year from 54 to 72 holes. There will be no cut.
The only notable absentees are Inbee Park, Hee Kyeong Seo, and Song Hee Kim.

Here is the television schedule:
Oct 13 : GC 9:30-11:30 PM ET
Oct 14 : GC 9:30-11:30 PM ET
Oct 15 : GC 9:30-11:30 PM ET
Oct 16 : GC 9:30-11:30 PM ET

Between the late showing on The Golf Channel and the 12-hour time differential, we will be watching the first round while the second round is already underway.

Tony Jesselli's Player of the Year race:

1- Yani Tseng - 315.46 points
2- Stacy Lewis - 185.34
3- Cristie Kerr - 158.50
4- Suzann Pettersen - 147.44
5- Angela Stanford - 135.62
6- Brittany Lincicome - 126.20
7- I.K. Kim - 124.08
8- Amy Yang - 122.30
9- Paula Creamer - 116.88
10-Na Yeon Choi - 115.68
11-Mika Miyazato - 114.02
12-Karrie Webb - 111.56
13-Morgan Pressel - 106.26
14-Ai Miyazato - 96.36
15-Jiyai Shin - 87.24
16-Maria Hjorth - 86.00
17-Brittany Lang - 78.28
18-Michelle Wie - 76.70
19-Sun Young Yoo - 75.86
20-Inbee Park - 72.72

Rolex Ranking Mover of the Week:
Brittany Lincicome moves from #10 to #8.

The Titleholders Championship:
Qualifying this week are Jimin Kang, Shanshan Feng, and Chella Choi.
Katherine Hull remains the highest ranking player yet to qualify.

Hard to believe stat of the week:
This one is really hard to believe. Yani Tseng is so far out in front in the Rolex Rankings, that #2 Suzann Pettersen is closer to #16 than she is to #1.


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Hana Bank Championship Preview

After a short break in the LPGA schedule, the tour resumes this week with the Hana Bank Championship. This a 54-hole event.

Here are some of the details:

Course: Sky 72 Ocean Course
Where: Incheon, South Korea
2 Time Defending Champion: Na-Yeon Choi
2010 Winning Score: 69-68-69=206 (-10)

Final Field: 68 Players
Par: 72
Yardage: 6,364 Yards
Purse: $1.8 Million

The biggest stars missing from this tournament are Ai Miyazato and Mika Miyazato.

Here is the television schedule:
Oct 07 1:00-3:00 PM ET GC
Oct 08 1:00-3:00 PM ET GC
Oct 09 1:00-3:00 PM ET GC

Since there is a 13 hour time difference (east coast time), if you are planning to watch this on TV, I would stay away from the LPGA website or reading blogs, as the results will be already posted.

Tony Jesselli's Player of the Year:


1- Yani Tseng - 289.06 points
2- Stacy Lewis - 185.34
3- Cristie Kerr - 158.50
4- Suzann Pettersen - 147.44
5- Angela Stanford - 129.68
6- I.K. Kim - 122.10
7- Paula Creamer - 116.88
8- Brittany Lincicome - 114.06
9- Mika Miyazato - 114.02
10-Amy Yang - 112.40
11-Karrie Webb - 111.56
12-Morgan Pressel - 106.26
13-Na Yeon Choi - 102.48
14-Ai Miyazato - 96.36
15-Maria Hjorth - 84.02
16-Jiyai Shin - 77.34
17-Michelle Wie - 76.70
18-Inbee Park - 72.72
19-Brittany Lang - 72.34
20-Anna Nordqvist - 70.40

Rolex Rankings Mover of the Week:
Ritsuko Ryu - Moves from #58 to #46.

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