Between going to Clinton for my dad's retirement conference/roast this past weekend and trying to catch up at work, I haven't been able to write about Lee-Anne Pace's and Shiho Oyama's victories. But the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship is already upon us, so it's time for me to make my picks!
1. Park Inbee
2. Ryu
3. Choi Na Yeon
4. Feng
5. Pettersen
6. Lewis, Stacy
7. Ko
8. Choi Chella
9. Wie
10. Masson
11. Phatlum
12. Lincicome
Alts: Nordqvist, Lang, Park Hee Young
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Blue Bay LPGA Saturday: Lee-Anne Pace Catches Jessica Korda at -11
Lee-Anne Pace won an LET event last week in her home country and her 7-birdie 66 on moving day at the Blue Bay LPGA has given her a great shot at making it 2 in a row halfway around the world. To do it, she's going to have to get through Jessica Korda, who bounced back from an opening double bogey with 7 birdies of her own the rest of the way today to join the South African at -11.
But don't think for an instant Pace and Korda will be in some kind of match-play situation tomorrow on Hainan Island. Chella Choi has been knocking on the door for years now and fired a bogey-free 66 of her own to move to -10. Shanshan Feng, Michelle Wie, and Brittany Lang are only 2 behind the co-leaders. 2-time U.S. Women's Amateur champion Danielle Kang and near-Rookie of the Year last season Caroline Masson are only 3 down. Toss in Austin Ernst and Wanyao Lu (Haruka Morita when she competes on the JLPGA) at -7 and Beatriz Recari at -6 and you have some really good golfers ready to pounce if the co-leaders ease up on the accelerator or spin out on a curve tomorrow!
Going by their stats in the 1st 2 rounds, not to mention their recent victories, I'd say this is going to come down to Pace vs. Feng. But given how few of my picks for the week are actually in contention, you should probably ignore that prediction!
But don't think for an instant Pace and Korda will be in some kind of match-play situation tomorrow on Hainan Island. Chella Choi has been knocking on the door for years now and fired a bogey-free 66 of her own to move to -10. Shanshan Feng, Michelle Wie, and Brittany Lang are only 2 behind the co-leaders. 2-time U.S. Women's Amateur champion Danielle Kang and near-Rookie of the Year last season Caroline Masson are only 3 down. Toss in Austin Ernst and Wanyao Lu (Haruka Morita when she competes on the JLPGA) at -7 and Beatriz Recari at -6 and you have some really good golfers ready to pounce if the co-leaders ease up on the accelerator or spin out on a curve tomorrow!
Going by their stats in the 1st 2 rounds, not to mention their recent victories, I'd say this is going to come down to Pace vs. Feng. But given how few of my picks for the week are actually in contention, you should probably ignore that prediction!
Nobuta Group Masters GC Ladies Saturday: Shiho Oyama Extends Lead to 3 on All-Star Lead Chase Pack
Shiho Oyama faltered a little midway through her moving-day round at the Nobuta Group Masters GC Ladies, but bounced back with 4 birdies in her last 11 holes of bogey-free golf to move to -15 through 54 holes--enough to hold onto a 3-shot lead on the charging Yumiko Yoshida and Teresa Lu (who fired a bogey-free 66 and a bogey-free 67, respectively) and open up a 4-shot lead on JLPGA money-list leader Sun-Ju Ahn and 21-year-old Ayaka Watanabe. With Momoko Ueda at -10, Ai Suzuki at -9, Paula Creamer at -8, and Bo-Mee Lee at -6, Oyama has a great chance to eliminate most of her competition if she can make it 4 rounds in the 60s this week. But Watanabe's 63 and Yukari Nishiyama's 65 yesterday have to give everyone in the field within 10 shots of the lead (and that includes last year's money-list title-holder Rikako Morita and living legend Yuri Fudoh) just the slightest glimmer of hope. Should be a great finish tomorrow!
Friday, October 24, 2014
Checking in on the LPGA and JLPGA: Jessica Korda, Michelle Wie, Shanshan Feng, Shiho Oyama, Ayaka Watanabe, Sun-Ju Ahn Lead the Packs
Just have time for a quick update on the Blue Bay LPGA and Nobuta Group Masters GC Ladies tournaments.
The LPGA event on Hainan Island was supposed to be 72 holes, but the 2nd round was washed out by heavy rains and the tournament will be reduced to 54 holes. That puts an even greater premium on the great start by Jessica Korda, who opened with a bogey-free 31 on the front and held on for a 66 that gave her a 1-shot lead on Michelle Wie, Shanshan Feng, Brittany Lang, Caroline Masson, Lee-Anne Pace, and Jodi Ewart Shadoff and a 2-shot lead on Cristie Kerr, In-Kyung Kim, Chella Choi, Caroline Hedwall, Danielle Kang, and Dewi Claire Schreefel. Of course, with 43 golfers within 5 shots of the lead, this is still anyone's tournament, and there are plenty of great golfers lurking.
Over on the JLPGA, Shiho Oyama has gone 65-67 to take a 1-shot lead on Ayaka Watanabe, who fired a bogey-free 63, and a 2-shot lead on Sun-Ju Ahn, who's looking for her 3rd-straight victory on tour. The visiting Paula Creamer is 6 shots off the pace, while Ji-Yai Shin, who had gone as cold in her last few events as she had been hot in her previous dozen starts, bounced back from an opening 77 with a 66 today to make the cut by a hair.
The LPGA event on Hainan Island was supposed to be 72 holes, but the 2nd round was washed out by heavy rains and the tournament will be reduced to 54 holes. That puts an even greater premium on the great start by Jessica Korda, who opened with a bogey-free 31 on the front and held on for a 66 that gave her a 1-shot lead on Michelle Wie, Shanshan Feng, Brittany Lang, Caroline Masson, Lee-Anne Pace, and Jodi Ewart Shadoff and a 2-shot lead on Cristie Kerr, In-Kyung Kim, Chella Choi, Caroline Hedwall, Danielle Kang, and Dewi Claire Schreefel. Of course, with 43 golfers within 5 shots of the lead, this is still anyone's tournament, and there are plenty of great golfers lurking.
Over on the JLPGA, Shiho Oyama has gone 65-67 to take a 1-shot lead on Ayaka Watanabe, who fired a bogey-free 63, and a 2-shot lead on Sun-Ju Ahn, who's looking for her 3rd-straight victory on tour. The visiting Paula Creamer is 6 shots off the pace, while Ji-Yai Shin, who had gone as cold in her last few events as she had been hot in her previous dozen starts, bounced back from an opening 77 with a 66 today to make the cut by a hair.
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
My Picks for the Blue Bay LPGA
The Blue Bay LPGA starts in about 12 hours. For the players in the field, it's a great opportunity to take advantage of the absence of the LPGAers in the running for best 2014 in the world of women's professional golf, Stacy Lewis and Inbee Park (who, BTW, are tied atop the Rolex Rankings), not to mention Suzann Pettersen (who's gotten a huge percentage of her career victory total on tour in Asia), So Yeon Ryu, Na Yeon Choi, and others Tony Jesselli mentions in his tournament preview. For me, it's one of my last chances to get back in contention in the race to win the season-long PakPicker! So here goes:
1. Feng, Shanshan
2. Choi
3. Ko
4. Lincicome
5. Lee Mirim
6. Nordqvist
7. Munoz
8. Yang, Amy
9. Kerr
10. Wie
11. Thompson
12. Shin
Alts: Park Hee Young; Hur; Ciganda
This is one of those weeks where a mercurial player like Caroline Hedwall or Laura Davies could get hot or a slumping player like Ya Ni Tseng or In-Kyung Kim could find her game, however. With so many relatively untested Chinese pros and amateurs in the field, almost any regular LPGA member could step up and win this thing! And who knows what role "home court advantage" will play for the top Chinese golfers?
[Update 1 (6:14 am): Inbee Park's facing off against Hyo Joo Kim, Kyu Jung Baek, and the rest of the top KLPGA players in the last major of 2014 on that tour this week. A good finish there could land her alone at #1 in the Rolex Rankings!]
1. Feng, Shanshan
2. Choi
3. Ko
4. Lincicome
5. Lee Mirim
6. Nordqvist
7. Munoz
8. Yang, Amy
9. Kerr
10. Wie
11. Thompson
12. Shin
Alts: Park Hee Young; Hur; Ciganda
This is one of those weeks where a mercurial player like Caroline Hedwall or Laura Davies could get hot or a slumping player like Ya Ni Tseng or In-Kyung Kim could find her game, however. With so many relatively untested Chinese pros and amateurs in the field, almost any regular LPGA member could step up and win this thing! And who knows what role "home court advantage" will play for the top Chinese golfers?
[Update 1 (6:14 am): Inbee Park's facing off against Hyo Joo Kim, Kyu Jung Baek, and the rest of the top KLPGA players in the last major of 2014 on that tour this week. A good finish there could land her alone at #1 in the Rolex Rankings!]
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