Preview & outright plays:
Also referred to as the Harvey Penick International in places, this is the third staging of the Kathy Ireland Championship, which was formerly called the Philips Invitational. Confused, you should be with LPGA tournaments! This is the only time the Tour stops in Texas and this year they do so without Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb who need to re-charge their batteries for quite different reasons. Se Ri Pak tees it up though as she tries to make it three wins this season and continue the Americans' 0-10 record on this Tour.
With Akiko Fukushima winning the inaugural event in 1999 and Laura Davies winning last year, it would appear to be a course for big-hitters, but the course had been made soft and long by rain in 1999 and Davies never used her driver all week last year. This is a shot-maker's course with the par only 70 shots and the course only 6,067 yards in length. The Bermuda greens are small and well-bunkered and it will be from the fairway and not the tee that this championship is won.
The three outright picks this week are Dottie Pepper, Mi Hyun Kim and Rosie Jones. Pepper was the last American to win on the LPGA Tour [Arch Wireless Championship last November] and in the absence of some of the big names, has a great chance to end the embarrassing 0-10 record this year. She finished 2nd to Davies last year in here only appearance at Onion Creek and already has two 2nd place finishes this year to Sorenstam, plus two 3rd place finishes. She is due a win! She comes into this event rested and looks to be Pak's most serious challenger for whom, despite the happenings of the past few months, winning back-to-back is a very difficult feat.
Mi Hyun Kim can also boast a good record on this course - she finished 3rd in 1999 in her only appearance. She also appeared to kick-start her season from a relatively disappointing start with the tournament record final round 65 in the Office Depot two weeks ago to take Sorenstam to a playoff. It did not affect for too long and she recovered from a poor opening round to finish 7th last week. Already a three-time winner on the LPGA Tour, she should not be too far from the top of the leaderboard.
Finally, Rosie Jones finished a disappointing 41st last year, but comes into this event in good form. She finished strongly in both the Office Depot to finish 14th and in last week's Longs Drugs Challenge with the the mike on her to finish 4th. It was her best finish of the year and hopefully she can carry on that momentum to secure another high finish around a course that needs an experienced head.
Outright plays:
Dottie Pepper to win 9/1 @ Five Dimes [listed as a prop, so a playoff will result in a push]
Mi Hyun Kim to win 16/1 e.w. @ William Hill
Rosie Jones to win 40/1 e.w. @ William Hill
Also referred to as the Harvey Penick International in places, this is the third staging of the Kathy Ireland Championship, which was formerly called the Philips Invitational. Confused, you should be with LPGA tournaments! This is the only time the Tour stops in Texas and this year they do so without Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb who need to re-charge their batteries for quite different reasons. Se Ri Pak tees it up though as she tries to make it three wins this season and continue the Americans' 0-10 record on this Tour.
With Akiko Fukushima winning the inaugural event in 1999 and Laura Davies winning last year, it would appear to be a course for big-hitters, but the course had been made soft and long by rain in 1999 and Davies never used her driver all week last year. This is a shot-maker's course with the par only 70 shots and the course only 6,067 yards in length. The Bermuda greens are small and well-bunkered and it will be from the fairway and not the tee that this championship is won.
The three outright picks this week are Dottie Pepper, Mi Hyun Kim and Rosie Jones. Pepper was the last American to win on the LPGA Tour [Arch Wireless Championship last November] and in the absence of some of the big names, has a great chance to end the embarrassing 0-10 record this year. She finished 2nd to Davies last year in here only appearance at Onion Creek and already has two 2nd place finishes this year to Sorenstam, plus two 3rd place finishes. She is due a win! She comes into this event rested and looks to be Pak's most serious challenger for whom, despite the happenings of the past few months, winning back-to-back is a very difficult feat.
Mi Hyun Kim can also boast a good record on this course - she finished 3rd in 1999 in her only appearance. She also appeared to kick-start her season from a relatively disappointing start with the tournament record final round 65 in the Office Depot two weeks ago to take Sorenstam to a playoff. It did not affect for too long and she recovered from a poor opening round to finish 7th last week. Already a three-time winner on the LPGA Tour, she should not be too far from the top of the leaderboard.
Finally, Rosie Jones finished a disappointing 41st last year, but comes into this event in good form. She finished strongly in both the Office Depot to finish 14th and in last week's Longs Drugs Challenge with the the mike on her to finish 4th. It was her best finish of the year and hopefully she can carry on that momentum to secure another high finish around a course that needs an experienced head.
Outright plays:
Dottie Pepper to win 9/1 @ Five Dimes [listed as a prop, so a playoff will result in a push]
Mi Hyun Kim to win 16/1 e.w. @ William Hill
Rosie Jones to win 40/1 e.w. @ William Hill
