Preview & outright plays:
In the men's game the World Championship events are both welcome and necessary. In the ladies' game, the strength and internationalism of the LPGA Tour makes them less so. Only one place apiece is awarded to two other ladies' Tours - the Japan LPGA Tour is ignored altogether - and the exempted player for the Evian Ladies European Tour, Maria Hjorth, had already qualified from her position on the LPGA Tour money list. The Korean LPGA Tour player, Ah Ram Suh, should struggle in this company and in California, though things might be a little different when the LPGA Tour resumes in Korea in two weeks' time.
They play at the Arnold Palmer-designed Hiddenbrooke Golf Club, which received mixed reviews last year. The course plays through the local canyons and so there are many elevation changes. The greens are very undulating and the lies away from the center of the fairway are never flat. This course was used for the first time last year and it would appear that those players who played here last year have a distinct advantage.
The three selections this week are Se Ri Pak, Lorie Kane and Michele Redman. Pak won last week's select-field event as a selection and is tipped to repeat the feat this week. That victory brought her run of top-3 finishes to five in six events which three of those being victories. This week she has Annika Sorenstam as her main challenger, but the Swede has only won once in the last five months and now Pak has a real chance to win the Rolex Player of the Year award. Pak finished 6th last year when defending champion and has much better than 6/1 chance of winning this event.
Kane has been in sparkling form since the resumption of the Tour, finishing 4th and 2nd in the last two weeks. She also played last year and secured 5th place, so in her current form and with four places on offer in a field of just twenty players, she stands a very good chance of securing a place win. A more speculative choice is Redman, though her odds with such a small field are very attractive. She has been playing some consistent golf recently with six top-15 finishes in her last nine events and importantly, she played this course last year. On that occasion she finished 9th when no-one had course experience. She could produce a very profitable surprise.
Outright plays:
Se Ri Pak to win 6/1 @ Sportfanatik (or other starnet books), Centrebet or Simon Bold
Lorie Kane to win 14/1 e.w. @ William Hill among others
Michele Redman to win 66/1 e.w. @ Victor Chandler
In the men's game the World Championship events are both welcome and necessary. In the ladies' game, the strength and internationalism of the LPGA Tour makes them less so. Only one place apiece is awarded to two other ladies' Tours - the Japan LPGA Tour is ignored altogether - and the exempted player for the Evian Ladies European Tour, Maria Hjorth, had already qualified from her position on the LPGA Tour money list. The Korean LPGA Tour player, Ah Ram Suh, should struggle in this company and in California, though things might be a little different when the LPGA Tour resumes in Korea in two weeks' time.
They play at the Arnold Palmer-designed Hiddenbrooke Golf Club, which received mixed reviews last year. The course plays through the local canyons and so there are many elevation changes. The greens are very undulating and the lies away from the center of the fairway are never flat. This course was used for the first time last year and it would appear that those players who played here last year have a distinct advantage.
The three selections this week are Se Ri Pak, Lorie Kane and Michele Redman. Pak won last week's select-field event as a selection and is tipped to repeat the feat this week. That victory brought her run of top-3 finishes to five in six events which three of those being victories. This week she has Annika Sorenstam as her main challenger, but the Swede has only won once in the last five months and now Pak has a real chance to win the Rolex Player of the Year award. Pak finished 6th last year when defending champion and has much better than 6/1 chance of winning this event.
Kane has been in sparkling form since the resumption of the Tour, finishing 4th and 2nd in the last two weeks. She also played last year and secured 5th place, so in her current form and with four places on offer in a field of just twenty players, she stands a very good chance of securing a place win. A more speculative choice is Redman, though her odds with such a small field are very attractive. She has been playing some consistent golf recently with six top-15 finishes in her last nine events and importantly, she played this course last year. On that occasion she finished 9th when no-one had course experience. She could produce a very profitable surprise.
Outright plays:
Se Ri Pak to win 6/1 @ Sportfanatik (or other starnet books), Centrebet or Simon Bold
Lorie Kane to win 14/1 e.w. @ William Hill among others
Michele Redman to win 66/1 e.w. @ Victor Chandler
