Thailand Ladies Open

FINAL RESULT: 2-1; +25.31pts

Song 15th
Park 3rd
Waugh 1st

Very pleasing result, though Waugh had been taken to a playoff when Nocera birdied the very difficult final hole. It only took a par on the first hole for Waugh to win, but it would have been very disappointing had she not done so as she had held at least a share of the lead at the end of every round. Many fell away, but none were as consistent as Waugh. Park birdied the last hole for a four-way tie for 3rd to add to the profits on this event.

Outright plays (total stake per play: 1pt)

Bo Bae Song to win 14/1 e.w. @ SkyBet
There's been a lot of hype about Ai Miyazato, but there will be just as much about "BB" Song in the next year or two. As a 17-year-old schoolgirl , she won the 2003 Korean Women's Open. In 2004, she made her debut as a professional and won the Korean's Women's Open again, plus Korean LPGA Money list, Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards. And this year she was a wire-to-wire winner in the LET co-sanctioned Singapore Ladies Masters and then partnered Jeong Jang in the Women's World Cup where they finished 2nd and were only denied by the Japanese team with two late birdies. There have been a lot of impressive Korean players gaining their LPGA Tour Cards and Song will certainly be one of them by next year.

Hee Young Park to win 33/1 e.w. @ SkyBet
Siding with another teenager who represented Korea in the last World Cup. This time it was the amateur version and her performances as an amateur last year are notable. She made the cut in her first Tour start in Japan in the Suntory Ladies Open in June, she finished 2nd in the race for leading medallist in the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship in August and she finished 16th in the LPGA-sanctioned Nine Bridges Classic in October. With this background, a 19th place finish in the Singapore Ladies Masters last month is a disappointment, but she should do far better this time around.

Shani Waugh to win 40/1 e.w. @ SkyBet
By contrast, at the age of 35, Waugh is as old as the ages of the other two selections put together, but that doesn't mean that she is any less competitive. She has concentrated on the Australian LPGA Tour over the last few months and notably finished 7th in the LET-sanctioned Australian Ladies Masters last month. A three time-winner on the Ladies European Tour, her last victory was in 2003, the same year that she took Se Ri Pak to five extra holes before losing out for the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship on the LPGA. In the last couple of months of last season, she finished 6th place finishes on both Tours, both times with Annika Sorenstam as the winner, and with a strong start to 2005 and considerably weaker opposition, she could certainly contend with the young Korean rising stars.