Giant Eagle LPGA Classic

A strange week in the US Tour events this week and due to the British Open. The men's was last week, the seniors' is this week and the women's is next week. With two of those three having major status, the effect on this week's fields is obvious. There is no Sorenstam or Webb playing this week, though Se Ri Pak and Dottie Pepper headline this week. This is the 12th staging of this event and apart from its below-par fields, it is notable for its playoffs. In eleven years, there have been seven playoffs!

They play at Squaw Creek Country Club for the first time since 1992, with Avalon Lakes having hosted this event in the interim. The course is not long, but it is tree-lined and tight. The greens are undulating and currently very hard, making scoring quite difficult in practice. This a much tougher course than Avalon Lakes with keeping the ball in play and a good putting stroke being key requirements this week.

This description fits Mi Hyun Kim perfectly. She has been extremely consistent all season and has been in good form of late as well with three top-10 finishes in her last four events. She could have finished much higher than 8th last week when a selection, but she dropped three quick shots around the turn to lose momentum. In an event characterized by playoffs, against this field she could easily feature in her 3rd of the season and win this time.

Michele Redman doesn't make Kim's stats in driving accuracy and putting, but she does rank in the top-10 in greens in regulation and has been in equally impressive form this season. She has recorded eight top-10 finishes in 18 events and three of the last four. She finished 4th last week and that was the lowest position she occupied on the leaderboard all week. In great form, she can certainly go close for her 3rd career victory on the LPGA Tour.

Finally, Wendy Ward is another whose don't quite meet the expected requirements, but is in the top-10 in the greens in regulation stats which are important on any course. She completes a trio of selections who finished in the top-six last year so, although they are playing on a different course, they have good memories of this event and she is in excellent form as well. Four top-10 finishes in her last six events and three of those in the top-3 are proof enough that she can win this event and is a surprisingly large price to do so.

Outright plays:

Mi Hyun Kim to win 14/1 e.w. @ Ladbrokes [5 places option]

Michele Redman to win 16/1 e.w. @ Surrey   [20/1 @ William Hill, but only 4 places]

Wendy Ward to win 33/1 e.w. @ Stan James [5 places option]

Final update: 0-3 and -3.00 units

No matchup plays that I liked and no return from the outrights. Disappointing event. Kim finished just one shot out of a place win, but was always recovering from a poor 2nd round. Neither Redman who finished 15th nor Ward who finished 53rd threatened to be profitable plays.