The second Major of the LPGA season is upon us as the world’s best women golfers head to Lancaster for this week’s U.S. Women’s Open.
The 79th playing of the U.S. Women’s Open will be played this week at the Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania.
This is the oldest of the LPGA Tour’s five major championships and also holds the largest purse in the sport.
An elite field of golfers will look to cement themselves in LPGA history while taking home part of a $12 million purse.
The Field
This week’s field consists of 156-women who will look to claim the second of the Tour’s majors this season.
Nelly Korda, World No. 1 and winner of six-of-her-last-seven starts headlines the event and comes in as the odds-on favorite to win. Korda also won the first major of the season, The Chevron Championship, back in April.
Korda’s run-of-form is unprecedented in the modern era as she looks to make it seven-of-her-last-eight and claim her second major title of the season.
Joining Korda are the remainder of the world’s best women golfers. Among them are eight former U.S. Open champions and all of the top 25 players in the Rolex World Golf Rankings.
The most notable absence from this week’s event is World No. 2 Lillia Vu who withdrew from the event last week due to a lingering back injury. She has not competed since the Ford Championship in March.
Celine Boutier, Ruoning Yin and Hannah Green round out the top five of the World rankings and will each be in attendance this week.
Allisen Corpuz is the defending champion, who won by three strokes at Pebble Beach a season ago. She’ll look to become the first player to win back-to-back U.S. Women’s Opens since Karrie Webb in 2000 and 2001.
The Course
Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania will play host to this week’s U.S. Women’s Open for just the second time, last hosting the event in 2015.
It plays as a par-70 at 6,546 yards.
The venue was designed by William Flynn and opened in 1900.
There are just two par-fives featured this week so those who have the ability to score low on long par fours will have the leg up this week.
The course consists of a combination of two-of-the-three distinct nine-hole courses that Lancaster has to offer.
The Meadowcreek and Dogwood nines will combine to comprise the 18-hole championship Flynn Course for this week’s major.
The Meadowcreek front nine is known for its meandering routing which will require a great strategy and placement off the tee.
The Dogwood back nine plays much differently. It plays much longer than the Meadowcreek nine and includes significant elevation changes, including five holes that feature uphill second shots.
In all, both nines are distinctly different and will take two different types of games to attack. It’ll shape up for a fun and interesting championship this week.
The Weather
As of the time of writing this, the weather looks like it may cooperate this week. Sunday currently calls for the greatest chance of precipitation at just 20-percent as Thursday calls for a ten-percent chance and the other days, a zero-percent chance. Winds will be at the highest on Thursday at 11 miles-per-hour and at the lowest on Saturday at just four miles-per-hour. Temperatures will begin at 74-degrees on Thursday before gradually climbing to 82-degrees come Sunday. In all, it appears it will be a great week for golf.
Key Stats
Average Driving Distance
Greens in Regulation Percentage
Putting Average
Par 4 Average Scoring
Par 3 Average Scoring
Birdie or Better Percentage
Betting Card
Sei Young Kim (+3000)
Kim is currently third on Tour in par four average scoring, seventh in both par three average scoring and birdie or better percentage, 15th in GIR%, 22nd in putting average and 27th in average driving distance. Kim has put together an impressive season coming into this week. She’s fresh off a T7th in her last outing at the Mizuho Americas Open and placed T12th the event prior at the Cognizant Founders Cup. She has two T3rd’s on the season at the Honda LPGA Thailand and T-Mobile Match Play as well. She hasn’t missed a cut in ten events and has seven top 15’s, three top tens and two top fives. I’m playing a unit on her this week.
Hannah Green (+3500)
Per my stats based model, Green is my favorite to win this week. She comes into this week in great form, placing solo second in her last outing at the Mizuho Americas Open. She also placed T18th at the Cognizant Founders Cup in her start prior and won the JM Eagle LA Championship in late April. She also won the HSBC Women’s World Championship back in February. Green is currently third on Tour in both par four average scoring and par three average scoring, fourth in both GIR% and birdie or better percentage, 23rd in average driving distance and 29th in putting average. I’m playing a unit on her as well.
Madelene Sagstrom (+5000)
Sagstrom is currently fifth on Tour in all three of average driving distance, par three average scoring and birdie or better percentage. She is also 14th in GIR%, 36th in par four average scoring and 56th in putting average. She too is in some great form coming into this week. She made the cut in her last outing at the Mizuho Americas Open but prior to that placed solo second at the Cognizant Founders Cup and T8th at the JM Eagle LA Championship. She also placed T30th at the Chevron Championship back in April. I’m playing a unit on her this week.
Jin Hee Im (+7000)
As my ‘longshot’ of the week, I really like what Im has to offer. The LPGA rookie has played in just six events this season but has put together some great tournaments. Outside of missing the cut in her first LPGA event back in January, she has made the cut in five consecutive events since March. In her last three events she has placed eighth at The Chevron Championship, T4th at the JM Eagle LA Championship and T18th at the Cognizant Founders Cup. She is also 17th on Tour in each of GIR%, par four average scoring and birdie or better percentage, 23rd in par three average scoring, 55th in average driving distance and 67th in putting average. I am also playing a unit on her.
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