My "5 to Watch" at the RICOH

Our fourth consecutive week of links golf brings us to the Ricoh Women's British Open, where I.K. Kim will be the defending champion.



Tony Jesselli has his (as usual) top-notch preview of the event at his blog. This year the Ricoh will be held at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, which last hosted the "big tour" back in 2012 when Ernie Els won and the women in 2009 when Catriona Matthew won. (The Champions Tour hasn't been there in over 20 years.)

At this point, it appears that the course is 'gettable.' In Monday's final qualifier, Swedish amateur Linn Grant shot a 10-under 62 to take the medalist position. Englishwoman Cloe Frankish (an LET player) came in second with a 66. The 17 players who qualified all shot 69 or better, and there was a seven-way playoff for the final spot.

Yeah, we could see some low scores this week. But who will shoot the lowest scores of the bunch? I have some ideas...

• Of course, Ariya Jutanugarn has to make my list. Coming off a win at the Scottish Open, in difficult conditions, you have to think she'll be in a good frame of mind to possibly get two in a row.
• Minjee Lee is playing ridiculously well to have only won once this year. I don't think I've picked her as a Top5 pick in any major this season... but this week she makes my list. Her form has held up week after week, and it's that consistency -- combined with a runner-up last week at the Scottish Open -- that makes her a pick this time.
• Remember 'rookie' Jin Young Ko? While she has cooled off a bit from her two wins in late 2017-early 2018, she's still playing extremely well. She finished T3 last week, her eighth Top10 of the season, and she put up a 67 in the tough conditions Sunday to get that T3. She could rise to the occasion this week.
• I.K Kim seems happy to be back on the links, having posted a seventh-place finish last week. She proved last year that she can handle this style of play, and a return to the style of golf that broke her "major curse" should put her at ease as she tries to go back-to-back.
• My flier is Mo Martin. Mo has only one LPGA win, but it's the 2014 Ricoh. She's been playing pretty well this year and, although she's one of the shorter players on tour, that doesn't really matter in links golf and she plays well in tough conditions. She won't be first on most people's list but I wouldn't bet against her if she gets in contention.

And my pick is... Minjee Lee. While Martin is a sentimental favorite and I think Ko may be underrated at this point, Minjee is waaaaay overdue for a major win, and her consistency this season bodes well for a good showing at Royal Lytham.

GC's coverage of the Ricoh begins Thursday morning at 6am ET. Best of all, it looks as if the women are going to get seven-hour coverage windows each day, so we should get to see a lot of the players for a change.

The Ladies Go Scottish

The LPGA is in Scotland this week, at the same venue the men played a couple of weeks ago, for the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open.



As usual, you can get a good preview of the event at Tony Jesselli's blog. I'll just note that they're teeing it up at Gullane Golf Club, the same as the men did, only they'll be playing it at 6480 yards.

This is only the second playing of the event but Aberdeen's sponsorship has already given it a certain amount of stature, given that it's held the week before the Ricoh Women's British Open -- the same situation as the men's event, which precedes the Open Championship -- on the same course. At this point it hasn't become quite the warm-up that the men's version has, but I suspect in time that it will. There just aren't that many chances for the ladies to work on their links play, especially the week before their Open.

Of course the biggest news so far is Lexi Thompson's announcement that she's skipping this event, the Ricoh and perhaps others to "work on herself" after a particularly trying 18 months. We'll just have to wait and see what she does, but it does add to the big names skipping this event -- although there will be plenty who WILL be there.

Personally, I'm anxious to see how Laura Davies does after her dominating victory at the Senior Women's US Open.

You can check out the official website here. This link is for the LPGA's leaderboard for the event. And while the event starts in less than two-and-a-half hours from the time I'm writing this, GC's coverage begins at 9:30am ET today (Thursday), between their coverage windows for the Senior Open.

The Limerick Summary: 2017 Omega Dubai Ladies Classic

Winner: Angel Yin

Around the wider world of golf: The team of Steve Stricker and Sean O'Hair won the QBE Shootout (aka the Shark Shootout); Horacio Leon won the Il Malinalco Classic on the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica; and the ET's Joburg Open finish was delayed until Monday. At the time I'm writing this, the final round has not resumed but Shubhankar Sharma has a 4-shot lead with 11 holes left. [UPDATE: Sharma did win.]



In case you missed Juli Inkster's interview at golfdigest.com, one of the more interesting things she said was:

I’ll be honest: If the Solheim Cup were the Americans against an International side, they’d slaughter us. Of course they’d beat the Europeans easily, too. An A team of Asian players alone would trounce either team, their B team would win handily, and their C team would be very competitive. So what do we do about that?

2017 has been a rough year for the LET. Economic problems similar to those that plagued the LPGA a decade back have taken their toll. It hasn't helped their players prepare to face LPGA players, let alone the Korean juggernaut. And it's hard to get your game in shape when you don't have enough events to gain any rhythm. Hopefully the LPGA and the European Tour, both of whom have offered their aid, will help them recover their footing soon.

But you might not have known that if you watched their year-end Tour Championship, better known as the Omega Dubai Ladies Classic. After four very competitive rounds, it came down to a three-woman playoff:

• French player Celine Herbin, who was working to keep her card
• Korean player In-Kyung Kim, the current RICOH Women's British Open champion
• American player Angel Yin, who came in second in the LPGA's Rookie of the Year race

Herbin went out after doubling the first playoff hole, although she clearly wasn't too disappointed. Why? Her eight-under 64, which got her into the playoff in the first place, was a new personal best. And her paycheck was enough to make #23 in the LET's Order of Merit, which I'm pretty sure guaranteed her card for next year.

Kim and Yin both birdied the first playoff hole, then Yin won the playoff with another birdie on the second. Kim had a chance to tie, which she missed; but while she was disappointed not to win, she said she was pleased to get herself into contention. As she put it, "I think that was the best scenario that I could ever have asked for before teeing off."

As for Yin, she picked up her first professional victory at only 19 years old. And she did it in a playoff, which she said was another of her personal goals. Better get used to that smiling face, folks -- going forward, she may be reaching a lot of personal goals!

Juli Inkster made Angel a Captain's Pick in the last Solheim Cup because she saw potential, a pick that helped the US defend the Cup. But I wonder if even the legendary Mrs. Inkster saw a Limerick Summary in Angel's future?

The LET finish was wild,
A playoff of contrasting styles—
Celine felt no stress
And In-Kyung tried her best
But it’s Angel who walked off all smiles.

The photo came from this page at golfweek.com.

A Quick Peek at the LET Event

I don't write as much about the LET, simply because they don't get much (if any) airtime here in the US. And because of that, I'm not as familiar with the players.

But when I checked this week's leaderboard for the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open in Abu Dhabi, it caught my attention immediately. Why? Because I recognized the names of most of the players in contention!



By the time most of you read this, the event may be over. But as I write this, the ladies are barely starting their final rounds.

Leading the event is Aditi Ashok (-15), the teenager from India who came to most fan's attention at the Rio Olympics, is chasing her third LET title. She is two shots ahead of Cheyenne Woods, who is after her second LET title, and three shots clear of Ellie Givens (in their threesome) and Lee-Anne Pace. Camilla Lennarth and Georgia Hall are at -11.

I admit to a certain fascination with Aditi. The trailblazers in women's golf generally attract my attention, and Aditi's success at such an early age when she hasn't had the advantages of the other female golfers around the world amazes me even more than the greater successes enjoyed by players like Lydia Ko and Brooke Henderson.

Although there have been some low scores this week -- Luna Sobron posted a second-round 62 and Ellie Givens a third-found 64 -- the heat seems to be taking its toll, as most of the scores are 68 or less. With the relatively tight grouping at the top of the leaderboard, those of you who can watch the event may get to see a strong finish.

Aditi might even pick up her third LET title. Teens seem to be playing some pretty good golf lately. ;-)

My "5 to Watch" at the Evian

The final women's major of the year kicks off in just a couple of days. The Evian Championship usually gives us some real drama at the end of the major season, and I expect this one to be no different.



This event is played at Evian Resort Golf Club, in beautiful Evian-les-Bains, France. The defending champion is In Gee Chun, who you may remember set the major scoring record of 21-under. (And yes, that's the record for both women AND men. To quote Darth Vader, "Impressive. Very impressive.") And as usual, Tony Jesselli has a preview of the event at his website.

The big story this week -- for most fans, anyway -- is the three gals in the photo. Any of the Top3 in the Rolex Rankings -- So Yeon Ryu, Lexi Thompson and Sung Hyun Park -- could be #1 by the end of this major. But I think there will be some other, equally big storylines to watch...

And some of those players are in my "5 to Watch."

• The first story on my list is Lydia Ko. No, Lydia hasn't had a bad year but we expect her to dominate. Last week she showed signs that her game may finally be coming back, and Evian was her first major back in 2015. Definitely a storyline to watch.
• Georgia Hall is high on my watch list this week. After playing so well at the RICOH Women's British and the Solheim Cup, I think she may be ready to take the next step. Evian has been kind to first timers, and Georgia definitely has the game.
• Evian is a ballstriker's course, and Danielle Kang is clearly a ballstriker. She picked up her first major earlier this year, and I think she's had enough time to come down from the emotions of the Solheim Cup. I wouldn't be surprised to see her double up and make both of her first two wins majors.
• Lexi Thompson is a streaky player and she's certainly on a streak lately. In her last ten events she has two wins and three runner-ups. Coming off that impressive win at Indy, I don't expect her to have any letdown. This is her chance to pick up the one she missed at the ANA.
• And for my flier... Moriya Jutanugarn. Ariya's older sister has been a Top10 machine this year. I know she hasn't won on the LPGA yet, but neither had Danielle and look what she did! Evian isn't long but it's hilly and the greens are contoured (boy, is THAT an understatement!), which plays right into her game.

The last three majors have had first-time major winners. I think that trend continues, so I'm picking... Georgia Hall. She's proven that she, like Danielle Kang, can handle the pressure. And I think she'll do just that.

Because of the time difference, GC's Evian coverage starts at 5am ET early Thursday morning. However, after three hours of early round coverage, they'll be back with late round coverage at 9:30am ET for another three hours. Lots of major golf this week!

Camilla Lennarth on the Driving Iron (Video)

Camilla Lennarth probably isn't too familiar to American fans. She's a Swedish player who's been on the LET for several years, with one win. So why am I featuring a player who hasn't become a household name yet?

Because she did a short LET instructional video on how to use a driving iron, a club which is gaining in popularity but about which there aren't too many how-to videos yet.



The first thing to note is that this isn't some kind of 12° or 15° long iron. If I'm reading the numbers on the sole correctly, her driving iron is 21°, which is why Camilla says that a driving iron is basically the same as a hybrid -- that is, you play it virtually the same way. So why would you use one instead of a hybrid?

The driving iron has more weight on the back, which helps you get the ball up in the air while still getting less spin on the ball. That creates more run when it hits the ground. You also get a flatter launch angle (Camilla calls it a "bullet shot") which makes it easier to control the ball in the wind.

Camilla's tips (which may help you with your hybrids as well):

• Ball position is the same with both clubs. She says she plays the ball slightly ahead of her 5-iron position, so she can get the ball up in the air more easily.
• This ball position means the clubshaft is almost vertical at setup, rather than leaning forward. You can see this in the video.
• And you can also see in the video that she doesn't exaggerate her forward weight shift during the downswing. You don't want to hit down on the ball. The weighted sole keeps the ball low without putting so much backspin on it.

Some of you might find that a club like this has a place in your bag. If so, now you know how to play it.

My "5 to Watch" at the RICOH

I've got a couple of "watch lists" to do this week, so let's get started with the RICOH Women's British Open.



You can get a good overview at Tony Jesselli's site, so I'll just stick to the main facts. The course is Kingsbarns, which is one of the three courses that host the Dunhill Links Championship each year, so this course joins the ranks of those hosting both men's and women's events. The LPGA's overview page is listing the course at 6,697 yards, par 72. Kingsbarns is a links course, bordering the North Sea in Scotland.

And the defending champion is Ariya Jutanugarn, but she hasn't played well on "linksy" courses in the past. Given the current state of her game, this doesn't bode well for her this week -- especially if the weather turns.

That's a possibility. The extended forecast calls for temps in the mid-teens C (that's high-50s F) with heavy showers on Thursday (scattered showers the rest of the week) and steady winds around 10-12mph. So who am I picking this week?

• I start with Karrie Webb. She came close at the Scottish Open last week, and we all know that age means something at Opens. If the weather toughens up, I suspect she'll be right there on Sunday afternoon.
• The same goes for Cristie Kerr. She hasn't played particularly well in this event in the past. But with a win already this season and a strong Scottish showing under her belt, I think bad weather could play into her hands.
• Mighty mite Mo Martin always seems to play well at the RICOH and already has one major win in this event, at Royal Birkdale, along with a T2 last year.
• So Yeon Ryu continues to play well, with the ANA and the Walmart already this season. She also has a strong history at the RICOH. You have to figure the World #1 will have yet another chance at a victory this week.
• And my flier is... Stacy Lewis. Yes, she has a win at the RICOH (2013) and a 4th last year, but her 3-year win drought will probably make it more difficult to break through this year.

My pick this week is... Kerr, but I confess that my pick is a sentimental one. She's six points shy of entry into the LGPA Hall of Fame, and this major would get her two points closer. If I was betting money on the outcome, I'd take Webb.

Tony's preview contains a full list of broadcast times -- as does the LPGA overview page -- but it all gets underway Thursday morning on GC, from 6am ET to 1pm ET. GC and NBC will share the broadcasts over the weekend.

The New LPGA /LET Links Event Begins Today

Did you remember that the first round of the new Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open airs today?



Since this is the inaugural event, there is no defending champ. So Yeon Ryu, Ariya Jutanugarn and Lydia Ko are the biggest names in the field although, as Tony Jesselli notes in his preview, a number of top players have decided to take this week off and rest. Ariya, who defends at the RICOH next week, and Lydia are both in need of the preparation as neither has been very impressive lately. Am I worried about their games? No, ebb and flow are natural in life, and certainly so in golf.

Nevertheless, their struggles this season are untimely. Neither has played particularly well in the majors. And since the girls will be playing Dundonald Links, where the men played their Scottish Open a couple weeks back, we have some idea what the course will be like. This week could play a key part in determining the winner of next week's major.

GC is shoehorning the ladies in-between the Senior Open broadcasts, with today's two-hour window scheduled from 9:30-11:30am ET. The RICOH will get much more coverage next week but, as I said, I wouldn't underestimate the importance of this week.

Ashok to the System

It's possible you missed this, but it's well worth taking note of the news because it may become very significant very soon. Remember Aditi Ashok, the teenager from India who made news at the Olympics and became the first Indian woman to win on the Ladies European Tour just a week or so back?

Well, she just became the first Indian woman to win back-to-back on the LET at the Qatar Ladies Open. And while there was some buzz about her before, I think it's safe to say nobody saw this coming.



We know about the shock waves Se Ri Pak sent through Korea when she won two LPGA majors back in 1998. We know about the shock waves Shanshan Feng sent through China when she won Women's PGA Championship back in 2012. And the effect of Shanshan and Inbee Park's Olympic medals has yet to be seen... but it will probably be huge.

Aditi's already making waves in India because of her last few months on the world stage. But she'll be in the US soon -- in fact, she may already be here -- because she's playing in the final stage of LPGA Q-School this week. And no matter what happens there, you can bet she'll get some sponosr invites next season. What do you think might happen if she gets a little success over here in America?

Get ready for some Ashok waves, folks. India may have just entered the golfing mainstream.

Can In Gee Chun Smash the Women's Major Scoring Records?

I know you've heard the talk about In Gee Chun possibly breaking the women's major scoring record with a win at the Evian today. But we should really be talking about records -- plural.



The record on everyone's mind is the lowest score in relation to par. That score is -19, and the record is held by five different women:

• Dottie Pepper, 1999 Kraft Nabisco Championship
• Karen Stupples, 2004 Weetabix Women's British Open
• Cristie Kerr, 2010 Wegmans LPGA Championship
• Yani Tseng, 2011 Wegmans LPGA Championship
• Inbee Park, 2015 KPMG Women's PGA Championship

In Gee sits at -19 after only three rounds. If she just has a decent round today, she'll break that record -- and should she get beat, the winner will likely have to beat that record as well. (And just as a side note, the men's major record is -20, held by Jason Day and Henrik Stenson. She's in rarified air for sure.)

That's the one everybody's buzzing about... but there's more.

The winning score can also be an aggregate score, which simply means it's the total of strokes taken, regardless of what par is. That record is 267 and is held by only one woman:

• Betsy King, 1992 Mazda LPGA Championship

Bear in mind that In Gee's aggregate score after three rounds is 194. If she merely shoots par (71) today, her aggregate winning score will be 265. You can certainly blame the wet weather for some of this, but In Gee is beating 2nd-place Sung Hyun Park handily -- by four shots after three rounds -- and Park not only has seven KLPGA wins this season, but she's outdriving In Gee by around 16 yards (258 VS 242, according to the week's stats) and sometimes by over 30 yards on certain holes.

This definitely counts as a powerplay performance.

And of course, with a win In Gee would be only the second player to make both of her first two LPGA wins majors. The other woman is none other than Se Ri Pak, who did it as a rookie in 1998 (US Open and LPGA Championship). In Gee wouldn't break that record, but that's heady company -- and she's already got Rookie of the Year pretty well locked up, just like Se Ri did.

Of course, making history is never a sure thing. The weather predictions for the final round aren't looking that good and, as tight as the Evian Resort Golf Club is, In Gee could have her hands full just holding on to her lead, which is four shots to start the day.

The coverage is split -- from 8am-noon ET on GC, then from noon-1:30pm ET on NBC. I have trouble believing it will be live, since the prudent thing to do is send them out early in threesomes off split tees. But even if it isn't live, we could see history today.

That's certainly worth watching in either case.

My "5 to Watch" at the Evian

The final women's major of the year is finally here -- the Evian Championship in Évian-les-Bains, France. This year we've got a real race for the Annika Award and if one of the four major winners wins this week, they'll get it.



Lydia Ko is the defending champion but she won't have to contend with Inbee Park this time. Inbee's thumb is still causing problems and she's had to put it in a cast, so she has withdrawn from Evian. All she can do now is sit home and stare at her gold medal. What a bummer! ;-)

Tony Jesselli has his standard preview of the event at his website, which lays out just how tight the year's various competitions have become and how Evian can affect them. I'll let you pop over there to get that info, then you can come back for my "5 to Watch" this week.

And this is a tough one, simply because the only realistic approach is to go chalk and pick Ko, Jutanugarn, Henderson, Sei Young Kim and Haru Nomura. They're the Top5 in the Race to the CME Globe, and together they account for 15 LPGA victories this season, including three of the majors and 48 Top10s. The odds favor one of them winning.

But if I just go chalk, why bother to do a "5 to Watch" at all?

So this week I'm choosing "5 to Watch" from outside the Top5 dominators I just mentioned. I'm also going to ignore players who have already won this year. The new Evian re-design favors ball strikers, so consider these my most likely upset picks.

• Despite not having a win in a couple of years, Stacy Lewis still sits at #7 in the Race. Look, the woman just keeps getting into contention. It's only a matter of time until she closes one out and gets out of this runner-up funk she's been in. Evian's as good a place as any.
• Amy Yang is #11 in the Race and she always seems to find her way to the top at majors. She was T8 here last year and finished T3 in the US Women's Open a couple months back. Look for her to make a run.
• Gerina Piller has been all around the lead all season with eight Top10s. That's often enough to be at #13 in the Race. This is a place where she hasn't played well... but this year, who knows?
• Mo Martin sits at #18. She's had a so-so year with only three Top10s, but two of those came in her last three starts, including another runner-up at the Women's British Open. She missed the cut here last year but it was her first time at Evian. I expect better from her this time.
• And my flier pick is Karine Icher at #21. She's been inconsistent this season but she's coming off a runner-up finish at Manulife... and this is a home game for the Frenchwoman. Granted, she doesn't have a good record at Evian, but that's why she's a flier pick.

You can make really good cases for players like Minjee Lee, Mirim Lee, So Yeon Ryu and Suzann Pettersen as well. I.K. Kim is coming off an LET win so she's on form as well. I wouldn't argue with any of those picks... or a large number of other players who I didn't pick. (Marina Alex, anyone?) But it's the last major of the LPGA and LET seasons, so I'm going for a home run with a long shot!

And that long shot is (drum roll, please)... Mo Martin. I really debated between her and Gerina, but I think Mo is in better form right now.

Coverage starts Thursday on GC. Bear in mind that there will be multiple broadcasts -- live from 5-8am ET on Thursday morning, then back for more coverage at 9:30am-12:30pm. I guess they'll have Morning Drive in-between.

The LET Season Gets Underway

I know, you were expecting me to gush all over the Pebble Beach event. Au contraire, mon ami! The LET is playing their first event of 2016 this week.



The ISPS HANDA New Zealand Women’s Open is Lydia Ko's home event and she's the defending champion, of course. And since the first round is finishing up as I write this, I can tell you that Lydia is T5 at -3, 3 shots off the lead, and it looks like she'll still be 3 off the lead when everybody finishes. She's tied with her fellow Kiwi, Cathryn Bristow.

While I don't recognize some of the names on the leaderboard, I do recognize first round leader Nicole Broch Larsen. She's from Denmark, won the Helsingborg Open last year, and is one of those players you'll probably be seeing on a Solheim Cup team pretty soon.

I also recognize French player Gwladys Nocera, who has won 15 times around the world and is currently T3 with Pamela Pretswell, a Scottish player I've heard of but whose game I am not familiar with.

Currently in solo second is a new name for me, Justine Dreher, a French rookie on the LET this year. It'll be interesting to see how she holds up against the 'veterans'.

I hate that we don't get to see much of the LET over here in America. If we're lucky, GC will replay the last round or two sometime next week; they don't do that with many of the events. But the fact that Lydia Ko is playing in this one may give us a chance to see some of it.

We can hope, anyway. In the meantime I'll just have to settle for watching the leaderboard change on my computer.

Davies Chases Feng in Dubai

Although I'm writing this late at night -- at least, late in the USA -- the third round of the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters has barely started. As a result, I'm using the second round results for this post.

But it's the final LET event of 2015 and it's turning out to be an interesting one.

At the midway point, defending champion Shanshan Feng is leading at -10. Laura Davies is two strokes back while Pornanong Phatlum and Caroline Hedwall are tied at five back.

For obvious reasons, I pull for Laura Davies when she gets in contention. At 52 years old she can still whack it out there with the young kids; it's just a matter of whether that streaky putter of hers is working or not. And this week it IS working. She has posted two 68s thus far (Shanshan has two 67s) and seems very relaxed on the course.

If her putter keeps working, things could get tight on Sunday.

The Majlis Course at the Emirates Golf Club is where the ET plays its Omega Dubai Desert Classic (in February), so this is a challenging course. And this is one of the few LET events that we here in the US get to see all four rounds, so it's special for that reason as well.

Feng and Phatlum have won this event the last three years -- Feng in 2012 and 2014, Phatlum in 2013 -- so Laura (or anyone else for that matter) will have their hands full trying to win this event. But if she keeps things going during the third round, Laura Davies could find herself with a chance to make some history.