A quick look at this week’s Kia Classic:
- None of the top four players in the world – No. 1 Inbee Park, No. 2 Suzann Pettersen, No. 3 Stacy Lewis and No. 4 Lydia Ko – have won on the LPGA this season. Similarly, none of the top three on the men’s side in the Official World Golf Ranking – No. 1 Tiger Woods, No. 2 Adam Scott and No. 3 Henrik Stenson – have won on the PGA Tour this year.
- The entire top 10 in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings and nine of the top 10 on the LPGA money list are entered this week.
- This week will have a bearing on last-minute invitations to next week’s first major championship, the Kraft Nabisco Championship, and the finalization of rosters and seeding for the eight countries participating in the International Crown later this summer. Keep an eye on South Korea vs the U.S. for the top seed in the International Crown. Based on Rolex Rankings points, South Korea currently holds the No. 1 seed with 29 points, but the U.S. is close with 33.
- The four-year history of this tournament is diverse – winners include a South Korean (Hee Kyung Seo in 2010), a German (Sandra Gal in 2011), a Taiwanese (Yani Tseng in 2012) and a Spaniard (Beatriz Recari last year).
- Beware of Karrie Webb if she’s within close proximity to the lead entering the final round. In her last three wins, she has rallied from at least five behind. At the 2013 ShopRite LPGA Classic, she had the largest comeback of the season, coming from five shots behind. She came from six behind at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open earlier this year and was five back at last week’s victory in Phoenix. Conversely, Webb led by one after three rounds at the HSBC Champions earlier this year in Singapore and shot a final-round 74 to finish third.
- Could there be a rookie battle looming? Last week at the JTBC Founders Cup, South Korean rookie Mirim Lee, 23, led after two rounds and finished T2. She is second in the Louise Suggs LPGA Rookie of the Year race, behind Lydia Ko. The two were paired together in the third round last week. Ko, 16, won twice on the LPGA as an amateur and Lee won three times on the Korean LPGA.
- Here’s another youngster to keep an eye on. Mariah Stackhouse is in this week’s field as a sponsor exemption. The Stanford sophomore from Riverdale, Ga., is on this summer’s Curtis Cup team and was an All-American as a freshman. She is the first African-American to make the Curtis Cup squad.
- Defending Kia champion Beatriz Recari is making her American debut on the LPGA this season. In her last start on Feb. 27, she withdrew because of health reasons after a first-round 77 at the HSBC Champions in Singapore.
- Six players have recorded two top-10 finishes in the Kia Classic (Yani Tseng, Michelle Wie, Shanshan Feng, I.K. Kim, Catriona Matthew and Cristie Kerr) during its four-year history. Only Tseng has won (2012).
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