Malaysia is the place to be this week as the LPGA Tour returns from a two-week hiatus by kicking off its Asian swing with a $2 million event.
Shanshan Feng leads the LPGA to Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club in the nation’s capital for the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia, and she enters the week looking for her first victory of the 2015 season. Feng has had a top-notch season thus far, and three of her 10 top 10 finishes have come in her last five starts.
Last year, Feng saved her best for last, carding an 8-under 63 on Sunday thanks to a 6-under back-nine that included an eagle. That performance left her three strokes clear of Pornanong Phlatlum and added career win No. 4 to Feng’s list.
If she is able to repeat the feat and pocket the $300,000 first-place check again, that would put Feng past the $1 million mark in season earnings for the fourth consecutive season. It won’t be easy though.
In addition to world No. 1 Inbee Park – who won the event in 2012 – second-ranked Lydia Ko and two-time and reigning Rolex Player of the Year Stacy Lewis, this week’s field is loaded with the likes of 2013 Sime Darby champ Lexi Thompson, world No. 4 So Yeon Ryu, Hyo Joo Kim, Suzann Pettersen and Amy Yang. If that wasn’t enough, two-time 2015 winner Sei Young Kim and tournament winners Kris Tamulis, Chella Choi and Minjee Lee are teeing it up this weekend.
The field also includes 12 sponsor exemptions – including Christina Kim, Melissa Reid and Cheyenne Woods – and it is anyone’s tournament title to take. The first five tournament champions since the event began in 2010 have averaged 15-under-par as winning scores, so anyone with dreams of hoisting the hardware on Sunday afternoon will need to go extremely low to have a shot.
The Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia is the first of five consecutive LPGA events in Asia, and this stretch will be crucial in determining season-ending awards like the Rolex Player of the Year award, Race to the CME Globe, Vare Trophy and Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year honors. Every stroke from this point on is of amplified importance, and the players know it.
Golf Channel will broadcast every knee-knocking putt and drive down the middle of the fairway, and considering all that is at stake, drama should be in great supply.
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