Click here to view the complete field for the 2016 Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic presented by CTBC.
World’s Best Return To San Francisco
Nine of the top-10 in the Rolex Rankings are in the field at this week’s Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic presented by CTBC.
World No.2 Inbee Park will not play this week, withdrawing due to a ligament injury in her thumb. She carded a final round 5-over par, 77 in the final round of the LOTTE Championship. She finished T-18 in the Bay Area last year.
Top-ranked American No.3 Lexi Thompson will tee it up this week, coming off her second consecutive top-10 finish at the LOTTE Championship. No.5 Sei Young Kim as well as No.6 In Gee Chun, who hasn’t finished outside the top-3 in 2016, is also in the field.
Third Time’s A Charm?
There’s something about San Francisco that brings out Lydia Ko’s best golf. The world No.1 and defending champion headlines the field looking for her third win on the LPGA Tour this season and third consecutive win in this event.
Ko captured the inaugural Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic in 2014 for her first win as a professional on the LPGA Tour, defeating Stacy Lewis by one stroke. Last year, Ko came from 3-strokes back of 54-hole leader Brooke Henderson to force extra holes with Morgan Pressel and won with a birdie on the second hole for the win.
Is It Their Turn?
The top-10 who finished just behind Lydia Ko in 2015 will tee it u again this week looking to hoist the trophy this time around. Morgan Pressel, who lost in the playoff last year to Ko will make her first start since missing the cut at the ANA Inspiration. Brooke Henderson is also in the field after coming up just shy of the win last year after holding the 54-hole lead, finishing third after a final round 74. Min Seo Kwak, Shanshan Feng, Ha Na Jang, Amy Yang, Stacy Lewis, Sei Young Kim and Mirim Lee all return again this year after posting top-10 finishes in the Bay Area last year.
More Hardware, Please
The seven winners on Tour in 2016 will tee it up this week in San Francisco. Two-time winner Lydia Ko will defend her title, looking to be the first in 2016 to capture a third victory on Tour. Ha Na Jang, also a two-time winner this season, will tee it up again this week, as well as Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic champion Hyo Joo Kim, ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open winner Haru Nomura, Honda LPGA Thailand champ Lexi Thompson, JTBC Founders Cup winner Sei Young Kim, and last week’s winner at the LOTTE Championship, Minjee Lee.
Invitation Received
Founded in 2010 in an effort to grow the game in Taiwan, Swinging Skirts continues that commitment again this year by extending invitations to 21 players, mostly members of the TLPGA, to showcase their talents on one of golf’s biggest stages. Six of the players have been playing in the States in recent weeks as part of a partnership with the Epson Tour to help acclimate the players before teeing it up in San Francisco.
Click here to view the complete field for the 2016 Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic presented by CTBC.
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