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*All tee times are local.
Anna Nordqvist, Lexi Thompson, Inbee Park
8:06 a.m. – 10th Tee
Coming off her first missed cut of the year in Hawaii, Anna Nordqvist will look to turn things around this week at Wilshire Country Club. She will play the opening rounds alongside two of the Rolex Rankings’ top-ranked players in No. 2 Lexi Thompson and No. 3 Inbee Park. This week, Thompson is making her first start in two weeks after taking a break following the ANA Inspiration. She has two top 10s to start the year and a rested and refreshed Thompson is likely to pick up a third this week in Los Angeles. After Park came up shy of a win at the ANA Inspiration, losing out in that marathon playoff to Pernilla Lindberg, she’s kept the momentum rolling. She picked up her third top 10 of the season last week in Hawaii where she finished tied for third. But the LPGA Tour Hall of Famer felt the blade-style putter she was using over the last month, with which she won at the Bank of Hope Founders Cup, let her down last week. Monday, Park switched back to the Odyssey 2-Ball, with which she has found success in the past, and feels more comfortable using.
“Last couple weeks my putter just didn't work as much as I would like to, but everything else about my game has been pretty good,” Park said Tuesday. “I'm just trying to work on the putter a little bit so it can be a little bit more consistent this week.”
Shanshan Feng, Lizette Salas, Stacy Lewis
8:17 a.m. – 10th Tee
More than 7,000 miles from home, Shanshan Feng is expecting a lot of hometown support this week in Los Angeles. The Olympic bronze medalist from China says she’s anticipating huge crowds this week in Hollywood where there is a large Chinese population and hopes they'll turn out this week.
“It's actually our chance playing in the heart of L.A., and I'm expecting a lot of spectators maybe on the weekend,” Feng said Tuesday. “I'm very exciting to actually see the people here. There is a huge population of Chinese here living in L.A. so hopefully more fans can come support me.”
Feng will play the opening rounds alongside Lizette Salas, who is expecting a bit of hometown support of her own, having grown up less than 30 miles from Wilshire Country Club. She’s coming off her second top 10 of the year after finishing T6 in Hawaii. Her Solheim Cup teammate Stacy Lewis rounds out the group as she makes her third start of the year after being sidelined with a rib injury earlier this season.
Azahara Munoz, Brittany Lincicome, Marina Alex
12:44 p.m. – 1st Tee
Azahara Munoz arrives in Los Angeles fresh off a runner-up finish in Hawaii, which was her best finish since 2014. Munoz revealed at the end of the week that she’s been battling a thyroid condition for the last several years and only recently began feeling better physically. Her renewed physical health, along with the changes she’s made to her swing, lifted her to the top of the leaderboard for the first time in four years. She will play the opening rounds with Brittany Lincicome and Marina Alex, who are both making the first start since the ANA Inspiration. Lincicome surprisingly missed the cut at the season’s first major, where she has won twice before. It’s the first missed cut of the year for Lincicome who won the season opener in the Bahamas and has two more top 10s this year. Alex also has two top 10s to start the year and has trended towards a win over the last several seasons on Tour. She’s coming off a T25 finish at the season’s first major.
Michelle Wie, Jessica Korda, Brooke Henderson
1:17 pm. – 1st Tee
Already winners in 2018, Michelle Wie, Jessica Korda and Brooke Henderson are grouped together in the opening rounds in Los Angeles. It’s been an incredible start to the year for all three, especially Wie, who broke through at the HSBC Women’s World Championship for her first win on Tour since 2014. The win was just one of four top 11s for Wie in the first quarter of the year. Korda has had quite a comeback of her own this year, having won in her first start back on Tour after undergoing extensive jaw surgery during the off-season. She has two more top 10s this season, including a T4 at the season’s first major, the ANA Inspiration. Henderson is the most recent winner of the pack, having won last week in Hawaii where she picked up her sixth career win on Tour. This week, she’s playing Wilshire Country Club for just the first time, so she’s put in some extra work, playing 36 holes this week, to get to know the venue in hopes of winning back-to-back.
“I think it's worth it if you get to know the course a little bit better and maybe have a little bit of an advantage over the rest of the field out there way,” Henderson said Tuesday.
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