Click here for complete groups and tee times for the opening rounds of the 2018 Kia Classic.
*All times are local.
Shanshan Feng, Inbee Park, Brittany Lincicome
10th Tee – 7:55 a.m.
Shanshan Feng returns to action this week in Carlsbad. The world No. 1 skipped last week’s event in Arizona and arrives in California well rested for her fourth event of the year. Feng, who has typically found success late in the season, is off to a hot start in 2018. The Olympic bronze medalist has two top-5s to start the year and she’s looking to pick up a third top-10 this week at the Kia Classic where she finished ninth in 2017. Feng will play alongside two winners already in 2018 in Inbee Park, who won last week’s Bank of Hope Founders Cup and Brittany Lincicome, who won the season opener at the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic. Park has played consistently well in her eight prior appearances in Carlsbad, where she’s never finished worse than T21. Lincicome, who is battling a cold this week, is coming off a T16 last week in Arizona.
Michelle Wie, Ariya Jutanugarn, Anna Nordqvist
10th Tee – 8:06 a.m.
This week, Michelle Wie looks to continue her hot start to 2018. The winner of the HSBC Women’s World Championship finished T32 last week in Arizona for her highest finish in what has otherwise been an incredible start to the year. She’ll play the opening rounds alongside Ariya Jutanugrn and Anna Nordqvist, who are both looking to pick up their first victory of 2018. Jutanguarn arrives in California with momentum on her side. She posted her best finish of the year last week when she finished runner-up in Phoenix and has two more top-10s to start the season. Nordqvist is looking to find a spark this week as she continues to work towards her first top-10 of the season.
Lexi Thompson, Danielle Kang, Cristie Kerr
1st Tee – 12:55 p.m.
World No. 2 Lexi Thompson returns to the Tour this week after skipping last week’s Bank of Hope Founders Cup. She’ll play alongside Solheim Cup teammates Cristie Kerr and Danielle Kang. Thompson and Kerr have been often paired together in the team competition which could make for a comfortable two days for the duo looking to go low at Aviara Golf Club. Kang also skipped last week’s event to spend some time at home. She’s off to a great start in 2018 having finished T2 in her last start at the HSBC Women’s World Championship.
So Yeon Ryu, Brooke Henderson, Marina Alex
1st Tee – 1:06 p.m.
So Yeon Ryu returns to action ahead of her title defense next week at the season’s first major, the ANA Inspiration. Ryu, the No. 3 ranked player in the world, took last week off and has enjoyed spending time with her family who is visiting with her in the States. With family looking on, this week Ryu will look to top what she did last year when she finished runner-up at Aviara Golf Club with weekend rounds of 65 – 66. She will play Thursday and Friday alongside Brooke Henderson and Marina Alex. Henderson has had an unusual start to 2018 with three top-10s and two missed cuts, including at last week’s Bank of Hope Founders Cup. Although she missed the cut at last year’s Kia Classic, she says she feels more comfortable this time around and is looking forward to this week’s event. Alex is looking to keep the momentum rolling this week after picking up her best finish of the year last week at the Bank of Hope Founders Cup where she finished T2. She has two more top-10s to start the year.
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