After a week off to watch Patrick Reed win the Masters – and to fine tune – the LPGA returns to action in beautiful Ko Olina, Oahu, Hawaii for the Lotte Championship presented by Hershey. It’s another strong field with 14 of the top 20 players according to the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings scheduled to compete including No. 1 Shanshan Feng, who remains at the top for a 22nd consecutive week. In fact, four of the top five in the world will compete including Inbee Park (No. 3), Sung Hyun Park (No. 4) and So Yeon Ryu (No. 5). This is the seventh year of the Lotte Championship. The past four champions are all in the field this week: Cristie Kerr (2017), Minjee Lee (2016), Sei Young Kim (2015) and Michelle Wie (2014).
Kerr Defending After Tournament Record
Cristie Kerr won by three shots last year in Hawaii after a third-round 62 and a final-round 66 to finish with a tournament-record score of 20-under. It was her 19thcareer victory. She would go on to win No. 20 later in the season at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia. Kerr also finished in the top 10 in Hawaii in 2015 (T7) , 2014 (T9) and 2012 (T4). It has been a pretty good year for Kerr so far in 2018. She has been in contention once – T2 at the Kia Classic – but has also finished in the top 30 in five of six starts.
Wie Always the Hometown Favorite
The locals in Hawaii would love nothing more than to see Wie duplicate her 2014 run at the Lotte Championship when she turned in rounds of 70-67-70-67 to win by two over Angela Stanford and three over Inbee Park. Since, Wie has finished T11 (2015), MC (2016) and T39 in Hawaii. To the delight of Wie fans all over the world, she’s off to a great start this year with one win and four top 25 finishes in six starts. Her putting has been particularly impressive this year. She ranks 12thin putting average at 29.04. For perspective, last year she ranked 43rd in that category and two years ago she was 76th.
Four of Seven 2018 Winners in Field
Four of the seven LPGA winners this year are in the field after Jin Young Ko withdrew on Monday: Michelle Wie, Inbee Park, Eun-Hee Ji and Pernilla Lindberg. There hasn’t been a multi-winner yet this season. Park came close two weeks ago at the ANA Inspiration when she dueled with Lindberg for eight playoff holes, but fell short. In 2017, it wasn’t until the 16th tournament of the year where someone claimed a second win – tied (1991) for the latest in tour history. There were a total of nine multiple winners last year including IK Kim and Shanshan Feng, who each won three times.
Four of Top Five in Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of Year Race in Field
Jin Young Ko is clearly the odds on favorite to win the prestigious Louis Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year award after her victory at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open. Currently, Hannah Green, a Epson Tour graduate, is in second place, but 137 points behind Ko. Four of the top five in the ROY race standings are in the field. Ko withdrew from the tournament on Monday. Emma Talley and Erynne Lee, both 2017 Epson Tour graduates, are third and fourth while Georgia Hall is fifth. Ko already has four top 10 finishes in six starts. Green’s big moment this year was a third place finish at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open. Talley and Lee also each have one top 10 finish.
Early Season Epson Tour Leader in Field
Former Stanford star Lauren Kim is in the field this week. She won the first Epson Tour event of the year - Florida's Natural Charity Classic - and currently leads the Race for the Card. Kim followed her win with a T17 at the second event in California this past week. The second-year professional has conditional LPGA status through her finish at Qualifying School. Kim was a recent guest on the "On The Tee" podcast where she detailed her story of nearly quitting golf in 2017 to winning early in 2018.
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