View Pairings Here (All times local to Hawaii)
Michelle Wie, Cristie Kerr, Sei Young Kim at 7:44 AM
The hometown queen and two past champions tee it up in clearly the marquee group. Wie’s win in 2014 at the LOTTE Championship was a major breakthrough. She had gone 79 starts without a win dating back to 2010 before turning in scores of 70-67-70-67 to end the drought. Wie has gone on to win twice more since including this year at the HSBC Women’s World Championship. Kerr turned in a third-round 62 in Hawaii last year and won by three shots while Sei Young Kim won in 2015 with a jaw-dropping finish. She chipped in on 18 to force a playoff against Inbee Park and then on the first playoff hole, made eagle from the fairway to seal victory. Her shots were featured as No. 1 on SportsCenter’s Top Plays. Kim is off to a bit of a slow start this year with one top 10 finish in five starts. She still ranks No. 19 in the world.
Anna Nordqvist, Shanshan Feng, Amy Olson at 7:55 AM
Two world top ten ranked players are paired with upstart Amy Olson, who is coming off the biggest paycheck of her career at the ANA Inspiration. Shanshan Feng, who enters her 22nd straight week at No. 1 in the world, will go for her 10th career win while Anna Nordqvist, No. 9 in the world, goes for victory nine. Nordqvist and Feng skipped the LOTTE Championship last year while Olson – then Anderson – finished T23. Feng finished T10 in Hawaii in 2016 while Nordqvist hasn’t played in Hawaii since 2014 when she missed the cut. Olson could be an interesting follow this year. After her T9 finish at ANA, she is off to the best of her career with five cuts made in five starts. She also finished T11 at the Bank of Hope Founders Cup.
Lizette Salas, Danielle Kang, Erynne Lee at 8:06 AM
Solheim Cup pod teammates Lizette Salas and Danielle Kang are paired with rookie Erynne Lee. Salas is off to a strong start this year with three top 20 results including a tie for second at the Kia Classic. Despite missing the cut at the ANA Inspiration, Kang has a pair of top 10 finishes. It’s an important time for Salas and Kang to try and catch the top four Americans to compete in the UL International Crown in October. Kang is the fifth highest ranked American at No. 21 while Salas is seventh at No. 24. Wie is currently fourth at No. 13. Meanwhile, Lee has one top 10 this season at the Bank of Hope Founders Cup, but did miss the cut in each of the last two events. Lee won twice on the Epson Tour in 2017 and has three career wins on the qualifying circuit.
Kang finished T9 last year in Hawaii while Salas closed T11.
Pernilla Lindberg, Ariya Jutanugarn, Lydia Ko at 12:39 PM
Three major champions tee it up in this featured group. Lindberg recently won the ANA Inspiration while Jutanugarn won the Ricoh Women’s British Open during her superb 2016 run and Ko won the 2015 Evian Championship and the 2016 ANA Inspiration. Lindberg surprised the golf world with her win two weeks ago and should be oozing confidence. Despite being winless this year, Jutanugarn does have four top 10s and five top 20s in seven starts. She’s back up to No. 6 in the world. Ko is the enigma in the group right now. She has just one top 10 finish this season (T10 at the HSBC Women’s World Championship), but did finish T20 at the ANA Inspiration with a final-roudn 68. Ko has had success in Hawaii. She finished T2 in Hawaii last year. She finished a respectable T23 in 2016.
Inbee Park, Brooke Henderson, Bronte Law at 12:50 PM
Bronte Law is in for a treat as the rising star gets to play with 19-time winner Inbee Park and 5-time winner Brooke Henderson. Law has played admirably at the start of the season. She finished T6 in the Bahamas and T14 at the Kia Classic. She also was T20 at the Bank of Hope Founders Cup. Law is currently 31st on the LPGA money list and up to No. 102 in the world. Inbee nearly become the first multiple-winner this year at ANA. She leads the money list and the Race to the CME Globe. Henderson has been a bit up-and-down so far. She still has three top 10 finishes, but had two uncharacteristic missed cuts and wasn’t in contention at the first major. Henderson still has an incredible 27 top 10 finishes at just 20 years old, three years younger than Law.
Park has had success in Hawaii. She finished T11 in 2017 and had the tournament ripped away from by Sei Young Kim in 2015.
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