Click here for complete groups and tee times for the opening round of the 2019 Buick LPGA Shanghai.
Wei-Ling Hsu, Mi Jung Hur, Xiang Sui
9:31 a.m. – 10th Tee
Mi Jung Hur arrives in Shanghai as one of the hottest players on the LPGA Tour with two victories in her last five starts. This week, she looks to build on that momentum at the Buick LPGA Shanghai and record her third victory of 2019. In 2018, Hur did not play in Shanghai and made just one start in the Tour’s fall events in Asia because she didn’t finish high enough on the money list to qualify for the limited fields. Thursday, Hur will play the opening round alongside Wei-Ling Hsu and Xiang Sui. Hsu has enjoyed a consistent season on Tour with two top fives. She finished T34 in Shanghai in 2018. Sui is a member of the China LPGA and is coming off a sixth-place finish in her last start at the MITSUBISHI Heavy Industries Orient Masters, where she recorded her seventh career top-10 finish.
Ariya Jutanugarn, Brooke Henderson, Jing Yan
10:26 a.m. – 1st Tee
Ariya Jutanugarn returns to Shanghai, where she finished T2 in 2018, and is still in search of her first win of 2019. Last season, the long-hitter recorded rounds of 66–69–71–71 to finish two strokes behind Danielle Kang, the winner of the Buick LPGA Shanghai. Jutanugarn will play Thursday’s round alongside Brooke Henderson and Jing Yan. Henderson arrives in Shanghai with two wins on the season and a top 20 finish in her last four starts. The Canadian finished T26 in Shanghai in 2018. Yan has had an up-and-down finish to her year. Despite two top 10s, she missed the cut in three of her last four starts and will look to turn her game around this week at home in the People’s Republic of China.
Danielle Kang, Shanshan Feng, Jin Young Ko
10:37 a.m. – 1st Tee
Defending Champion Danielle Kang is in the midst of one of her most consistent seasons on the LPGA Tour. With eight top 10s in 2019, Kang will have not only a strong game to rely on in Shanghai but plenty of good memories as well, as she picked up her second win on Tour during her birthday weekend in Shanghai last October. Kang will play alongside two world No.1s in Shanshan Feng, who held the top spot in 2017 and 2018, and Jin Young Ko, who currently holds the No.1 ranking. Ko continues to be one of the most consistent players week after week with top-10 finishes in her last seven worldwide starts. She recorded her third worldwide major victory of the year last week on the KLPGA at The 20th HITE JINRO Championship, increasing her number of worldwide wins to five for 2019.
Nelly Korda, Yu Liu, Nasa Hataoka
10:48 a.m. – 1st Tee
Nelly Korda returns to action this week in Shanghai, where she makes her first start since winning the Lacoste Ladies Open de France on the Ladies European Tour. Korda rode the momentum of the Solheim Cup to victory the following week in France for her second worldwide win of the season. The second-ranked American in the world will play Thursday’s round with Yu Liu and Nasa Hataoka. Liu has enjoyed the comfort of playing at home in the People’s Republic of China where she finished T9 in 2018. The second-year member is on track for another solid finish in Shanghai as she already has six top 10s in 2019. Hataoka arrives in Shanghai fresh off her third worldwide win of the year. She’s played incredible golf in recent weeks with two wins in her last three starts on the Japan LPGA. Hataoka is making her first start on the LPGA Tour since the Cambia Portland Classic, where she finished T4.
Click here for complete groups and tee times for the opening round of the 2019 Buick LPGA Shanghai.
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