Jin Young Ko is the two-time defending champion at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, and after looking at how she won back-to-back, she appears poised to win number three.
The LPGA Tour’s annual stop in Singapore starts Wednesday night so let’s get started. The HSBC Women’s World Championship has been contested at Sentosa Golf Club since 2013 and at the Tanjong Course since 2017. The par-72 scorecard stretches almost to 6,800 yards, long by LPGA standards, but you have to consider we are at sea level in Southeast Asia. Throw in 54 bunkers and 12 holes where water comes into play, and the Tanjong Course will serve as a true test for “Asia’s Major.”
The elite field of 66 players will compete over 72 holes to compete, and for the second week in a row, there isn’t a cut. Each of the players who have won the HSBC Women’s World Championship on the Tanjong Course since 2017 also happens to be a major champion. But that’s just scratching the surface of what it takes to win here. The tree-lined course weaves its way through an island just off the southern coast of Singapore and has outrageously large green complexes measuring 10,600 square feet on average.
Over 150 trees have been added to the design in recent years. We have four par 3s with an average length of 183 yards, four par 5s with an average length of 531 yards and 10 par 4s with an average length of 389 yards. Looking at the par 3s, each will require a mid-to-long iron approach. The best par-3 players in the field – Jin Young Ko, Celine Boutier, Haeran Ryu and Yuka Saso – should have an edge based on their ability to score on these holes.
The last four holes have penalty areas lurking in play, and that won’t be the only water the field sees as, similarly to last year, the forecast calls for almost two inches of rain. Get out the umbrellas and the drivers. A long course is just going to play longer under these soft conditions, but the fairways may see some roll, as the course was designed with the Australian sand-belt layouts in mind.
Those wet conditions probably won’t see the greens stay firm, opening the door for eight of the top 10 and 20 of the top 30 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings to throw darts at these hole locations. Excellent approach players like Nasa Hataoka, Lydia Ko, Boutier and Hye-Jin Choi will definitely have an advantage. Two-time defending champion Jin Young Ko is a greens in regulation machine. She has hit 86 percent of her greens in regulation over the past two years en route to victory Choi, (Lydia) Ko and Hataoka also hit a ton of greens in regulation and should have your attention.
Consider the contenders finishing in the top 10 the past two years at Sentosa Golf Club just behind Jin Young Ko. Those 20 players averaged the following statistics on the Tanjong Course:
- Strokes gained off the tee: 1.8
- Strokes gained approach: 4.8
- Strokes gained around the green: 0.0
- Strokes gained putting: 2.5
- Greens in regulation: 80.5%
- Sub-par scores: 19.5
- Scrambling: 71%
While the par 3s are challenging, if you look at Jin Young Ko’s killer run, she was able to survive the par 3s, attack the par 5s and distance herself on the par 4s. The Tanjong Course has a difficult set of 10 par 4s, and Hyo Joo Kim, Brooke Henderson, Lydia Ko and Sei Young Kim have played the par 4s the best so far in 2024.
Between the weather and the LPGA Tour’s top talent who are competing, the competition will be a must-watch. This event truly provides a great test of golf, and winning means you have played really well. I am strongly considering Jin Young Ko as the winner on my betting card. Her T20 finish last week which was bookended by 68s shows she’s healthy after the break, and her two wins in Singapore match the trend of Republic of Korea winners as each of the last nine HSBC Women’s World Championships have come from her home country.
When it comes to picking outright winners, it all counts. Consider the highlighted players above and those who you think will win the fourth event of the season. Enjoy the golf and don’t forget, the action starts Wednesday night!
Keith Stewart is an award-winning PGA Professional. He covers the LPGA and PGA TOUR for Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News, LPGA, and PGA of America. If you are looking to raise your golf acumen and love inside information about the game, check out his weekly newsletter called Read The Line.
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