The fans may be missing Nelly Korda this week, but it’s doubtful that her fellow competitors are. Fresh off her fifth straight win and second career major championship victory, Korda has decided to take a week off. Even though the No. 1 player in the world will be absent, the field is still terrific at the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro, as 144 competitors are ready to challenge one another for a share of a $3.75 million purse.
Seventeen of the top 25 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings are competing, and the top 65 and ties will play the weekend. The first-place finisher will take home $562,500, which is one of the largest non-major winner’s shares on Tour. Wilshire Country Club has hosted all five previous editions of this event, and the average winning score is 13-under. Wilshire is a classic design and a very tough test. Last year, Hannah Green won with a four-day total of 9-under as the layout played like a true major test.
The weather will be dry and moderately windy this week. Temperatures are forecasted in the mid-70s, and the par-71 layout measuring 6,447 yards will play much like it should. It’s fun to see any Tour compete at a classic venue, and this setting amongst the Hollywood Hills always gives fans tremendous theater. To predict the winner among this betting board, let’s take the traditional approach and look at the last two leaderboards.
The two most impactful strokes-gained categories that correlate to success around Wilshire Country Club are approach play and putting. The top 10 from the 2022 and 2023 leaderboards gained an average of four strokes with their iron game and flat stick. Since classic courses always seem to require great approach play, keep your eye on Minjee Lee, Alison Lee, Megan Khang and Rose Zhang. Minjee Lee won here in 2019 and has earned two more top-seven results at this property.
Putting always helps on greens like those at Wilshire. Classic complexes with putting surfaces averaging 5,000 square feet in size present small targets. This championship course is nestled in a hilly city neighborhood, so when you putt, experience with the breaks and green-reading skills are required. Mao Saigo, Hyo Joo Kim, Sarah Schmelzel and Sei Young Kim lead the field in putting ability. They should have an advantage this week, with Sei Young Kim finishing inside the top six here twice.
The par-71 layout only has three par 5s, and these holes are the key to scoring. Looking at those same two groups of top-10 finishers, each played the par 3s and 4s near par. Surviving those holes will only keep you near the rest of the competitors. To contend, you must take advantage of the par 5s.
Those same 23 athletes who finished in the last two top 10s averaged 4.66 strokes on the 5s. Patty Tavatanakit, Georgia Hall, Xiyu Lin and Charley Hull lead the field in par-5 scoring. In a race to 13- or 14-under, they will have a considerable scoring advantage.
The last characteristic this year’s champion should have is a successful scrambling percentage. Small greens, a layout with 127 bunkers and 13 holes where water comes into play will make players get creative around these tiny targets. The contenders from 2022 and 2023 were successful around the greens 64% of the time, a rate that is well above the Tour average.
In this group, Ayaka Furue, Lin, Khang and Hyo Joo Kim can really score from close range. They will need to because if they don’t hit greens in regulation like Haeran Ryu, Nasa Hataoka and Hull, their short game will be tested. It becomes pretty clear by looking at those past two leaderboards what an awesome exam Wilshire Country Club is. Favor those above who are in fine recent form.
Sei Young Kim has had a sensational spring and Haeran Ryu made a serious run at The Chevron Championship. Who are you picking?
After all, that’s the point. By selecting a couple of names, you create a connection to the action. It’s fun for me to know who’s on my list, so you should definitely write your own. Once you do, the entertainment on Sundays will draw you in like a great Hollywood ending, much like the golf will this week at the JM Eagle LA Championship.
Keith Stewart is an award-winning PGA Professional. He covers the LPGA and PGA TOUR for Golf Digest, The Sporting News, LPGA, and PGA TOUR. 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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