ROLEX RANKINGS SCENARIOS

Inbee Park is competing in the KLPGA’s KB Financial Star Championship and can still hang on to her top ranking but the strength of field for this week’s event in Taiwan gives No. 2 Lydia Ko a great shot to reach the top spot for the second time this year.

Ko needs to finish fifth or better to have a chance to overtake Park at No. 1. Ko will go to No. 1 if she wins or finishes runner-up in Taiwan regardless of what Park does.

If Ko finishes third, Park would need to finish second or worse to lose No. 1. Further projections with ties will be calculated as the week progresses.

LET’S GET TOUGHER

The field this week can send thanks to Inbee Park for setting a tournament record here at Miramar Golf and Country Club in 2014 and maybe having an influence on the tougher set up this week. Park had a four-day total of 22-under par last year for a two-shot victory over Stacy Lewis.

Lydia Ko, who finished five shots behind Park last year and in solo third thinks the course has been set up for more of a challenge.

“I said the course wasn’t easy before, but when somebody shoots 22-under, they are going to make the course harder,” said Ko. “I know that’s what they have done this year. They have cut the rough a lot closer, so the fairways are definitely a little narrower, and because of this type of grass, when you’re in the rough, you don’t really know how the ball is going to come out.”

Ko didn’t seem discouraged with her round of 69 though and thought if a few more putts dropped, she would be even closer to the top of the leaderboard.

“You know, there’s a 66 out there today,” said Ko. “I think it’s a great score. If I made a couple more putts, I think I may have been able to shoot that score. But 66 in this breeze, I think it’s a great score that Eun-Hee shot today.”

SHOW UP AND PLAY

Sixth-year LPGA Tour member Alison Walshe woke up in Florida early Tuesday morning to a buzzing phone and wasn’t sure what all of her Tour friends who were playing in Taiwan were talking about when they asked her when she would arrive.

“It was like 5:30 in the morning, my phone was buzzing like crazy and it was a bunch of players being like, ‘Dude, I didn’t know you were coming; I’m excited to see you.’ I was like, ‘I don’t think I’m coming. What are you talking about?’”

A withdraw by rookie Ha Na Jang opened a spot for Walshe who saw the around-the-world trip as nothing but a good opportunity. Walshe currently ranks 83rd on the money list and 88th in the Race to the CME Globe and will have a great chance to improve her spot on both lists. After 24 hours of travel and throwing a suitcase together, Walshe arrived in Taiwan at 11:00 p.m. local time and had a 10:32am tee time on a course she’s never seen. The day got off to a bumpy start with a triple on the par 4, 10th hole but the easy-going Walshe looked for the positives in the round of 79.

“Kind of figured everything out and then went to bed and then got up this morning and had my first warm up in like -- I haven’t been playing golf,” said Walshe. “So it was a little interesting. Tripled the first hole today but got it back. I was 7-over on the front or 6-over on the front or 6-over total or something.”

“I got a really bad break on the first hole of the day,” Walshe added. “I went into the bunker and it plugged and we were just like, this is karma. So I was like, wow. I thought coming any ways, I had nothing to lose and when that happened, I was like, there’s nothing to lose. Went on and played well on the back nine and I guess that’s the benefit of a no-cut tournament, three more days.”

News and Notes: Rd.1 Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship

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