Thursday, September 06, 2007

NW Arkansas Championship Preview

September seems to be the month for inaugural LPGA events. First up is this week’s NW Arkansas Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons. Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Arkansas (just north of Fayetteville where Stacy Lewis’ Hogs play) will be the venue. TV coverage for this three-round event starts Friday at 12:30 EDT on The Golf Channel.

Pinnacle is a par-72, 6239 yards in length. The early reports say that position in the fairway will be important and the greens are fast and tricky. They got some rain Tuesday and Wednesday which might help the scoring but I’m betting we won’t see double-digits under par and the cut will be at least +4.

Despite the Solheim Cup being on deck,
the field is a decent one. Although four of my top five players are missing, Mi Hyun Kim, Se Ri Pak, Cristie Kerr, Seon Hwa Lee and a total of ten of my top 17 players are in attendance. Other than the injured Jee Young Lee the entire Korean contingent made the trip south, which will certainly please our good friend Chigger. The afore-mentioned amateur Stacy Lewis has another sponsor’s exemption so she will look to improve on her T26 State Farm finish.

I have the feeling that one of the Kims, Parks or Lees is going to win this week. But which one? I’ll go with Mi Hyun Kim to win and Angela Park and Christina Kim as CYAs.

Statistics: Winners 6-22 (8-22 with CYAs), Top Tens 33-64.

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