Contenders for the second women's major
AFTER the spectacular finish to the Kraft Nabisco, the forthcoming second women’s Major of the year - the McDonald’s LPGA - has a lot to live up to. Last year, Yani Tseng announced her arrival as a rookie on the LPGA Tour in emphatic fashion by beating Maria Hjorth in a play-off.
I love her aggressive, fearless style of play and, although winless in 2009, she has posted five top 10s in seven events, making more birdies than anyone else in the process – and without quite hitting top form!
In 2007, Suzann Pettersen showed that she has the stomach to win Majors when she scored a near-flawless 67 in the final round, which included two birdies in the final three holes to hold off Karrie Webb.
After a mini-collapse to lose the Kraft Nabisco earlier that season, many pundits thought Suzann might not have what it took mentally – how wrong they were!
It was always going to be tough to follow up her great year in 2007, with four other wins on the LPGA Tour to add to her Major win. A coaching switch to David Leadbetter in the middle of last season, and new equipment, shoes and clothing can’t have helped. But while she was winless on the LPGA Tour, the Norwegian did come over to Europe and win two of our biggest tournaments. There are signs this season that Suzann is close to being back to her best and I feel another win is imminent. Of the Americans, Cristie Kerr’s game has taken huge strides forward. Her play has reached a level of consistency it was previously missing. Still only in her early 30s, I think that the best of Cristie is yet to come. Another American under the radar on this side of the Atlantic is Brittany Lang.
With three top 10s to her credit so far this year, and a Solheim Cup debut on the cards, I don’t think it will be long before we see her contending in the Majors. The stand-out Korean is unquestionably Jiyai Shin, who won last year’s Ricoh British Women’s Open in such style. Since then Jiyai has continued her fine form, and showed her penchant for winning the biggest tournaments at the HSBC Champions event in Singapore in March.
Another Korean who has impressed me greatly is Na Yeon Choi. I first saw her play in last year’s Evian Masters, where she lost in a play-off to Helen Alfredsson. Na Yeon Choi had an outstanding rookie season on the LPGA Tour, just missing out on being Rookie of the Year to the outstanding Tseng and is surely due to break into the winner’s circle soon.
In closing, I must mention Lorena Ochoa. She has already won twice this year and sits at the top of the LPGA Money List. The strange thing is that by her own lofty standards she hasn’t hit top form yet! Lorena is getting married at the end of the year and her husband to be, Andres Conesa, already has two children, so Lorena’s previous total commitment to her golf may well change. Having said that, she is currently working as hard as ever. There can hardly ever have been a more popular golfer, and no-one would begrudge her a third Major. So take your pick of the outstanding players I’ve mentioned as potential winners of this year’s LPGA, and all the others snapping at their heels!