2020 LPGA Drive On Championship - Reynolds Lake Oconee

[18majors]

Is this Jessica's week; she's been awfully quiet this year!

 

 

[golfortennis]

Definitely looking forward to seeing this course, though. 

 

Wonder why Henderson isn't teeing this one up?

[18majors]

Betting odds

 

Top-10

Danielle Kang             15/2     Minjee Lee   12/1     Lexi Thompson  14/1   Carlota Ciganda  18/1     Lydia Ko            18/1

Moriya Jutuanugarn   22/1   Jennifer Song   25/1     Mel Reid    25/1    Caroline Masson   28/1    Ally McDonald    30/1

 

Rookies

Yealimi Noh    45/1     Leona Maguire   80/1    Andrea Lee  110/1   Matilda Castren   125/1   Bianca Pagdanganan  160/1        

Edited October 21, 2020 by 18majors

[fredogolfer]

2 hours ago, Bluefan75 said:

Definitely looking forward to seeing this course, though. 

 

Wonder why Henderson isn't teeing this one up?

As much as she likes to play and considering there is a 3 week break after this week I wondered the same. 

[18majors]

 

[AUTIGER07]

16 minutes ago, 18majors said:

 

 

You won't find too many non-ocean courses that can match GW's absolute beauty. For people that aren't used to playing there when you step onto #9 tee and see the lake for the first time it's pretty jaw dropping. You get a little bit of "back to earth" feeling on #10 and then it's full bore for unreal views from #11 - #18.

 

I have a lot of rounds on GW prior to the redesign so I'm really curious to see how the ladies play some of the holes out there. There is only one par 3 above 200 yards so they shouldn't have any real problems unless the wind kicks up which would impact #14 and #17. #7 and #16 will be the "hard" par 4s although they play very different. #7 is more open with a well-protected green and #16 is much tighter off the tee than it looks. The lake shouldn't come into play on #16 unless they stick the pin back left on one of the days. The par 5s will be interesting to watch as it looks like they have them teeing off from tees that are one up with the exception of #6. #6 and #12 will be 3-shot holes but we should see some eagles on #2 and #18, especially on #2 which is very getable. The decision to play up one on #18 is really interesting though as that tee box has far better "wow factor" from the back but I'm guessing the LPGA brought it up 50 yards to bring the potential for lower scores on the last hole into play.

 

Excited to watch how the ladies play it over the next few days.

[Argonne69]

'Guess I gotta throw a pick out. I think the event is ripe for a first time winner, so I'm going with AAA: Ashleigh, Ally, and Andrea.

 

If none of them finish in the top 10, I'm joining AA. 🙂

 

 

[BadgerLin]

For a first time winner I’m going with Jennifer Kupcho or Amy Olsen  (in the “about time” category). In the “over due for another win” category, it’s Minjee Lee.

[MagicClassic407]

Amy Olson, K Kirk again and I gotta throw Matilda in there based on her play last week. Can we please have a Gerina siting??

 

[18majors]

Maria Torres has withdrawn from the LPGA Drive On Championship after her caddie tested positive for COVID-19. The caddie has begun a 10-day quarantine. Torres and one other individual are also being quarantined due to close contact.

 

Caddie, childcare worker test positive for COVID-19 at new LPGA Drive On stop in Georgia

[Golf Dino]

22 hours ago, 18majors said:

Betting odds

 

Top-10

Danielle Kang             15/2     Minjee Lee   12/1     Lexi Thompson  14/1   Carlota Ciganda  18/1     Lydia Ko            18/1

Moriya Jutuanugarn   22/1   Jennifer Song   25/1     Mel Reid    25/1    Caroline Masson   28/1    Ally McDonald    30/1

 

Rookies

Yealimi Noh    45/1     Leona Maguire   80/1    Andrea Lee  110/1   Matilda Castren   125/1   Bianca Pagdanganan  160/1        

 

It would be great if you could also include the source for the betting odds.  ie: Ladbrokes, WinBet, William Hill, etc.

[18majors]

15 minutes ago, Golf Dino said:

 

It would be great if you could also include the source for the betting odds.  ie: Ladbrokes, WinBet, William Hill, etc.

 

Sorry, it’s Bet365.

[HMHS]

Hi folks, newbie here but have followed the LPGA for quite some time... All good picks. Curious to see if Minjee Lee can do it this time.  Kelly Tan has been doing solid this year too, along with Ashleigh Buhai the past few tournaments... 

 

Amongst rookies, tough to tell, but Yealimi Noh has been extremely consistent so I expect her to place well. Dark horse picks are the U of A alumns: Haley and Bianca. Both going in different directions though with their games, at this point of the year. Hence dark horse solid placements ( I don't expect any rookies to win, but it's been an odd year therefore... )

 

Cheers!

[18majors]

Welcome to the board, @Supermilo!

[HMHS]

2 hours ago, 18majors said:

Welcome to the board, @Supermilo!

Thank you @18majors.... looking forward to contributing to this board 🙂  

[NCLancer]

Caroline Masson puts together 4 rounds in the 60's for the win!

[18majors]

Looking good!

 

 

 

[HMHS]

Course seems to be "favoring" people with strong iron play, judging by early results, though there's definitely "gettable" holes for bombers out there... eg these are not the Inverness, Aronimink type courses 

Edited October 22, 2020 by HMHS

[AUTIGER07]

2 hours ago, Supermilo said:

Course seems to be "favoring" people with strong iron play, judging by early results, though there's definitely "gettable" holes for bombers out there... eg these are not the Inverness, Aronimink type courses 

 

No wind and very easy pin positions will make this a very "gettable" day. The pin on #11 and #18 are by far the easiest spots on each of those greens.

[18majors]

With warmer temperature; the afternoon wave play much better.

 

Danielle Kang is leaving no prisoners and on her way to sweep both Drive On events; Viva Danielle!

 

 

[Argonne69]

Ugh. 2:43 for 9 holes by a threesome. Ridiculous. Professional golf needs a shot clock on every shot. 

 

[HMHS]

1 hour ago, Argonne69 said:

Ugh. 2:43 for 9 holes by a threesome. Ridiculous. Professional golf needs a shot clock on every shot. 

 

Did you hear Tom Abbott's comments on Ciganda being slow - I loved it! Said something like:  If a caddy lined up the golfer to hit a boater on the water, Ciganda wouldn't be able to do it as the boater would've left!" or thereabouts.... That flight and actually I dunno how Stacy Lewis survived on the flight after, were slow as snails... (even DK was taking forever it seems)

 

Change topic:  my rookie picks are outplaying the vets so far but not by much (Bianca, Haley, Yealimi) vs (Minjee, Kelly and Ashleigh)... still lots of golf to go though

[Titleist_PT23]

Any news on Nelly?  This is not a big event and given the schedule there is definitely an argument to skipping it / taking a few weeks off.  So if still recovering there's no reason to push it.  But I saw her sister was playing so its not like there is a family vacation, etc.  I'm not a big Nelly fan but the back injury can be very serious / never get your swing back, so hoping she is OK.

 

@Newinup it looks like Bianca can play!

 

Where's Muni?  Officially packing it in for the year?

[Argonne69]

They make it look so easy. A pair of ho-hum 65s, and a 66. The greens looks like they're rolling pure, although there is plenty of break.

 

I thought Whan did an excellent job on the course. He didn't give the usual information one has come to expect, but he did have a lot of insight into the course, and his self deprecating humor was pretty good. 'Definitely wouldn't want him reporting every week, but it was a fun one-off.

 

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Argonne69

[fredogolfer]

39 minutes ago, agolf1 said:

Any news on Nelly?  This is not a big event and given the schedule there is definitely an argument to skipping it / taking a few weeks off.  So if still recovering there's no reason to push it.  But I saw her sister was playing so its not like there is a family vacation, etc.  I'm not a big Nelly fan but the back injury can be very serious / never get your swing back, so hoping she is OK.

 

@Newinup it looks like Bianca can play!

 

Where's Muni?  Officially packing it in for the year?

Muni got an invitation to play in the Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic in November on the Ladies European Tour. 

[Newinup]

9 hours ago, agolf1 said:

Any news on Nelly?  This is not a big event and given the schedule there is definitely an argument to skipping it / taking a few weeks off.  So if still recovering there's no reason to push it.  But I saw her sister was playing so its not like there is a family vacation, etc.  I'm not a big Nelly fan but the back injury can be very serious / never get your swing back, so hoping she is OK.

 

@Newinup it looks like Bianca can play!

 

Where's Muni?  Officially packing it in for the year?

She sure can :). Just always wanting her to get the opportunity to play. 

[HMHS]

9 hours ago, agolf1 said:

Any news on Nelly?  This is not a big event and given the schedule there is definitely an argument to skipping it / taking a few weeks off.  So if still recovering there's no reason to push it.  But I saw her sister was playing so its not like there is a family vacation, etc.  I'm not a big Nelly fan but the back injury can be very serious / never get your swing back, so hoping she is OK.

 

@Newinup it looks like Bianca can play!

 

Where's Muni?  Officially packing it in for the year?

Yes if Nelly and Jodi pulled out of this tournament after both WD in KPMG, these are by no means injuries to be taken lightly of, esp with Jodi having surgery last yr , for example...

 

Bianca is a serious gamer. Always has been overlooked (and continues to be - watch out for her). She seems very low key and coming from the Philippines, her amateur tournaments she participated in were also low key/earned low ranking points.  Lots of these qschool rooks are low on the priority list but I believe some of the ones lower actually are better than some of the ones on the higher ranked qschool graduates. Bianca and Andrea Lee come to mind.  Yealimi deserves her high priority. Same with Kawamoto, all deserving of those higher rank. I am not quite sure what is on munis head, however, same with Tavatanakit (as what 18majors alluded to in some past posts in the forum as I lurked then). Albane is also a head scratcher so far.   I root for Haley too but I think she needs to improve her temperament plus her peak might be already reached.  Again, casual observations... Point is: are their games at close to peak potential already? Some seem to be, some clearly are not... If you're driving 300 and yet your iron play sucks, sand saves horrible, yet you're consistently making cuts, contend in a few tournaments, yet fade but are a rook, you got potential...

 

Those are my quick and dirty insights.  I figure to see Bianca and Andrea Lee more prominently if future tournaments, assuming they can play. Am not discounting Patty nor Albane yet. But Patty reminds me of an Alison Lee, unfortunately, rightly or wrongly..  we will see....

Edited October 23, 2020 by HMHS

[Argonne69]

That reminds me. When the h-ll is the LPGA going to put scrambling stats on their website? I know they track it, but it's a mystery to us peasants.

 

[postfold]

Really a nice looking course.  I didn't pay close enough attention when "watching" it last night (it was on while I was doing other things) to have a sense of how challenging, strategic or flexible it may be, but it sure looks nice on TV.

 

I thought having Mike Whan do some on course commentary was great and he did a nice job.  I had already heard about Danielle Kang's answer to the "first thing you'd do as commissioner for a day" question, but if I had not it would have been a serious LOL moment. 

 

Forgot to make picks this week but nbd since most of my regular choices are taking some time off (and SYK won last week 🙂 )

[18majors]

Danielle Kang is the only Top-10 player who's played up to the billing, but her momentum has stalled with a -2 round.

Minjee Lee's results since ANA has been T58, T14 and T42; she's T36 at -1.

Lexi shot an over par round, +2, she's T54 at +1.

 

Lydia Ko ball striking has gone AWOL, hitting 10 fairways and 12 greens; Sean Foley hasn't been a panacea as hoped.