2023 LPGA Drive On Championship (Mar 23 - 26)

[Stooch]

1 hour ago, Argonne69 said:

 

They used to play at Wildfire. The resort had two courses, a Palmer design and a Faldo design. Both were desert courses, but the Palmer course was more target golf with more of the desert in play. The course used was a blend of the two, and I believe most of the TV coverage late in the round was on the Faldo nine.

 

I guess they are playing the same course, in the past before it was removed, I had thought they'd used a couple of courses.  Or perhaps they switched circuits at the same course.  It might have been changed when they played it (time of year), I remember around 2014-2015 for a couple years the winning scores where like the Green Bay event, ridiculous lol.  I remember Lydia dropping a low Sunday round like 61 or 62 and another time Sei Young Kim was like 25 under after 3 rounds and then had a crappy Sunday.  Going by memory, which can be dangerous, in 2015 this is around time of year it was played give or take a couple weeks.  Not sure if conditions that time of year or a different course or perhaps, the ladies were just really on for a couple years lol.  I do now think they might have changed courses because I did notice a visual difference between the 2 or I thought I did lol.

[Argonne69]

31 minutes ago, Stooch said:

I guess they are playing the same course, in the past before it was removed, I had thought they'd used a couple of courses.  Or perhaps they switched circuits at the same course.  It might have been changed when they played it (time of year), I remember around 2014-2015 for a couple years the winning scores where like the Green Bay event, ridiculous lol.  I remember Lydia dropping a low Sunday round like 61 or 62 and another time Sei Young Kim was like 25 under after 3 rounds and then had a crappy Sunday.  Going by memory, which can be dangerous, in 2015 this is around time of year it was played give or take a couple weeks.  Not sure if conditions that time of year or a different course or perhaps, the ladies were just really on for a couple years lol.  I do now think they might have changed courses because I did notice a visual difference between the 2 or I thought I did lol.

 

Yeah, the Founders at Wildfire was always a birdie fest. Firm conditions on a benign resort course. The lit it up. 

 

[woahnelly]

3 hours ago, 18majors said:

 

Bet365.com betting odds:

 

Nelly Korda          6.5/1     Atthaya Thitikul          11/1     Jin Young Ko          11/1

Lexi Thompson    16/1      Lilia Vu                        16/1     Danielle Kang         16/1

 

Surprises:

 

Lucy Li                  40/1     In Gee Chun               50/1     Ashleigh Buhai        50/1

 

For @Whoa Nelly and me

 

Annie Park           500/1  Yealimi Noh                 275/1

 

500 to 1 is rough, west coast Annie should get an odds boost!  Hae Ran is 50 to 1, altho I do like her outlook long term, how much desert golf has she played in her young career ? I would edge a lot of pac10 golfers for this event. 

[JungleJimbo]

3 hours ago, 8602081 said:

I'm going to bet again on JYK.

 

She seems to be back completely healthy and happy..

 

Does JYK's previous off-season training at Mission Hills/Palm Springs/Palm Desert = count as "Desert Golf" training

... or is Arizona desert golf = quite different vs Palm Springs/Palm Desert?

 

  

14 hours ago, Stooch said:

it seems to be much more of a desert course that the ladies have played in AZ before.  Golf in the desert just seems wrong without cacti.

 

Edited March 21, 2023 by JungleJimbo

[18majors]

 

The broadcast time has changed again; for the better:

 

• Thursday, March 23:  6:00-9:00 p.m. (Stream)
• Thursday, March 23:  9:00-11:00 p.m. (Tape Delayed)

• Friday, March 24:  6:00-9:00 p.m. (Stream)
• Friday, March 24:  9:00-11:00 p.m. (Tape Delayed)

• Saturday, March 25:  6:00-7:00 p.m. (Stream)
• Saturday, March 25:  7:00-9:00 p.m. (LIVE)

• Sunday, March 26:  6:00-7:00 p.m. (Stream)
• Sunday, March 26:  7:00-9:00 p.m. (LIVE)

[OnTheBag]

37 minutes ago, JungleJimbo said:

... or is Arizona desert golf = quite different vs Palm Springs/Palm Desert?

Desert golf is the same unless you involve elevation.  Some of the Arizona courses have that added component.  So the ball flies further with less spin at higher elevation.  

[OnTheBag]

2 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

Yeah, the Founders at Wildfire was always a birdie fest. Firm conditions on a benign resort course. The lit it up. 

Moon Valley was another Arizona course that could be a birdie fest under the right conditions.  But if the wind picked up it was tough.  You could have 10 shot swings from day to day just with a change in the wind conditions.

[Stooch]

50 minutes ago, JungleJimbo said:

Does JYK's previous off-season training at Mission Hills/Palm Springs/Palm Desert = count as "Desert Golf" training

... or is Arizona desert golf = quite different vs Palm Springs/Palm Desert?

 

  

 

For me the desert course has the sand/gravel areas in lieu of rough many times. It will have rocks, cacti and other types of native vegetation, it just presents a different challenge or shot when missing the fairway, than most weeks.  

[18majors]

 

@Whoa Nelly

 

 

Yealimi Noh brought her swing coach James Oh to the tournament; this is the first time she's done that!  Certainly can't question her intention and commitment to get better; hope she makes the cut!

[18majors]

 

Will one of them win by Sunday:

 

"The club has continued to champion women’s golf and whopping 40% of Superstition Mountain membership is female, which includes LPGA stars Carlota Ciganda, Jennifer Kupcho and Anna Nordqvist to name a few."

[18majors]

 

Jin Young Ko, Brooke Henderson and Nelly Korda are paired together for the first two rounds; this should help Jin Young and Nelly to get used to each other:

Pairings

[woahnelly]

1 minute ago, 18majors said:

 

Jin Young Ko, Brooke Henderson and Nelly Korda are paired together for the first two rounds; this should help Jin Young and Nelly to get used to each other:

Pairings

 

Looks like Yealimi and Lucy Li paired together. I hope they develop a "Bird/Magic" like rivalry the next decade. 😂

 

Also Dana Fall = the former, Dana Finkelstein, congrats to her. 

[18majors]

18 minutes ago, woahnelly said:

I hope they develop a "Bird/Magic" like rivalry the next decade. 😂

 

 

 

Can't think of that until both Yealimi and Lucy win at least one LPGA Major title!

 

Yealimi's goal should be to win the group; which won't be easy because they're touting on Seoul Sister Forum that Sung Hyun Park has returned to the form of "Terminator" of 2017-2018 time frame.

 

Edited March 22, 2023 by 18majors

[18majors]

@Whoa Nelly

 

 

By the way, Yealimi is again caddie-less; Jennifer Kupcho snatched Patrick Smith from her.  It's the same story in 2022, Jessica Korda took Kyle Morrison away.

 

Yealimi can't complain, she just needs to play better.  I wonder if her swing coach James Oh will caddie for her this week?

[postfold]

59 minutes ago, 18majors said:

they're touting on Seoul Sister Forum that Sung Hyun Park has returned to the form of "Terminator" of 2017-2018 time frame.

 

Now that is very much "I'll believe it when I see it".  SHP has had some better rounds here and there but when was the last time she put together four in a row?  That would be a solid first step, it's a long leap to where she was at her peak.

[JungleJimbo]

26 minutes ago, postfold said:

 

Now that is very much "I'll believe it when I see it".  SHP has had some better rounds here and there but when was the last time she put together four in a row?  That would be a solid first step, it's a long leap to where she was at her peak.

 

1 hour ago, 18majors said:

 

Yealimi's goal should be to win the group; which won't be easy because they're touting on Seoul Sister Forum that Sung Hyun Park has returned to the form of "Terminator" of 2017-2018 time frame.

 

[AKL Kiwi]

1 hour ago, 18majors said:

Jin Young Ko, Brooke Henderson and Nelly Korda are paired together for the first two rounds.

Nelly is the highest ranked player so deserves the best pairing and feature grouping....doesn't apply to Lydia though when she's playing as she's not such a nice person....that's what she said last week! 😂 seriously though this will be a great grouping to watch. The player who would not surprise me to win is Lexi. If the course suits she could be the one to beat.

[JungleJimbo]

 

some of these LPGA swings = prettier than others ...

 

...but ALL of them would still handily beat us (even with a 9-18 stroke lead? i.e. up to a stroke a hole/every other hole?)

 

Edited March 22, 2023 by JungleJimbo

[Rapidcat]

1 hour ago, JungleJimbo said:

 

some of these LPGA swings = prettier than others ...

 

...but ALL of them would still handily beat us (even with a 9-18 stroke lead? i.e. up to a stroke a hole/every other hole?)

 

 

Ooh, big call...beating a WRX forum 4-cap😅

 

Plenty of threads about that chestnut.

[MagicClassic407]

I dunno who is going to win this. I do have a couple dark horses though to be in the mix:

 

Kiira and Aditi

 

Oh, and congrats to Mina! Just found out her in-laws are not only Villagers (The Villages, FL) but reside in my Village!

 

 

Edited March 22, 2023 by MagicClassic407
Added info

[pjc]

The Golf Channel showed that Minjee Lee is in the field, but lpga.com doesn't have her?  She might not play again for a while the way I saw her put last.....geeeezzzz!

[ChronicSlicer]

Going with DK, or Ash Buhai. Carlota makes a deep run, then pulls a typical Carlota Sunday finish. I'm curious to see how Pauline Roussin does after her win last week. Maybe Georgia for a dark horse.

[woahnelly]

Picking Jeeno to win.. Annie is 500 to 1 so will bet $2 on her 

 

Yu Sang Hou is my sleeper pick for a T-20 finish, who played her golf at U of A, I expect her to bounce back in a big way this season, along with Gina Kim. 

 

[JungleJimbo]

 

 

 

 

[JungleJimbo]

On 3/21/2023 at 8:05 PM, 18majors said:

 

Bet365.com betting odds:

 

Nelly Korda          6.5/1     Atthaya Thitikul          11/1     Jin Young Ko          11/1

Lexi Thompson    16/1      Lilia Vu                        16/1     Danielle Kang         16/1

 

Surprises:

 

Lucy Li                  40/1     In Gee Chun               50/1     Ashleigh Buhai        50/1

 

For @Whoa Nelly and me

 

Annie Park           500/1  Yealimi Noh                 275/1

 

On 3/21/2023 at 8:24 PM, 8602081 said:

I'm going to bet again on JYK.

 

She seems to be back completely healthy and happy..

 

 

From an "eye test"... surprised Nelly Korda isn't listed/higher on this "SG:Approach" leaderboard

i.e. thought Nelly performed well in recent events despite not having her "A" game w.r.t. putting (eg Singapore, Thailand)... implying the rest of Nelly's game = decent? (...or maybe it was the other way around? w.r.t. decent putting, wonky elsewhere?)

 

 

Edited March 23, 2023 by JungleJimbo

[JungleJimbo]

On 3/22/2023 at 8:31 AM, 18majors said:

 

Jin Young Ko, Brooke Henderson and Nelly Korda are paired together for the first two rounds; this should help Jin Young and Nelly to get used to each other:

Pairings

 

 

 

[JungleJimbo]

 

 

[JungleJimbo]

 

 

 

[iBanesto]

2023 LPGA Player Portraits.

 

 

 

 

 

[JungleJimbo]

4 minutes ago, iBanesto said:

2023 LPGA Player Portraits.

 

 

 

What happened to Yealimi's Malbon bucket-hat? @18majors

Edited March 23, 2023 by JungleJimbo