Ladies European

The event celebrates its 25th staging with a new status, that of a major. It replaces the du Maurier Classic. It is a tremendous fillip for the Evian Tour and its premier event and while many LPGA Tour players have played in this event before now, never before has the entire top-10 from the LPGA Tour money list made the trip. For the likes of Karrie Webb and Juli Inkster, it creates the possibility of a 'Super Career Grand Slam'. This is where a player wins all five possible majors in her playing career. It is the first time that this has been possible.

Had it not been for the TV golf on Monday night, Webb would stand a very good chance of claiming that unique accolade. She won the event by eight shots in 1997 when it was last played at Sunningdale and also in 1995 which was the penultimate year that the event was held annually at Woburn. Since 1997, the event has been staged in rotation around very different courses - Sunningdale and Woburn are tree-lined parkland courses; Royal Birkdale and Royal Lytham are traditional links courses. The delayed flight, lack of on-course preparation and obvious tiredness will hamper Webb's and Sorenstam's chances, while their participation ensures good prices for the rest of the field.

The three selections this week are Rosie Jones, Lorie Kane and Meg Mallon. Jones had been a regular competitor in this event and was the distant runner-up to Webb on this course in 1997. Her three other finishes have been 7th, 14th and 17th, so it is clear that British conditions and courses, either parkland or links, do not pose her game too many problems. She also comes into the event having just won her 2nd title of the year - the Big Apple Classic two weeks ago - and has been in excellent and consistent form for some time. She looks like being the most serious challenger to the top-two players.

Lorie Kane has only played this event once before when she finished 59th in 1997. However, she is a much better player now, having secured her first LPGA Tour win last year and repeated the feat three times since, including once this year. A model of consistency, she has finished in the top-20 in her last six events and the top-5 in two of her last three outings. Available at a very large price for a player of her caliber, she is an easy each-way selection.

Meg Mallon was runner-up to Sophie Gustafson last year and while that may not be fully relevant given that it was on a links course, it shows that she does travel well across the pond. Finishes of 5th and 14th in the Evian Masters in the last two years confirm this. In fact, the 5th place at this year's Evian Masters was the turning-point in her year. She had played poorly until then with just four top-20 finishes in eleven starts; since then she has finished in the top-20 in all four events and in the top-5 in two of them. Available at a good price, she could be a contender this week and secure a profitable place finish.

Outright plays:

Rosie Jones to win 25/1 e.w. @ Surrey or BetInternet

Lorie Kane to win 40/1 e.w. @ BetInternet

Meg Mallon to win 50/1 e.w. @ Surrey

72-hole plays:

Juli Inkster to beat Sophie Gustafson -110 @ Surrey [3 units]
Gustafson has had excellent finishes in the last three British Opens: 1st, 6th and 2nd. But two of those have been on links courses and her previous record on the parkland courses was very poor and the pressure of defending what is now a major will be more intense than anything she experienced outside the Solheim Cup. Inkster is no slouch in this event either: 10th, 11th and 12th on her three visits, including Sunningdale in 1997. Expecting another strong performance from Inkster and a tricky defence for Gustafson

Lorie Kane to beat Dottie Pepper +108 @ Five Dimes
Against Kane's consistency of finishing in the top-20 in each of her last six events, Pepper has done so only once in her last six events. Quite a drastic collapse of form and with Kane deserved to be at much shorter odds in this matchup

Michele Redman to beat Nancy Scranton -111 @ Ladbrokes
A previous best of 53rd in four starts in this event is reason enough to oppose Scranton this week. With Redman in much better form and almost a outright selection, she is a straightforward selection for this matchup

Rachel Teske to beat Sherri Steinhauer -110 @ Surrey
Steinhauer has won this event twice in four starts and finished 4th last week, but is opposable in two grounds: poor underlying form - her previous top-10 finish was back in October last year - and tiredness - this will be her eighth event in nine weeks. For her part, Teske is backable as she has finished in the top-20 in her last five events and won the Evian Masters on her last trip across the pond

Mid-point update:

All four matchups were decided at the cut and while three of them were winners, it was a break-even week on these plays. The three-unit play was only half-right. Gustafson struggled to make the cut. Somewhat disappointing was that Inkster bogeyed the last two holes to miss the cut. In the rest, Kane beat Pepper by three, Redman beat Scranton by six and Teske beat Steinhauer by two. In the outrights, Mallon was in the top-3 by Thursday afternoon, but fell back to miss the cut, Kane was 6th after 18 holes, but fell back to 48th after 36. The hope for a profitable week rests with Rosie Jones who lies 6th and four shots behind Catriona Matthew.

Final update: 3-1-0 and -0.22 units

All the matchup plays were decided at the cut, so nothing more to add other than continued disappointment at the performance of the 3-unit play that spoilt the card.

Update on outright selections: 0-3 and -3.00 units

Rosie Jones was always on the fringes of a top-5 place and in the end that is where she remained. She needed a birdie at the last to jump to 3rd, but dropped a shot and fell to 12th. Kane had two bad rounds in the middle of the tournament to take her out of contention - she finished 46th, while Mallon missed the cut by one.