Big Apple Classic

Used as the warm-up event for the US Women's Open last year, the Big Apple Classic returns to its former slot on the schedule. The narrow fairways with penal rough and fast greens made it ideal preparation last year. The course also features the longest par-3 on the LPGA Tour: the 7th hole which measures 222 yards. Accuracy over length off the tee and a good all-round game will be needed on this highly-regarded and challenging course.

Webb skips this event after being present in four of the last five years and maybe that leaves the tournament open to Annika Sorenstam. She signalled a return to form with the runners-up spot last week and has a very impressive record in this event: two wins and a runners-up spot in the last four years. But she is unbackable at the current odds - she is still a long way from the form that saw her break 28 LPGA records in a month. Instead, the three selections this week are Lorie Kane, Mi Hyun Kim and Meg Mallon.

Kane came extremely close to winning this event in 1999. In her 4th playoff loss at that stage, she lost in five holes to Sherri Steinhauer and remained winless on Tour. She would make amends three weeks later at the Michelob Light Classic and has won three more times since. She didn't finish in the top-5 last week as predicted, but she did extend her run of top-20 finishes to five and with two other top-10 finishes on this course in the last four years, she is an ideal candidate this week. Surrey offer a realistic 14/1, so it is a bonus to get double that elsewhere!

Kim could also have featured in that 1999 event. She shot 67 in the opening round to lie 2nd, but had been suffering from a stomach virus all week and the 97-degree heat was too much for her to contemplate finishing the event. With a top-20 finish last year, she appears to have a liking for the course and in rediscovering the form that brought her two playoff appearances earlier this year.

Finally, Mallon is another with good course form and is displaying a return to previous form. She has had three top-10 finishes in the last four years at Wykagyl and is one of the straightest drivers on the Tour. She has had a disappointing season, but she recorded her first top-5 finish of the season at the Evian Masters, finished 17th when a selection in the McDonalds LPGA Championship and secured her 2nd top-5 finish two weeks ago at the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic. She should feature this week.

Outright plays:

Lorie Kane to win 28/1 e.w. @ Stan James [5 places option]

Mi Hyun Kim to win 25/1 e.w. @ Surrey

Meg Mallon to win 33/1 e.w. @ Surrey

72-hole plays:

Janice Moodie to beat Helen Alfredsson -111 @ Simon Bold
Some decent form of late from Alfredsson, but in their common events, Moodie would still hold a 3-1-1 record against her. Difficult to predict how Alfredsson will play this week - in 8 visits she has 3 top-10s and 3 missed cuts - and her driving stats are not of the quality required on this course. The more consistent Moodie to win this one

Meg Mallon to beat Maria Hjorth -111 @ Simon Bold
Hjorth would have been a selection last week, but she had poor course form. She missed the cut. This week she again has poor course form and is opposed despite some tremendous results in the past two months.

Nancy Scranton to beat Jeong Jang -111 @ Simon Bold [2 units]
Not a happy event for Scranton who has missed four of her last five cuts here, but her stats suggest she should be better suited to this course than those finishes suggest. Still happy to oppose a player that had failed to make any mark on Tour this season until the last two weeks and shot 79-77 on her only visit to Wykagyl

Update:

Two matches are decided at the cut and both are winners. Mallon beat Hjorth by seven and Scranton beat Jang by sixteen in the two-unit play. She also leads the event. In the remaining play, Moodie just made the cut but still trails Alfredsson by seven. Promising news with the outrights. Kim lies 3rd after 36 holes, just one shot out of the lead, with Kane four shots back in 17th and Mallon a further three shots back in 40th.

Final update: 2-1-0 and +1.89 units

Scranton and Mallon both won their matches at the cut. Lost the remaining play, but only because Moodie and Alfredsson tied on 3-under-par   Still a profit overall to cancel out the losses on the outrights

Update on outright plays: 1-2 and -1.90 units

Both Kim and Kane had chances to catch Rosie Jones, but Kim faltered around the turn and finished out shot out of a place finish. Kane failed to secure a birdie in the last ten holes and eventually finished in a tie with two others for a share of 5th place and very little more than a return of the stake. Mallon finished in 13th place.