LPGA Corning Classic

This is a warm-up event for the second major of the season: next week's US Open. As a result, some of the top golfers have opted to fine-tune their games on the range rather than in competition - in this category fall Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb and Se Ri Pak - and that leaves Dottie Pepper as a rather short-priced favorite. With Pine Needles on the players' minds this week (the course, that is!), there should be a surprise or two this week.

The course itself has played host to this event since its inception in 1979 so there is plenty of course form. It is described as a traditional course with narrow tree-lined fairways and small, fast greens. It sounds like a US Open course already! The winning scores of previous years and the stats of previous leaderboards suggest that it may not be that tight off the tee, but a good overall game is required around this course.

The three selections this week are Rosie Jones, Janice Moodie and Heather Bowie. Jones has simply dominated this event for the past ten years. She missed the 1991 event, but in her ten outings since 1990 she has won here twice (1996-97), finished in the top-5 on four other occasions and in the top-10 on a further two more occasions. She is justifiably at a short-price, but given her history and her recent win at the Kathy Ireland Championship, she looks a very strong challenger to win this week.

In contrast, Moodie has only played in this event once: she finished 21st in 1998, but she has excellent all-round stats and is in a rich vein of form. She has followed up her 22nd place at the Nabisco Championships with top-10 finishes at the Office Depot and the Champions Classic last week where she finished 5th after birdying seven of the last eleven holes. If only she can carry that form into this week ...

The 3rd pick, Bowie, did little wrong last week to finish 15th in a rain-shortened event. She was always in contention for a place finish and with 72 holes on offer this week, her great form should come to the fore. She finished a decent 17th last year and has good overall stats that belie her odds in a weakened field.

Outright plays:

Rosie Jones to win 12/1 e.w. @ NetBetSports

Janice Moodie to win 33/1 e.w. @ Surrey

Heather Bowie to win 50/1 e.w. @ Surrey

72-hole plays:

Laura Diaz to beat Kelli Kuehne -111 @ Simon Bold
Kuehne has finished 1st and 2nd in this event over the past two years, but is opposed on the grounds of poor form at the moment. She may be able to raise her game on the return to Corning, but in every department Diaz's stats are much better than Kuehne's and she should be the more likely one to have a good week

Mi Hyun Kim to beat Sophie Gustafson -111 @ Simon Bold [2 units]
Kim displayed the form last week that had brought her to two playoffs in the previous month and she looks good for another fine performance. For Gustafson, she does not have a good record here and having played in the Italian Open last week, she is not expected to play particularly well this week with the US Open only next week. The way she lost the Italian Open after leading after 18 holes will also bother her so this could be a runaway win or a more likely lackluster performance from the Swede

1st round plays:

Brandi Burton to beat Grace Park -135 @ Five Dimes [3 units]

Mi Hyun Kim to beat Sophie Gustafson -140 @ Five Dimes

Dottie Pepper to beat Lorie Kane -140 @ Five Dimes

1st round update: 1-2-0 and -4.45 units

Not such a good start in the Ladies event. In the top play, Burton scored a disappointing 74 to lose by four shots. In the others, Kim fell one short of Gustafson's total and Pepper beat Kane by three shots. Very close in the 72-hole plays. Diaz leads Kuehne by one and Kim trails Gustafson by one. Finally, in the outrights, Jones is very much in contention after 18 holes. She lies 8th, though Bowie is three shots further adrift and Moodie has to improve tomorrow to make the cut.

Final update: 3-2-0 and -1.45 units for the week

Both the 72-hole plays ran out comfortable winners. Diaz beat Kuehne by four shots and Kim beat Gustafson by six. A decent week spoiled by an ugly loss in the first round.

Update on outright plays: 1-2 and -1.00 units

Rosie Jones delivered the place win and there was no surprise in that given her history in this event. She was never really close enough to win, but at least it covered half of the losses on the other plays. Bowie finished well down the field in 58th place, while Moodie had two bad rounds spoil her week and she finished 14th.