Jamie Farr Kroger Classic

A full-strength field this week as Webb, Sorenstam and Pak return to the fold. This is an event that Webb has not won, while the other two have. Sorenstam is the defending champion, while Pak has almost monopolized this event in recent years. She holds the course record and the tournament record and won the event in 1998 and 1999. She almost made it three-in-a-row, but her nine-foot putt lipped out on the last green and she missed the playoff by one shot. With Sorenstam winless in two months and Pak playing very poorly over the past few weeks, this may be Webb's third win in four events or a golden opportunity for the others.

Not surprisingly, I've plumped for the 'others' ... the three selections this week are Maria Hjorth, Rachel Teske and Laura Diaz. Hjorth's form has been outstanding since the Champions Classic in May. In those six events, she has finished in the top-3 five times and has shot every single round under par in those five events. With a top-20 finish in her only visit to the course, she is as good as any player, bar Karrie Webb, at the moment and is a lot lower price at other places.

Rachel Teske is another who can boast good form coming into this event. He held off a very strong field to win the Evian Masters and followed that win with a creditable 17th place in the McDonald's LPGA Championship when it is always difficult to compete following only her 4th Tour win. Mind you, she did win back-to-back events in 1999! With her only appearance in this event being last year when she took Annika Sorenstam to a playoff before finishing, the indications are that she will feature very strongly this week.

Finally, Laura Diaz completes a trio of players in good form at the moment. In her last event, she finished a close 2nd to Karrie Webb in the McDonald's LPGA Championship. It was her third runners-up spot of the year. She can also boast top-20 finishes in both of her starts in this event, with only one round over par. With a place finish from any of Hjorth, Teske or Diaz playing more than a win by either Webb or Sorenstam, they represent much better value on the basis of her form coming into the event.

Outright plays:

Maria Hjorth to win 33/1 e.w. @ Stan James [5 places option]

Rachel Teske to win 33/1 e.w. @ Surrey

Laura Diaz to win 33/1 e.w. @ Surrey

Update:

No 72-hole or 1st round plays and the news on the outrights is not good   Only Diaz broke par. She shot 70 to lie 19th, three shots out of the lead. Teske is two shots back in 53rd place, while the Hjorth bubble certainly burst yesterday. She shot 76 to lie 123rd.

2nd round plays:

Annika Sorenstam to beat Karrie Webb -108 @ Five Dimes

Brandie Burton to beat Carin Koch -113 @ Five Dimes

2nd round update: 0-2-0 and -2.21 units

Two poor selections as both lost easily. Sorenstam lost by two to Webb and Burton lost by five to Koch. At least the outrights made the losses easier to take. Diaz jumped up to 5th place and Hjorth rediscovered her form to jump almost 100 places to 30th. Teske is one shot further back in 42nd. No 3rd round plays, but with a tightly-packed leaderboard, maybe the event is not over yet ...

Final update: 0-2-0 and -2.21 units for the week

No further plays, so just the two poor 2nd round plays. Enough action in the outrights to keep us interested though

Update on outright plays: 2-1 and +1.93 units

Aaaargh! The LPGA Tour site had Hjorth listed as having a 4 on the 17th to take the lead and then it was corrected to a 6   It was decisive - she finished two behind Pak. She still monopolizes this event and I dropped her on current form   If only Hjorth hadn't started with that 76! Diaz was always in contention for a place finish and she got it. However, three other players tied her at 5th and it meant only a fraction more than the initial stake is returned. Teske finished 20th.