Tyco/ADT Tour Championship

The final event on the 2001 LPGA Tour schedule is the Tour Championship, limited to the top-30 money winners. As an indication of the international flavour of this Tour, only half of the top-30 are American. However, a number of withdrawals of the 'internationals', notably including Se Ri Pak because of a family illness, has addressed the balance. The event could see the fall of yet more records to Annika Sorenstam. This week she will attempt to become the first LPGA player to break the $2 million mark in single-season earnings, establish an LPGA single-season scoring average record and become the first player to win nine events in a single season since Nancy Lopez in 1978. Her eight wins this season is the most since Lopez's eight wins in 1979.

This is the sixth year of this tournament and after being held at Desert Inn and the LPGA International, the events come to West Palm Beach, Florida and the Trump International Golf Club. The course was only opened 12 months ago, so information is sketchy, but it is being described as a fairly generous off the tee with length being an advantage, but generally being a good all-round test of ball-striking ability. As with any course in Florida, an ability to play in wind will be an advantage.

The three selections are Karrie Webb, Lorie Kane and Emilee Klein. Sorenstam is opposed as she won the last two events in Japan and at the end of a record-breaking season, she is bound to be exhausted. Karrie Webb certainly was at the end of last year. This year has been much different for the Australian even though she successfully defended the US Women's Open and won the McDonalds LPGA Championship to become the youngest player to complete the Career Grand Slam. She did not play in the events in Japan and instead chose to stay home in nearby Boynton Beach and practice on this course. Being able to stay in her own home at the end of each day and the fact that she has played this course numerous times before this week make Webb the more likely short-price winner this week.

The remaining two selections are form horses who can hopefully secure at least place finishes. This is helped considerably by NetBetSports continuing to offer six places even though there are only 30 players in this field! Kane has not repeated her run of four victories in 13 starts to February, but she has been one of the most consistent players on Tour with 62 of 89 rounds under par, the 2nd best record on Tour. She ranks 4th behind Webb in both the Rolex Player of the Year standings and in % top-10 finishes. Her record in the event, though on different courses, is similarly consistent. She lost in a playoff to Sorenstam in 1997, but has finished no worse than 7th in her four appearances. Hard to see anything different this week.

Emilee Klein was having a poor season until she led wire-to-wire in the Michelob Light Classic, since then she has been extremely consistent, securing eleven top-10 finishes and finishing in the top-5 in her last four LPGA Tour events. She may be dubbed the 'Iron Woman' of the Tour as this will be her 31st event of the season, the most by any player this year and she has shown of signs of fatigue creeping into her game. She finished 2nd to a rookie Karrie Webb in 1996 and in the form to repeat that performance.

Outright plays:

Karrie Webb to win 4/1 @ Ladbrokes, Bet365 or Sports.com

Lorie Kane to win 14/1 e.w. @ NetBetSports [6 places]

Emilee Klein to win 25/1 e.w. @ NetBetSports [6 places]

72-hole plays:

Wendy Doolan to beat Moira Dunn -111 @ Simon Bold
Already a winner of Tour this year, Doolan has been preparing for this event with starts in the last two LPGA Tour events in Japan. Dunn was a late-call up to replace players who withdrew and looks to be be rather rusty for her maiden appearance in this event, she lasted played eight weeks ago in the Asahi Ryokuken International when she missed the cut

Meg Mallon to beat Sophie Gustafson -111 @ Simon Bold [2 units]
As much as Dunn may be rusty, Gustafson should be tired. She has played in each of the last five LPGA Tour events and has combined 24 appearances on the LPGA Tour (currently 15th on the Money List) with 8 appearance on the Ladies European Tour, finishing 5th on their Money List. That makes two more events this year than Klein who I had dubbed the 'Iron Woman' of the LPGA Tour! It may explain why she only finished 23rd last year and why it is easy to side with Mallon who skipped the Japan Swing and chose to stay home in Ocean Ridge, Florida

Michele Redman to beat Mhairi McKay -111 @ Simon Bold [2 units]
McKay is making her debut in this event and is here largely because of an excellent run in early summer which included 2nd in the LPGA Corning Classic. She has since secured another runners-up spot in the Betsy King Classic, but in her last two strokeplay events she has finished 59th and 39th. Not the form needed to beat an experienced player who has recorded nine top-10 finishes this year

Mid-point update:

No cut this week, which is a shame as all three plays are ahead after 36 holes. Doolan is 2nd, but only two shots ahead of Dunn, while the other two look safer. Mallon leads Gustafson by seven and Redman leads McKay by eleven. In the outrights, Webb appears to having the upper hand in her battle with Sorenstam. She leads the field by four. Kane is in contention in 10th place, while Klein is not in 23rd. Swirling winds and treacherous pin positions have made scoring extremely difficult, if the winds settle down and the course plays easier, it should also be easier to defend this promising position.

Final update: 2-1-0 and +2.89 units

The winds didn't settle and the sweep wasn't defended. Doolan shot 83 on Saturday and it was costly - she lost to Dunn by a shot. The other two plays won though. Mallon beat Gustafson by four shots and Redman beat McKay by twenty. A decent season on the LPGA Tour with the matchups ... shame about the outrights.

Update on outright plays: 1-2 and +2.00 units

Pleasing way to finish the LPGA season. Picking outright winners had proved difficult this year on this Tour, but at least we finished on a high note. Webb led wire-to-wire to finish two shots ahead of Sorenstam. Not so impressive were the other two picks: Kane finished 16th and Klein 22nd.