US Women's Open

The 2nd major of the year and yet again the focus is on Annika Sorenstam. She won the first major of the year and she won the last US Women's Open to be held at Pine Needles (1996). She also holds a share of the course record here. But while there is the usual Sorenstam-Webb debate, attention will also focus this week to the 20 amateurs who are playing this week and one in particular, 13-year-old Morgan Pressel who is the 2nd-youngest player ever to qualify for this event.

The course features gently rolling terrain, fast, undulating greens and narrow fairways. Water hazards come into play on seven holes. It has all the classic features of a US Open course and accuracy over power is important as is a good all-round game worthy of any major. The most difficult stretch is holes #3 through #5. On another note, let's hope there isn't a play-off this week. If there is, it will be decided over 18 holes on Monday and we've had enough Monday finishes this week already!

The three outright selections are Rosie Jones, Mi Hyun Kim and Janice Moodie. Sorenstam is passed over on value terms only. Jones geared her early season schedule around the Nabisco Championship and it didn't pay off, she finished 28th. Her form since then has been a revelation. She improved to 14th in The Office Depot and then finished no worse than 4th in three of her next four events, including 4th last week and becoming the first American to win on the LPGA Tour this year. With a decent record in this event - she finished 4th last year - and 7th in driving accuracy and 4th in putting average, she should be close to the leaderboard all week long.

Mi Hyun Kim is becoming a regular pick and if she continues in her current vein of form, she will remain so for some time. She has finished in the top-10 in three of her last five events, including two playoff losses, and one of those "failures" was an 11th place finish over just 36 holes at the Champions Classic. She finished 4th in this event last year and like Jones, has the stats for this course: top-20 in both driving accuracy and putting average. Should feature, but less likely to win.

Finally, Janice Moodie is available at very attractive odds. She also completes a trio of selections who are in the top-10 for scoring average on the LPGA Tour this season, so they all come into the event on good form. She closed with a 65 on Sunday to finish 14th in the LPGA Corning Classic last week and has been in great form since her 2nd place finish at the 1st major of the year. Like Kim, should feature rather than win, both at the available price, that would make a nice profit.

Outright plays:

Rosie Jones to win 33/1 e.w. @ Bet247

Mi Hyun Kim to win 28/1 e.w. @ Bet247

Janice Moodie to win 66/1 e.w. @ Bet247

72-hole plays:

Rosie Jones to beat Brandi Burton -111 @ Simon Bold [2 units]
Rather a mismatch as Jones is a genuine title contender this week, while Burton has been struggling to make the cut on the LPGA Tour of late. With this course having narrow fairways, it is unlikely she will break that trend given her errant driver this year

Lorie Kane to beat Maria Hjorth -111 @ Simon Bold
Hjorth's game is certainly in great shape with two top-3 finishes in two weeks, but she may find the narrow fairways none too appealing this week given her power, rather than accurate, driving. Kane missed cut was a concern, but on reading that it was the product of a stomach bug and that she has visited Pine Needles a couple of times in the past month, the expectancy is now for a high finish

Janice Moodie to beat Kathryn Marshall -111 @ Simon Bold
Another 72-hole play on an outright selection. Moodie is expected to be much too strong for Marshall who has the accurate game needed around this course, but whose game has been a little erratic of late. With being her 8th straight week on competitive golf, fatigue should also weigh on Marshall's game this week

1st round plays:

Mi Hyun Kim to beat Maria Hjorth -135 @ Five Dimes

Kris Tschetter to beat Laura Davies -130 @ Five Dimes

1st round update: 2-0-0 and +2.00 units

Both Hjorth and Davies found the closing stretch too difficult and fell away, handing two- and three-shot victories to their opponents respectively. Having watched the highlights, it is very clear that no wager is safe until the final putt is holed on this course! Very typical US Open setup! The three 72-hole are split: Jones and Burton are tied, Kane trails Hjorth by five and Moodie leads Marshall by six, but on this course those margins are easily surmountable. In the outright, Jones fell foul of the closing stretch and fell from a top-5 position to 44th, but Moodie is only 24th and Kim is a very encouraging 3rd. Looks like a great event to watch!

2nd round plays:

Dottie Pepper to beat Juli Inkster +105 @ Five Dimes

Rosie Jones to beat Se Ri Pak +103 @ Five Dimes [2 units]

Lorie Kane to beat Mi Hyun Kim +105 @ Five Dimes [2 units]

2nd round update: 3-0-0 and +5.25 units

Nice sweep on the first two days   The round took a day and a half to complete, but it was worth the wait. Pepper beat Inkster by three shots, Jones beat Pak by two and Kane beat Kim by eight. Of the 72-hole plays just one is decided at the halfway cut and is a winner: Moodie beat Marshall by fourteen shots. The other two plays are still close though: Jones leads Burton by two and Kane trails Hjorth by two. Finally, in the outrights, Kim's 76 took out of a place position to 36th, but with both Moodie and Jones in the top-10 this could be a memorable week!

4th round plays:

Se Ri Pak to beat Karrie Webb +125 @ Five Dimes

Annika Sorenstam to shoot over 70.5 +156 @ Five Dimes [2 units]

Final update: 1-1-0 and +2.12 units for the day; 8-2-0 and +9.15 units for the week

Matching par was always going to be difficult, especially when out of contention and Sorenstam failed by two shots. The day also saw the end of the run for a double-digit sweep. Pak held the lead over Webb with three holes to play, but surrendered it and finished three behind and in the 72-hole play, Jones surrendered a four-shot overnight lead and finished three behind Burton. At least Kane finished four shots ahead of Hjorth to round off a profitable week.

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

Moodie and Jones fell out of the top-10 to 26th and 39th respectively, while Kim also finished 26th. A blank on the outrights, but still a good week.