U.S. Women's Open

Outright plays (1.5 units):

Lorena Ochoa to win 33/1 e.w. @ Stan James
Backed two weeks ago for the Wegmans Rochester LPGA and I thought her odds would now be too short to be backed again, but I was wrong. She finished in the top-3 in the opening major of the year and recorded her 4th top-3 of the year two weeks ago. She is in fine form and has excellent greens in regulation stats, which will be important this week. Still don't think we'll see 33/1 on her many more times this year.

Grace Park to win 33/1 e.w. @ Stan James
The Witch Hollow course at Pumpkin Ridge has been considerably lengthened since Alison Nicholas won the event in 1997 and will now be the longest-ever U.S. Women's Open course and only a par-71. Rosie Jones had been on the shortlist, but against this lengthening of the course, Grace Park gets the nod. Ochoa may have finished in the top-3 of the Nabisco Championship, but Park took Sorenstam to a playoff for the 2nd major of the year. It was her second runners-up spot of the season, but she has also won once (Michelob Light Open) this year and was 3rd on her last outing. She has had two top-10 finishes in this event in the last four years and is certainly playing well enough to add another.

Lorie Kane to win 50/1 e.w. @ BetInternet and Stan James
Extremely large price for a player who has finished in the top-3 in her last two events or three in her last five! Like the other selections, she has good greens in regulation stats and will not be harmed by the length of the course. She played her first U.S. Women's Open on this course in 1997 and has since finished in the top-20 on all five occasions, including 4th in 1999. This looks a more open event than in previous years and she should certainly feature at some stage.

Matchup plays (1.5 units):

Hee-Won Han to beat Laura Davies -110 @ Bet365
Apart from a 2nd place finish at the Ladies Irish Open against a much weaker field, Davies has struggled over the past few months. As a result, Han has a 5-1-0 h2h lead over the past three months and has the game to among the leaders this week. Can't see Davies being in the frame this week.

Angela Stanford to beat Pat Hurst -111 @ BetandWin
Have consistently, and profitable, opposed Hurst and will do so again this week. He has not had a top-10 finish in her last seven events and since finishing 4th in this event in 1997, she has steadily finished lower down the leaderboard each year. Stanford's record in this event is not impressive, but she had finished in the top-10 at the Kellogg-Keebler Classic earlier in the month before she won last week. In this form, she should certainly have her best U.S. Open to date.

Catriona Matthew to beat Pat Hurst -118 @ Centrebet
Matthew does have a good event history - two top-10 finishes in the last four years - and has been in even better form than Stanford and for longer. She may not have won an event this year, but she has been a very consistent contender and this week should be no different.

Becky Morgan to beat Michelle Wie -154 @ Expekt
Opposed Wie last week and will do so again. She was suffering from her victory in the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links and has had little chance to recharge the batteries, physical and mental, for this week. It also makes it easier when the selection has finished in the top-10 in four of her last five events.

No 1st round plays.

2nd round plays (1.5 units):

Donna Andrews to beat Mhairi McKay -120 @ Five Dimes
Stephanie Louden to beat Ashli Bunch -115 @ Five Dimes
Catriona Matthew to beat Cristie Kerr -139 @ Five Dimes

2nd round update: 1-2-0; -2.03 units

Andrews/McKay LOST by 2
Louden/Bunch LOST by 1
Matthew/Kerr WON by 3

Mid-point update:

Han/Davies WON by 2
Stanford/Hurst WON by 12
Matthew/Hurst WON by 8
Morgan/Wie Trails by 3

Ochoa 31st
Park 43rd
Kane 43rd

Won three of four matchups at the cut, but offset by 2nd round losses and some sharp movements down the leaderboard by the outright selections. They will find it hard to catch up on this course, so will need Morgan to beat Wie to gain some respectability for this week's efforts.

3rd round plays (1.5 units unless stated):

Angela Stanford to beat Natalie Gulbis -126 @ Five Dimes
Juli Inkster to beat Patricia Meunier-Lebouc -132 @ Five Dimes
Leta Lindley to beat Alison Nicholas -122 @ Five Dimes [3 units]

3rd round update: 2-0-1; + 4.50 units

Stanford/Gulbis WON by 3
Inkster/Meunier-Lebouc TIED (Push)
Lindley/Nicholas WON by 6

4th round plays (1.5 units):

Angela Stanford to beat Natalie Gulbis -125 @ Five Dimes
Jeong Jang to beat Hilary Lunke -125 @ Five Dimes
Suzann Pettersen to beat Mhairi McKay -125 @ Five Dimes

4th round update: 1-0-2; +1.50 units

Stanford/Gulbis WON by 4
Jang/Lunke TIED (Push)
Pettersen/McKay TIED (Push)

Final update:

Matchups: 3-1-0; +2.19 units

Morgan/Wie LOST by 2

18-holes: 4-2-3; +3.97 units

Outrights: 0-3; -4.50 units

Ochoa 13th
Park 10th
Kane 22nd

Small profit on the event due to the matchups and 18-hole plays. All three outright plays finished in the top-25 but were never in the hunt for a top-5 finish.