Tipster: Stanley

Safeway International

Outright plays (1.5pts):

Grace Park to win 12/1 e.w. @ Paddy Power
No American player has won this tournament since 1993 and there is a very strong chance that this streak will continue for at least another year. Annika Sorenstam may be approaching the odds that Tiger achieved during his winning run in 2000, but there is little value there. Instead, some of the Seoul Sisters appear to present a decent chance of securing a place finish at the very least. After the short, open course of last week's event, the Safeway International is played on a more traditional length course for the LPGA Tour (6,600 yards) but with only 20 acres of fairway on the Prospector course at Superstition Mountain, this is a very much tighter course than usual. That really doesn't suit Park's more powerful game, but it is hard to argue against a record of eleven consecutive top-10 finishes. She earned her fourth 2nd place finish in her last seven starts last week and will surely break through for another win sooner rather than later. She finished 2nd last year in this event.

Mi-Hyun Kim to win 40/1 e.w. @ SkyBet and Paddy Power
Kim didn't play last year, but she did finish 3rd in 2002 at the Moon Valley Country Club. This course is slightly longer, but the emphasis on straight driving and, as with all Nicklaus courses, greens in regulation will suit Kim for more than last week's event where she still managed to finish 8th. Can't see her winning in this company, but at these odds, it would still be a very nice return for a top-5 finish. Available at 50/1 wit Stan James, but the loss of a place is important with this player.

Hee-Won Han to win 50/1 e.w. @ SkyBet
Han did play last year and finished 3rd alongside Sorenstam and behind Park so she completes a trio of players who have at least good memories of this event. As with Kim, her game is more focused on straight hitting off the tee and onto the greens, so she should be suited to this course. A top-30 finish last week will hopefully have blown the cobwebs off her game following the three-month off-season and it mirrored her start last year when she played so well in the 2nd week of the season (this event). Despite the very strong field, these seem large odds for a player who won twice in 2003.

Final update: 1-2; -1.50pts

Park 3rd
Kim 62nd
Han mc

Small loss as the latter two players failed to feature beyond the first round. Yet another top-5 finish from Park. Another good performance after the first round left her wit too much ground to make up on the leaders.