Nine Bridges Classic

FINAL RESULT: 0-3; -4.50pts

Han 10th
Ahn 10th
Kang 14th

Would never have picked the wire-to-wire winner, Jee Young Lee, but had been hopeful of Han and Ahn picking up a top-5 place finish as they both started the final round inside the top-10. Quite an amazing week from Kang. She opened with a 81 to lie in last place after round one, but then improved by 14 shots in the 2nd round. A lost opportunity as an opening 76 would have seen her finish in the top-5 and an opening 72 would have seen her in a playoff.

Outright plays (total stake per play: 1.5pts)

Hee-Won Han to win 25/1 e.w. @ Ladbrokes
There has been a home winner in the three years of this event and that is predicted to continue this year. First up is Han, who is one of the form players on the LPGA Tour, finishing 1st and 2nd in her last two LPGA Tour events. Add in a top-5 finish on the Korean LPGA Tour two weeks ago and the home player looks set to be much more competitive than these odds predict. Her course form is not too good, but she has only approached this event once (last year) in any sort of form and then it was unlike her current run. Either way, 25/1 is much too large for such a player.

Shi Hyun Ahn to win 33/1 e.w. @ Ladbrokes
No worries about course form with Ahn. She earned her LPGA Tour Card by winning this event in 2003 and came back to finish 4th last year. She may be winless in the last two years on the LPGA Tour, but she does have a good record of top-5 finishes, including a noticeable improvement in her form in the last month on the LPGA Tour: 10th, 13th and 5th in that time. Add in a 2nd place finish on the Korean LPGA Tour last year and there is certainly value here.

Soo-Yun Kang to win 40/1 e.w. @ Ladbrokes
Another who has made a big improvement in her form recently is Kang. She won the Safeway Classic in August and followed that with finishes of 6th and 2nd in her next two starts. Like the other selections, she has returned home to South Korea in the last few weeks and played well on the home Tour, finishing 6th last week and that should be no surprise: she is a multiple winner of the KLPGA Money List. With top-10 finishes in the last two years here, this should be yet another good performance in South Korea from Kang. There is 50/1 widely available for her to win, but I'll take the lower odds at Ladbrokes who are the only ones to offer place terms of 1/4 1-2-3-4-5.