A look at some of the top player picks for the Kia Classic, the fifth tournament of the 2013 LPGA season which begins Thursday at the Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, Calif.:
| Top 3: | |
| - Stacy Lewis: With the roll that Stacy Lewis is on you can’t pick against the new World No. 1: Two consecutive wins … three straight events in contention (T3, first and first) … nine consecutive rounds under par, seven of those in the 60s. And as if she needs more incentive, Lewis has never shot lower than 72 in three years of the Kia Classic, with a best finish of T24. | |
| - Jiyai Shin: Shin has already won once this season, at the first event, the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open. She’s coming off a 66 in the final round of last week’s RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup and has finishes of T3, 2 and T3 in the Kia Classic. | |
| - Jessica Korda: Korda gained lots of attention by winning in Australia at age 18 to begin the 2012 season. But the now 20-year-old has been much more consistent to begin this season, including T5 and T4 finishes the last two weeks. She is riding a streak of nine consecutive rounds at par or better and finished off last week with rounds of 69-66. A new site for this year’s Kia Classic may also help her get over missed cuts in her previous two appearances at the Southern California event. | |
| Darkhorse | |
| - Catriona Matthew: Matthew has had a solid start to the season with two top-10s in three starts. She makes her American season debut this week and has had two top-10s at the Kia Classic. | |
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