Top Storylines from the Canadian Pacific Women's Open

TOP STORYLINES

KO LOOKING FOR THREE-PEAT
It’s been the Lydia Ko Show here in Canada the last two years with Ko’s first win coming in 2012 as just as 15-year-old amateur. She again won last year in Canada as an amateur before turning pro late last fall. In her rookie season on Tour in 2014, the 17-year-old phenom has already won twice - the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic and Marathon Classic Presented by Owens Corning and O-I - and comes to London looking for a three-peat. Ko arrives fresh off a solo third at the Wegmans LPGA Championship - her second best career finish in a major.

Ko isn’t the only past champion of this event arriving on a tear. Brittany Lincicome - the last champion not named Ko here - lost in a playoff last weekend in Rochester after bogeying the last hole. Suzann Pettersen (2009 champion) finished in a tie for 6th and Meena Lee (2005 champion) finished in a tie for 11th but contended until fading Sunday. Katherine Kirk (2008), Cristie Kerr (2006), and Laura Davies are other past champions in the field this week.

Canada’s national championship has been played since 1973 but returns to the prestigious London Hunt and Country Club for the first time since Kerr’s win here in 2006.

THE WINNERS CIRCLE
20 tournaments into the 2014 LPGA season, and the Tour has already seen seven winners win twice or more. Stacy Lewis leads the pack with three wins, but Jessica Korda, Michelle Wie, Anna Nordqvist, Karrie Webb, Lydia Ko, and Inbee Park all now have multiple wins in 2014. And those winners hail from all over the globe - the United States, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea, respectively.

All seven are in the field this week, except Wie - the 2010 champion in this event - who is out with a finger injury. The field strength isn’t just limited to the winners either with 18 of the top-20 players in the world in attendance this week.

THE INBEE OF OLD
Inbee Park enjoyed one of the greatest seasons in women’s golf history in 2013, winning six tournaments and the season’s first three majors. She knew that was always going to be difficult to replicate but even she was disappointing to find herself without an appearance in the winner’s circle five months into the season.

She corrected that in early June with a win in Canada at the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic up the road in Waterloo, and she’s been on a tear ever since her victory in Canada. She lost the championship on the final five holes at the Ricoh Women’s British Open but still finished fourth, lost in a playoff two weeks ago at the Meijer LPGA Classic Presented by Kraft, and then atoned for her post-round errors with a clutch playoff victory at the Wegmans LPGA Championship to secure her fifth major championship.

Park did it in the most dramatic of fashions, draining a clutch birdie on the 17th hole and then nailing a 20-foot par putt on 18 to post 11-under-par in the clubhouse. She had to wait and watch as Brittany Lincicome three-putted from just off the green to push it to a playoff. Park again made par on the 18th to take the victory.

CANADIANS IN THE FIELD
14 Canadians will tee it up in Canada’s national championship Thursday. The most heralded, though, might be the amateur of the group - 16-year-old Brooke Henderson. Henderson, the world’s No. 2 ranked amateur, finished runner-up at the U.S. Women’s Amateur and has a host of impressive finishes in the professional ranks including a tie for 10th at the U.S. Women’s Open. She also made the cut at the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic and the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Other Canadians in the field include Jennifer Kirby, Natalie Gleadall, Samantha Richdale, Lorie Kane, Sara Maude-Juneau, Nicole Vandermade, Maude-Aimee Leblanc, Jennifer Ha (a), Jessica Wallace, Sue Kim, Rebecca Lee-Bentham, Alena Sharp and Erica Rivard.

           

QUICK FACTS

August 21 - August 24
Canadian Pacific Women’s Open
London Hunting & Country Club
London, Ontario, Canada

Field: 150 (145 professionals, 5 amateurs)       
Par: 72
Yardage: 6,656
Purse: $2,225,000
            Winner:  $333,750
Defending Champion: Lydia Ko

Qualifiers (4)
Emma Jandel - 70 (-2)
Jillian Hollis (a) - 70 (-2)
Elizabeth Tong (a) - 71 (-1)
Emma De Groot - 72 (E)
           
Rolex Rankings
Top 10: 9/10
Top 20: 18/20

2014 LPGA Official Money List
Top 10: 9/10
Top 20: 19/20