This week, the LPGA shifts its focus to lovely California, a sunshine-drenched state the Tour has called home for decades.
One of the association’s most beloved sponsors, Kia, is set to host the Kia Classic at Park Hyatt Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, where Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist is the defending champion. Last year, Nordqvist carded a final-round 67 to edge Lizette Salas by a stroke and claim her fourth career LPGA win, joining Beatriz Recari (2013), Yani Tseng (2012), Sandra Gal (2011) and Hee Kyung Seo as past champions.
There’s a good chance Seo or one of her fellow Republic of Korea countrywomen will reign supreme this weekend, especially considering players from the Asian nation have won five of the season’s first six events. On Sunday, 19-year-old rookie Hyo Joo Kim won her second career LPGA event – along with the 2014 Evian Championship as a KLPGA member – at the JTBC Founders Cup with a two-stroke victory over reigning Rolex Player of the Year Stacy Lewis.
Kim and Lewis are both teeing it up this week as part of a star-studded field that includes the likes of Na Yeon Choi, Shanshan Feng, world No. 1 Lydia Ko, Inbee Park and Suzann Pettersen. In addition, all past champions are playing this week, as well as last year’s runner-up, Salas.
Nordqvist’s final-round 67 last year matched the lowest round for a Kia Classic champion, so the course isn’t exactly a birdie-fest waiting to be dominated. Gal holds the tournament record of -16 from 2011, and she should be one to watch this weekend.
Not only is the Kia Classic the second of a three-week stretch for the LPGA, but it is also players’ last chance to tune up their games before the first major of the season, next week’s ANA Inspiration in Rancho Mirage, Calif. If anyone is having issues with their games now, they’d better iron things out this week if they want to contend for major glory.
A number of players are rounding into form at this point of the season, and the Kia Classic’s par-72, 6,593-yard course should be a good match for those who are on top of their games. Golf Channel viewers – who can tune in between 6-9 p.m. ET starting on Thursday – should see a blend of great birdies and solid up-and-downs for par this weekend.
The biggest question is if anyone can halt the dominance displayed by players who hail from the Republic of Korea, and it should be a heck of a lot of fun to watch.
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