Musical chairs for No 1 in ladies’ game

BEDMINSTER: A highly unpredictable LPGA season careers into Trump National with no clear favourite for the most prized trophy and richest event in women’s golf at the US Women’s Open starting on Thursday.

As organisers wondered whether US President Donald Trump will show up at his course to soak in the major championship atmosphere, handicappers struggled to pinpoint who will emerge among contenders at the US$5 million (RM21.5 million) event.

Ryu So-yeon, Ariya Jutanugarn and Lydia Ko took turns as number one in the world rankings over a period of four weeks in June, while 15 different players cashed the winner’s check at the first 15 LPGA Tour events for the first time in 26 years.

Lexi Thompson is ranked number three, ahead of Ko, with Chun In-gee of South Korea, the 2015 champion, at number five.

“The girls that are one, two, three right now, they’re playing such amazing golf and you can see that we’ve had 17 different winners out of the 18 events and just shows the amount of talent on the LPGA right now,” said fourth-ranked Ko.

Ariya ended the 85-week reign at number one by Ko after winning a three-way playoff against Thompson and Chun at the Manulife LPGA Classic on June 12.

Two weeks later South Korean Ryu leap-frogged the Thai into top spot by winning the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship and becoming the season’s first multiple winner.

Softened by thunderstorms this week, the 6,732-yard course could favour long hitters but the huge greens could put a premium on putting.

Other leading contenders include Danielle Kang, whose triumph two weeks ago at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship marked her maiden tour win, and fellow American defending champion Brittany Lang.

Lang, who has three other top10 finishes in the Open, has struggled this season but seems to save her best for this event. Reuters