Things are shaping up nicely
The 2017 Sime Darby LPGA promises to be the best yet and In-Gee is among those with a decent shot at the title.
THE CIMB Classic might not yet be over, but already the preparations for the Sime Darby LPGA Tournament, also to be hosted at TPC Kuala Lumpur, are well in hand and nicely poised for another entertaining sports spectacle.
The US PGA Tour’s CIMB Classic is scheduled to be concluded today on the West course. The women’s event has, since its inception in 2010, been played on the
East course.
The announcement of two of the leading drawcards in the ladies’ game, Chun In-Gee and Paula Creamer, has only served to further heighten the anticipation of the US$1.8mil tournament, which will again feature the LPGA’s leading stars.
“We are expecting no fewer than 15 of the world’s top-20 in the field this year,” said TPC Kuala Lumpur chief executive officer and Tournament Committee chairman Steven Thiekle.
“And as we draw closer to the date when the action gets under way, you can feel the energy building up and the excitement growing.
“As things stand at the moment, everything is pointing to the best tournament in the eight years we have hosted the event,” added Thiekle.
“This year, while we aim to ensure that the golf is of the best quality, we are also cultivating a series of activities and programmes with a view to making a visit here for the whole family an entertaining and fun-filled one.
“There might still be a week and a half to go, but we have already put in place a number of things that will help us ensure the excitement is non-stop, on and off the course.”
World number one So Yeon Ryu and Sung Hyun Park, her South Korean compatriot who is second in the rankings and US Women’s Open champion, headline a field that will also feature defending champion Shanshan Feng of China, and crowd favourites Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand, American Michelle Wie, New Zealander Lydia Ko, Canadian Brooke Henderson, who won the McKayson New Zealand Women’s Open two weeks ago, and
Evia Championship winner Anna Nordqvist.
Also in the line-up and operating under the radar will be Korean In-Gee, a five-time runner-up this season and a player primed to pick up her third LPGA Tour title.
Such is In-Gee’s pedigree that her two wins on Tour are both Majors – the 2016 Evian Championship and the 2015 US Women’s Open, of which the latter she won as a non-member of the Tour.
In-Gee was crowned the 2016 Rolex Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year and picked up the Vare Trophy (for scoring average).
She features in eight of the top-10 stats list this year. Her scoring average of 69.45 puts her in third place.
She tops the Rounds Under Par category with 53 and is also third in Greens in Regulation (76.70 %).
A good showing next week would not be a surprise. In fact, she is widely expected to do well in her debut at TPC Kuala Lumpur.
After the second round of the LPGA Keb Hana Bank Championship in Incheon in her homeland on Friday, she was T2.
Of course, In-Gee is but one player among a hatful who have more than a good chance of laying their hands on the silverware and that’s really what makes this event so intriguing.
And as we await the conclusion of one big tournament, we also look forward to another.