Grand China Air LPGA Preview

The 2008 Asian swing begins with our second straight inaugural event, the Grand China Air LPGA.  This is the first time an official LPGA event has been contested in China.  With no U.S. television coverage available, the online leaderboard will be our primary source of information.  Keep in mind though - China is 12 hours ahead of EDT so your scoreboard watching will be at odd hours.  Unless of course, you live closer to that side of the Earth.  I often forget (probably because it's just so mind-boggling) that I have readers from around the world.  The Interwebs are so incredible!

For those of us who aren't familiar with Chinese geography, Wikipedia tells me that Haikou is located on Hainan Island in the southern-most part of the country.  Weather.com tells me that temps are expected in the low 80s with high humidity this week, and scattered thunderstorms are in the weekend's forecast.  Sounds like Thailand minus about ten degrees.  The three-year-old Hainan West course will probably not play at the posted 6887 yards - at sea level, the ladies would probably need par to be 74 for that distance.  The course website has an outstanding hole-by-hole map which gives the yardage to hazards from each tee box plus distance from the green-center at multiple points.

The field is a very good one for being so far from the States.  No Ochoa or Creamer but Annika Sorenstam is here, along with Yani Tseng, Cristie Kerr, Suzann Pettersen and 18 other players ranked in my Top 30.  The players seem to be embracing Asia nearly as much as the Tour has been in recent months.  The 62-player field includes 10 local sponsor exemptions of whom I frankly know nothing about.  Given their sheer volume, don't be surprised if one or two of the locals make a run at the Top 10, at least through Saturday.

I won't be picking any local Chinese to win nor will I be picking Shanshan Feng, though a Top 10 from Feng should be expected.  This is the last chance for Suzann Pettersen to retain her title of Miss October, so I choose her this week.  In-Kyung Kim and Cristie Kerr are my CYAs.

Stats:  Winners 6-29 (10-29 with CYAs), Top Tens 39-87.