One of my favorite events, the Klinger Klassic in Toledo will be contested for the 25^th time beginning Thursday.  Paula Creamer blitzed the field in the first two rounds last year, starting off 60-65, and held on to win by two shots over Nicole Castrale.  Paula injured her left thumb during Wegmans so it remains to be seen if she will be able to defend her title as well as she would like.

Over the last few years, Highland Meadows has been the most consistent course on Tour scoring-wise with less than a 0.6 stroke difference between its high/low marks since 2005.  It's not a pushover by any stretch, either - with par at 71, the average has always been between a half and a full stroke over par.  A fine "veteran" course of average length.

Last year's tournament was held near the end of a long consecutive-week stretch in the LPGA schedule and many top players passed it up to prep for the upcoming European swing.  Not so this year - with the U.S. Open next week, the Farr is the unofficial warmup event for the year's third major.  Lorena Ochoa is here for the first time since 2004, after paying the 1-in-4 fine for missing last year.  Karrie Webb and Mi Hyun Kim are the only HD Top 40 players not in Toledo so the Field Score of 95 obliterates last year's 34.  Only three '08 events had lower Field Scores than the Farr but only two '09 events have been higher.  If you've been reading my tournament previews faithfully, you've probably spotted a related trend this year - I'll be posting in depth about that topic soon.

As I mentioned last week this is Event #14 so the money list standings following the Farr will adjust Categories 13-21 of the Priority list for the second time this year, officially effective for Evian but in actuality effective for Safeway at the end of August.  The field cutoff is about ten spots lower than I anticipated, giving Maggie Will, Paige Mackenzie, Na Ri Kim, Brandie Burton, Brandi Jackson, Jackie Gallagher-Smith and Michelle Ellis a second "last chance" at improving their status.  I hope they take advantage.

Se Ri Pak has a record of great success at Highland Meadows (five wins and four other Top 10s over the last 11 years) and has played pretty well in recent weeks.  Do I repeat my 2007 prediction of a Pak victory, even with the strength of this field?  Nope.