Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia Preview

The LPGA begins its annual fall Asian Swing this week in a new locale at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia.  Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club will host the first-ever Tour event in this Southeast Asian nation.  KLGCC is a short track with lots of water in play, especially at the par-3 15^th hole which features one of those always exciting island greens.  Expect the weather to be hot and very humid - Wikipedia reports that average high temps in October reach 90 degrees and this is also the first month of monsoon season.

Golf Channel will air two hours of tape-delayed coverage each day, presumably edited down from the Australian TV feed like they did for Thailand and HSBC earlier this year.  Sometimes this arrangement works out well, sometimes it doesn't.  I feel like it often comes down to how competent or interested a video editor GC has on site that morning.  I shouldn't complain; at least we get some coverage.

The Top 50 players on the money list as of October 5 make the field plus ten sponsor's exemptions.  All of my Top 10 are here minus Paula Creamer (playing in Japan this week) but a few of the 11-20 range (notably Karrie Webb and Morgan Pressel) chose to play CVS and pass on the quick time change that playing here would require.  Beatriz Recari didn't mind the potential jet lag - she's here on a sponsor's exemption trying to follow up her CVS victory.  All told, it's a strong group befitting the $1.8 million limited-field purse.