Mizuno Classic Preview

The final segment of the fall's Asian Swing is the Tour's 38^th visit to the Land of the Rising Sun, the Mizuno Classic.  Kintetsu Kashikojima Country Club (that's the final time I'm going to fully type that out for at least twelve months) is the venue for the fifth straight year.  Bo Bae Song, a Korean who plays regularly on the JLPGA Tour, won last year's Mizuno by three shots over Lorena Ochoa, Hee Young Park and Brittany Lang.

Kin-Kash CC (see, I told you) is a bit longer than the average layout but has always played to lower-than-average scores.  In fact, the number listed above for 2007 is the only time I have recorded where the Mizuno average was not under par.  The forecast is sunny with highs only in the mid-60s so we might have our second Classic with an average above 72.

The LPGA money list as of October 5 (oddly enough, a week earlier than for Hana Bank) was used to determine the Tour's 44 participants.  As you can see from the Field Score, the Mizuno field is the weakest of this year's three Swing events.  Most of the absentees are in the Ochoa Invitational field next week so they have headed back to North America to get acclimated.  Many of the stars who are here skipped Korea; Yani Tseng and Ai Miyazato most prominently.  34 JLPGA players are also teeing it up in this co-sanctioned event.  For much greater detail on the ladies from Japan, check out the recent postings by The Constructivist at Mostly Harmless - he is the web's premier English-speaking authority on the Japanese tour.

The last three Mizuno winners have been non-members of the Tour - Song, Jiyai Shin and Momoko Ueda - and there are certainly several JLPGA candidates in the field who could make it four straight.  I'm going to buck that trend and pick the LPGA superstar who has lots of experience winning in this country.