State Farm Classic Preview

For the 35^th consecutive year, the LPGA visits Springfield, Illinois for the State Farm Classic.  Panther Creek Country Club is the venue for the fourth time (The Rail hosted the first 31 Classics).  In-Kyung Kim won her second career title at last year's event, defeating Se Ri Pak by one stroke.

Panther Creek has yielded an average score below par each of the three times it has hosted this tournament, making it a bona fide scoring haven.  I'm not slamming that distinction (The Rail was the same way), just getting you prepared for the onslaught of 65s and 66s you're going to see.  Unless the wind is howling, the cut will be under par.  Known as a long-yardage course with wide fairways, Panther Creek's three champions don't exactly fit the description of players you might think would do well here.  Kim, Ji Young Oh and Sherri Steinhauer are certainly NOT bombers.

While checking out the official tournament site, I came across an interesting promotion.  Situated beside the 18^th green, the Michelob Ultra Birdie Bar will award anybody in the Bar a free Michelob Ultra whenever anybody birdies 18.  18 is supposed to be the toughest hole on the course but if I was on-site this week, you would know exactly where to find me! Of course you might have trouble understanding my recap at the end of the day.

We're still missing Paula Creamer from the field (maybe she'll be back for ShopRite) and Suzann Pettersen is also passing this one by.  Seon Hwa Lee and Lindsey Wright return to LPGA action for the first time since Kraft Nabisco - Lee's been playing in Japan while Wright seems to have been inactive.  Thanks to the field being expanded to 150, the cutoff point for making the field is the lowest of the season, giving Young-A Yang, Dorothy Delasin, Jackie Gallagher-Smith and Paola Moreno a second opportunity to play in 2010, and Christi Cano and Jamie Hullett their first.  None of these players have earned any money so far and this might be their last chance to improve their status.  Without the expanded field, those six players would have been required to Monday qualify - now the two spots available there will go to players even more in need of them.  UPDATE:  Ashli Bunch and Lee Ann Walker-Cooper earned the Monday qualifying spots.

Not much I can say about my recent picks (that's printable, anyway) that I haven't already said.  Besides, this preview is long enough already.