State Farm Classic Preview

The ladies visit the Illinois capital for the 36^th (and perhaps final?) time for the LPGA State Farm Classic.  Panther Creek Country Club serves as the venue for the fifth straight year.  Cristie Kerr edged out Na Yeon Choi and Anna Nordqvist by one shot in last year's weather-delayed edition which ran over into Monday.

The uncertainty about the event's future stems from State Farm's decision not to renew its sponsorship, which has been in place since 1993.  This is one event whose loss would be sorely felt, as the Springfield stop is the third longest-running one still on Tour (to Rancho Mirage, CA and Portland, OR).

Panther Creek has admirably carried on the low-scoring tradition established by The Rail, with all four hosted events averaging under par 72.  Last year's tournament had the lowest average of any 2010 full-field event, even lower than the Jamie Farr where par was 71.  Wind seems to be the only serious defense that this course has and even when the wind does blow, it usually accompanies rain which makes the greens even more receptive.  The last eleven champions in this event have averaged 18.64 under par (67.34 per round) so if you want to win, you'd better have a 63 or a couple of 65s in you.  But even that's no guarantee - Hee Young Park shot 67-69-69-63 last year and finished fourth while Sun Young Yoo broke 70 all four days and finished T11, six shots behind Kerr.

150 players tee it up again this week and as a group, they are only slightly less talented than at ShopRite.  Inbee Park and Karine Icher are absent for the second straight week but you can add Ai Miyazato to that list this time around.  This is the final tune-up for the year's second and third majors, as the LPGA Championship is two weeks away and the U.S. Open is two weeks after that.

Panther Creek's wide open fairways and length seem to favor the long hitters but you'd never know it by looking at the last four champions.  Cristie Kerr is the longest of the bunch (In-Kyung Kim, Ji Young Oh, Sherri Steinhauer) but even she's no Bomber.  Hmmm, maybe skill with the flat stick is key here....