RICOH Women’s British Open Preview

The fabled links of Carnoustie are hosting the ladies for the very first time.  The men's Open Championship has been here seven times, most famously for the 1999 final hole meltdown of Jean Van de Velde.  So if somebody goes to the 72^nd hole with a three-shot lead, keep that spectacle in mind.

Last week I was mildly surprised that Yani Tseng was the oddsmakers' favorite to win, given her lack of Top 10 finishes at Evian.  She finished T12 - make of that what you will.  Not so this week.  She's about a 6-to-1 favorite as defending champion and finished second at Sunningdale in 2008.  Of course recent history suggests that if Yani doesn't win the major-in-question, a player who has never won one will.  Cristie Kerr in last year's LPGA is the lone exception over the last 14 trials and going back to the start of 2007, Lorena Ochoa at the 2008 KNC is the only other.  Who might that newbe be?  Ai Miyazato, In-Kyung Kim, Na Yeon Choi and Angela Stanford would be on the short list, in my opinion.

Last year's runner-up is unfortunately not in the field.  Katherine Hull withdrew prior to the start of Evian due to back problems and is not listed this week either.

Since the predominant theme at all British Opens is weather, here is a link to the Carnoustie forecast at Weather.com.  The rainy days appear to be Thursday and early Friday with the high temps in the mid-60s.  At least the wind doesn't look too bad - until Sunday anyway.