CN Canadian Women’s Open Preview

For the first time, the Canadian LPGA event (until 2000, the du Maurier Classic) is being held at Hillsdale Golf & Country Club in Mirabel, Quebec.  The course is a mystery to me as I can find no information on par or yardage anywhere, even the official tournament website.  I guess we'll find out Thursday morning.

So Yeon Ryu is the only member of my current Top 40 not playing, giving the CWO a tie with the U.S. Open for the highest Field Score so far this year.  With the second-highest purse of any non-major on the Tour, the Canadian Open has now drawn an outstanding field (90+) for the third year in a row.

The Canadian field is the largest of the year - 156 players strong - but the cutoff point for the LPGA is relatively high.  Four players were admitted from Monday qualifying and 16 slots are reserved for sponsor's exemptions, which mostly go to Canadian players who would otherwise not be eligible.  They're not all native daughters of course - Lexi Thompson snagged one of the sponsor invites.

Not to beat a long-dead horse but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that this event was the one where the Shi Hyun Ahn/IlMi Chung wrong ball situation occurred last year.  No suspensions were ever handed down but Chung has played only three LPGA events since then and none at all in 2011.  Ahn has made 13 starts since with a couple of T20s being her best finishes.  She's missed five cuts in nine starts this year.  I don't really have a point to make here, but I do think it's a shame that a Google search of "IlMi Chung" brings up six references to last year's CWO on the very first page.