US Women's Open part of "Open" season in US Golf

BY Bruce Young | LPGA Tour | 2004 US Women's Open | Preview | 29 Jun 2004

With the US Open having just been completed, this week sees the turn of the Women to hold their National Open when a field of 156 players tees off on Thursday in South Hadley, Massachussets. In four weeks time the men will line up for the Seniors Open, a month later than normal, completing the big three Open championships under the control of the United States Golf Association (USGA).

This week’s event is being played over the Donald Ross designed Orchards Golf Club, the layout for the women measuring 6473 yards, making it one of the longer courses in recent years. Last year’s Pumpkin Ridge course was the longest ever at 6550 yards. Not many LPGA Tour event courses are longer and when you add the degree of difficulty manufactured by the USGA then this is likely to be one tough test of golf.

The course was opened in 1922 and with Ross the designer, it had good pedigree to set it on its way. Ross’ designs such as Pinehurst and many others built in that same era, have well and truly stood the test of time. He is one of the legendary figures of not only golf course architecture but golf generally in the US.

The defending champion is last year’s surprise winner Hilary Lunke who won a playoff over Kelly Robbins and Angela Stanford at the Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Oregon. Lunke has struggled since with only the odd glimpse off form later in 2003, including her career best round of 67 in Korea. In 2004, 36th has been her best in 11 starts. If she were to win again in 2004 it would almost be as a big a surprise as that in 2003.

The logical favourite is Annika Sorenstam who will be looking to add this title to her LPGA Championship win last month and her six other major championship victories. She was 7th last week and has four wins for the season already. She missed the playoff last year by one and in 2002 was runner up to Juli Inkster. She is ready made for this event and with two US Open trophies already in her cabinet she may well have to make room for one more.

Grace Park is the next best in terms of favouritism, her rapid elevation in the game in the last eighteen months making her a favourite for every event she enters now. She was 10th last year at the Open and with her first major win now behind her (the 2004 Kraft Nabsico), then Park is sure to be there or thereabouts on Sunday. Her 2004 season has been simply outstanding with top twenties in all eleven starts and top tens in six of those. She withdrew late from last week’s event in Pittsford but is lining up on Thursday.

Karrie Webb’s form is a little hard to work out right now. She won four weeks ago in Illinois at the Kellogg Keebler Classic but then had an ordinary week at the LPGA Championship before a solid week two weeks ago at the Shoprite LPGA Classic. It may well be that the rigours of US Open golf will, at this stage, demand too much of a game that has undergone significant swing changes in the last few months. When those alterations are well and truly locked in place however, she will again win the title she has won twice previously.

Juli Inkster has a game and demeanour born for US Open golf. She is such a tough and gritty competitor and one who is playing so well at present that she is sure to be in the firing line on Sunday. Her win in this event two years ago, when she came from behind to beat Sorenstam at Prairie Dunes, was one of the more memorable moments in the history of the LPGA Tour. She has had a solid, if unspectacular, year to date but her 6th, 4th and 14th at her last three starts, suggest she is not far away from her peak. Like Sorenstam, Inkster could go close to making it eight career majors here.

With Lorena Ochoa’s first win out of the way she now looks to her first major and while some may suggest it may be a little premature to consider her a likely US Open winner as yet, she has already shown in the few majors she has played that her game is not far from being able to contend to the death at this level. In the only Open she has completed (she withdrew in 2002) she was 13th last year in Oregon. I like her chances of doing very well here as she has hardly put a foot wrong all year, even her last start 66th is not enough to put me off her chances of a good finish.

Cristie Kerr has proven big event form with a second and fourth in this event in recent years. She was also 13th last year and the manner in which she is playing now, with two wins and a second this season already, indicates that her first major win would be no real surprise. While her accuracy may not be as sharp as would be hoped, she is a good putter and iron player and has a big event mindset.

Se Ri Pak, in a previous year, would have been amongst the top three chosen but she seems a little out of sorts with her game right now. She was the youngest winner of this championship with her victory in 1998 but she does not appear to be playing well enough to contend this year. However, Pak is one tough customer who might just discover a way to find form. In five starts since her win at the Michelob Ultra Open she has struggled and so it will take some sort of turnaround to have her right for this.

Of the others Shi Hyun Ahn, Mi Hyun Kim, Stacy Prammansudh, Laura Davies and Meg Mallon all appear to have chances.

Australasia has its greatest representation ever at the US Women’s Open with twelve Australians and one New Zealander in the field. Karrie Webb heads the list but she is joined by Rachel Teske, Wendy Doolan, Michelle Ellis, Mardi Lunn, Katherine Hull, Loraine Lambert, Joanne Mills, Shani Waugh, Anne Marie Knight, Kylie Pratt and Leah Hart, with Lynette Brooky the only New Zealander.

The purse for the event has increased to US$3,100,000 a jump of US$100,000 on last year and it continues as the number one event and the number one purse in the women’s game. The winner will receive just US$560,000.