With all due respect to my partner at styledtoatee.com, Robert Lohrer, I had to be the one to give you a preview of the Ricoh Women’s British Open at Sunningdale Golf Club.
See, having a tournament named after you gives you special insight into the upcoming event. Energies align, creating a unique clairvoyance not normally available to the everyday fan. So without further ado and without burying the lead any further, here’s who’s going to win the WBO this year: Annika Sorenstam.
Ok, there it is. Now I can talk about the setting, backdrop and what else to expect this week. Sunningdale, about 30 miles west of London, is a parkland course. So unlike tournaments held at links courses on the coasts and in Scotland, this will probably not be a rain- and windswept affair. Expect American players to fare slightly better on par than they do in previous WBOs. Scoring will be generally lower as well, and for that reason my second choice for the week is Paula Creamer.
But it will be a very stiff competition. It’s a veritable who’s who of women’s golf. The top 30 players in the world are competing. There are former champions at Sunningdale like Karie Webb, Se Ri Pak and Britain’s own Karen Stupples. The hometown faithful will also be cheering on Laura Davies, who is playing in her 60th consecutive major championship — a record — and, with a win, will be instantly eligible for the LPGA Hall of Fame. But that honorarium will probably have to wait, because if there is a winner coming from outside of the top-five players it will probably come from the strong Asian contingent in the field.
There are Japan’s leading golfers Yukari Baba, Yuri Fudoh, Miki Saiki, Ai Miyazato, Momoko Ueda and Sakura Yokomine. And the Korean women who have been dominating LPGA leaderboards: Na Yeong Choi, Heewan Han, Jeong Jang, Eun Hee Ji, Jimin Kang, Mihyun/Song hee/Sua/Young and In-Kyung Kim, Jee young/Seon hwa/Jihee/Sarah (what’s she doing in this list?)/Seo-jae/and Meena Lee and not to be forgotten Inbee/Hee young/Grace and Gloria Park.
All those names having been said, my third-place pick is Yani Tseng, a Taiwanese who has had a phenomenal season and will want one more win if only to reassert the independence Taiwan is seeking from China and be a prickly thorn grabbing media attention ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games.
So at this point you are probably asking: What about the defending champion and world’s No. 1, Lorena Ochoa? My response: What about her? She’s a great player but my sense is the demands that go with being in that top spot are weighing on her a bit. Her game has recently shown a few kinks in the armor. Not permanent damage, mind you. The blacksmith will certainly make repairs and she will probably hold off Annika Sorenstam for player of the year in 2008, but she’s not winning the British. In fact, it will take a last round surge to put her in fourth. That’s all I’m going to say. It’s hard enough to pick the top four players in one tournament. — Rico Williams
[Editor's Note: Robert (jingoist that he is) picks the American, Cristie Kerr.]