The U.S. Women's Open begins Thursday at CordeValle in Northern California. Here are some predictions for the weekend.
Lydia Ko: I wrote about Lydia and how we all need to take notice of what she’s doing at such a young age, and I believe that this major championship above all others could at least fluff up the national attention that she deserves.
Lydia Ko (Kelvin Kuo/USA TODAY Sports)
Lydia isn’t a long player, which normally would hurt her chances at the U.S. Women’s Open (it’s the lone major that Ko has yet to finish top-10 in), but considering CordeValle will be more about approach shots than booming it off the tee, I like Ko’s chances to play to her strengths, despite what history says about this championship. She’s atop the LPGA rankings in putts per green in regulation and putting average, so I’d say even if she misses a few greens each round, she will be able to get the ball in the hole faster than anyone else out there.
Also, a win this week and Ko would have won three of the last four major championships and finished second in the other one. That’s not bad, eh?
Hannah O’Sullivan: She’s going to join the Ko-Brooke Henderson duo at some point when she decides to take on the LPGA full-time, but even now, at just 18, she’s got serious, serious game. O’Sullivan became the youngest champion ever on the Symetra Tour at just 16, and already has plenty of USGA experience under her belt. She made the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open a year ago at just 17, and will look to improve on her T-53 finish this week at CordeValle.
Michelle Wie: I hate to pile on such an ambassador of the game and someone who does seem to enjoy life even when the golf game isn’t there, but it has been a tough, tough go for the former U.S. Women’s Open champion. Wie has missed four of her last five cuts, has yet to card a top-20 finish all season on the LPGA Tour, and has been battling to get 100 percent healthy the last couple of years.
Hannah O'Sullivan (David Cannon/Getty Images)
I believe Wie will be back to the form we are used to when things start clicking again, but it’s tough to find your game on a track that demands you hit fairways (she’s 156th on tour in driving accuracy) and find the putting surfaces to have a real shot at birdies (she’s 138th on tour in GIRs).
11-under par: We haven’t seen a score this low since our own Juli Inkster, who joined me on The Clubhouse podcast this week, shot 16-under in 1999. But I do think this golf course is friendly, and I think the players that are striking the ball cleanly will have a real shot at going low. If the winds stay down, I see something in double-digits winning this championship.
Michelle Wie (Leon Halip/Getty Images)
