Wednesday Preview - Mizuno Classic

The final event of the Asian swing on the LPGA Tour takes place this week as the players head to Japan for the Mizuno Classic.

Course: Kintestsu Kashikojima Country Club, and I absolutely had to use copy and paste for that. Can measure around 6,500 yards. Another birdie or bust course, so expect scores to be very good.

Strength Of Field: D-. This is essentially a really good JLPGA event. Almost all your big name Korean stars are taking the week off, Stacy Lewis is the only American, and several European stand outs are missing. The JLPGA tie-in does provide some interesting names, however.

Extra Tidbits: This is one of the few remaining 54 hole events left on the LPGA schedule, and the last on the Asian swing...This event is the oldest of those on the Asian swing, having been played every year since 1973. Prior to being played at Kashikojima, the event was held at the Seta Golf Course, where Annika Sorenstam would dominate fields five years in a row and break scoring records in the process...This is the truest of the co-sanctioned events, as 35 players from the JLPGA will tee it up this week. A JLPGA player has won this event three times since moving to Kashikojima, including last year...Unfortunately, this event seems immune to the rise in popularity of the LPGA Tour. The purse was reduced by $200,000 in 2010, and hasn't risen since.

Fantasy Four:

Stacy Lewis - With Inbee Park taking the week off, Lewis has the opportunity to slam the door on the Player Of The Year race. Only player in the top 5 on the Rolex Rankings playing this week. Former winner. Everything points to Lewis having a big week.

Teresa Lu - Last year, her victory was a huge surprise, as she had no success on either the LPGA or JLPGA Tours. She has won twice on the JLPGA Tour this season, including a major, so she is entering with added confidence. Currently 38th in the Rolex Rankings.

Na Yeon Choi - Quietly notched six top 10's this season. Hasn't has the best Asian swing, but enters the Mizuno Classic as one of the top ranked players in the field. Should be able to contend here.

Sun-Ju Ahn - Has won five times on the JLPGA Tour, including two weeks in a row back in October. Finished tied for ninth in the Women's British Open. Big hitter should be able to take advantage of a course that won't be too penalizing for wayward shots. Won a major on the JLPGA Tour two years ago by beating Inbee Park in a playoff.

(SLEEPER) Momoko Ueda - Returned to the JLPGA after a less than stellar outing on the LPGA Tour. Win last week should mean a return to confidence for the two time winner of this event. She, along with Jiyai Shin, should be able to show their former LPGA comrades what they learned from their time away. 

Wednesday Preview - WGC-HSBC Champions

Yes! After a slow start to the 2014-2015 PGA Tour season, we finally get a star studded tournament worth getting excited for. The fact that the tournament is held in China shows how that country is emerging as a golfing power.

Course: Sheshan International GC, an incredibly scenic 7,300 yard layout. You are unlikely to find a better golf course throughout Asia. It is not terribly difficult, however, so expect the winning score to be in the high teens, perhaps low 20's under par.

Strength Of Field: A-. 40 of the world's top 50 are in this event. It is missing Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, and Phil Mickelson, but everyone else is here. Perhaps this won't get casual fans on board, but if you are a golf fan (and you're reading a golf blog, so it's reasonable to assume you are), you should be excited about this field.

Extra Tidbits: While this is one of the early events in the PGA Tour season, it is incredibly important for the European Tour pros, as it is the second of four tournaments in the Race To Dubai year end playoffs. It stands to reason that the European Tour pros will have extra motivation this week...The WGC-HSBC Championship is the second highest-ranked golf tournament in terms of world ranking points outside the United States. The Open Championship is first...The winner of this events earned a three year exemption onto the PGA Tour, so non-members will also have that as a motivating factor...Six golfers from China will be in the event, including Lian-Wei Zhang, the first Chinese pro to play at the Masters. Also playing is Hao Tong Li, who is currently second on the Chinese PGA Tour Order Of Merit, so we'll probably be seeing him on the Web.com Tour next year.

Fantasy Four:

NOTE: Before I get into this, I should tell everyone that I originally had Victor Dubuisson as one of my picks, but I was talked out of him. If Dubuisson goes on to win this tournament, I will kick myself right in the jeans.

Jamie Donaldson - Currently second on the European Tour Order Of Merit. Fell a few inches short of the playoff last week at the BMW Masters. Only finish outside the top 10 in his last 5 starts was the World Match Play. Had the winning point for the Europeans at the Ryder Cup. Everything is coming up roses for Donaldson right now. 

Sergio Garcia - His T2 finish in Malaysia proves he can play just about anywhere. His finish last week is his sixth top 10 in nine events, including an astonishing four runner up finishes. Has won somewhere in the world each of the last four years. 

Hiroshi Iwata - Sleeper pick. This is the deepest of sleeper picks, especially in this field, but his recent results warrant a look. Seven top 10's compared to three missed cuts on the Japan Tour this season, including a win. Third on the Japan Tour Order Of Merit. One of his top 10s was at The Crowns, a premier event on the Japan Tour. In these events, there is always a player that rises on the final day and few have heard of, and Iwata fits that mold.

Justin Rose - Finished tied with Donaldson outside that playoff in China. Also finished T4 at the Tour Championship. A brilliant Ryder Cup, where he went 3-0-2, rounds out a great three tournament stretch for the Englishman. Has become a top 10 machine. 

Also taking place this week is the Sanderson Farms Championship. Since it is an alternate field event, I will not be doing a complete breakdown of the event, but I will give my four picks.

Tony Finau - Best rookie in the early going of the season. Opposite field events are great for rookies.

Sung Joon Park - Winner on the Japan Tour made the cut in his only event this season.

Peter Uilhlein - Plays all over the world. Had a down season last year, but seems to be turning it around

Scott Piercy - Has played well in the early going of the season. Appears due to cash in.

Last Week's Team:

Ryo Ishikawa: T26

Hideki Matsuyama: T21

Lee Westwood: T13

Sergio Garcia: T2

News Grab-Bag: 11/4/2014

It's the incredibly rare Tuesday grab-bag, but so much happened yesterday that the iron should be struck while it's hot.

- Dustin Johnson has filed a lawsuit against former advisers, claiming that they embezzled $3 million from him. All of the details are sketchy and involve a lot of legal jargon. You can read it all here. Dustin Johnson has had the absolute worst year ever. First, he takes a leave of absence/is suspended for cocaine use, then he had to battle against previous accusations that he slept with the wives of PGA pros, and now he's being taken for his money and is in the middle of a lawsuit. DJ is engaged to Paulina Gretzky and has a child on the way, so I'm sure he would love nothing more than to turn the page on 2014 and start fresh.

- Adam Scott is doing something rather different to find his next caddie - he's accepting application. Scott said he received hundreds of applications for the position, and he is going to try out a few before making the move to a full time caddie. Unless there is one that really impressed Scott, expect a carousel of caddies for the 2014-2015 season.

- There is a huge election taking place within the PGA of America for secretary, which is the fast track to the presidency. Suzy Whaley is the favorite and is on track to become the first female PGA President, but now she has hit a bit of a road block. Independent director of the PGA and ESPN commentator Dottie Pepper threw her support behind Whaley's opponent Russ Libby. While Pepper's statement cites Libby's leadership and credentials, it's hard not to see this as a swipe at Whaley, who seems just as qualified as anyone to lead this organization. Pepper has always been a free thinker and someone who didn't necessarily conform to the norm, so Whaley should never have counted on Pepper's endorsement as an automatic. Still, it is hard to see Whaley not get the job because of this.

- The leading money winner on PGA Tour China, Xin-Jun Zhang, has been suspended six months for signing incorrect scorecards. That is cards, plural. There are very few details about this story right now, so everything is speculative. What I will say is that, while I always thought being disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard was nuts, if this is something that was persistent throughout the year, then it was more than just a slight mistake. The fact that this is coming from the leading money winner of that tour is an even bigger red flag. The top five on PGA Tour China's Order Of Merit will receive Web.com Tour cards, so Zhang was well on his way to a trip to the US, but that seems to be completely off the table now.

- If the players had a vote, Fred Couples would be the next Ryder Cup captain. Earlier on a radio show, Keegan Bradley begged Fred Couples to take the job. Couples responded, saying that every member of the 2014 Ryder Cup has asked him to be the next captain. Couples has already said he would take the job if asked. The only people that need to be convinced now are the PGA of America and that newly formed, completely unnecessary task force.

- South Korean president Park Geun-hye has accepted the role of honorary chairperson for the 2015 Presidents Cup. The United States presidents have had a history of accepting this role when the event is held in the US, but this is news as Park will be the first Asian head of state serving in this capacity. She is also the second woman to serve as honorary chairperson, after Julia Gillard of Australia did so in 2011. The honorary chairperson actually has no real duties - this is just a symbolic position.

Inbee Holds Of Stacy In In A Battle Of The Best

- After jumping out to a monster lead, Inbee Park held on to win the Fubon LPGA Championship the same week she took over the top spot in the Rolex Rankings. Heading into Sunday, I was wondering if Inbee was going to break the LPGA scoring record, but the conditions became more difficult and was not nearly as comfortable as she was the rest of the week. Still, Inbee showed that she can close the door when she needs to, and now she has her third victory on the season and has suddenly made the Player of the Year race a lot more interesting.

- The golf writers wanted a rivalry, and now we have one. When Stacy Lewis got within one of Inbee on Sunday, a part of me thought Lewis was going to leap past Inbee and take this tournament from her. This was incredibly entertaining to watch, and the LPGA is better when these two are competing against each other on a week to week basis. Is this the greatest LPGA rivalry in recent memory? It's certainly the best we've seen since Annika Sorenstam and Se Ri Pak of the late 90's and early 2000's.

- It wasn't just the top two in the Rolex Rankings that performed well in Taiwan. Lydia Ko had the round of the day Sunday, shooting a 66 in the worst conditions of the week to vault her up the leaderboard and finish third. That means the top three players in the Rolex Rankings finishes 1-2-3 on the leaderboard. I can not remember another time when the top three players in the Rolex Rankings finished on the leaderboard in the same order they were placed in the Rankings.

- There is something about Malaysia that agrees with Ryan Moore. After struggling down the stretch last year and missing the cut in his first event this season, Moore returned to Malaysia and put on an absolute clinic, defending the title by three shots after hitting some absolutely beautiful shots. Moore has always been the kind of player that can pull out victories the moment you forget about him, but next time the Tour returns to Malaysia, I'm sure he will be on everyone's short list of contenders.

- I hope Kevin Na remains healthy, because if he does, he will start winning a bunch of tournaments. He has the talent to be one of the best players on Tour, but his physical issues have held him back in recent years.

- Davis Love III said recently that he was rededicating himself to playing golf in an effort to get back into the field at the Masters and the Players. Love is 50 years old and two years removed from major neck surgery, but he has no interest in limping around the Champions Tour for a few years. He wants to win on the PGA Tour again, and you can see how this new dedication has lead to improvements in his game. After making the cut at the McGladrey Classic, he flew around to world to Malaysia and notched a top 10. Love will be a story to watch all season.

- After finishing T5 in Malaysia, Sang-Moon Bae has retaken the number one spot in the FedEx Cup. Is he this year's Jimmy Walker? He is certainly better than he was last season, but we will need to see how he performs in China and in Hawaii in January to really know what his season projections should be.

- Three Asian tour players finished in the top 10, granting them a spot in a PGA Tour event (I believe they are pushing it back to the Mayakoba due to travel, but I am not sure.) Congratulations to Cameron Smith, Prom Meesawat, and Angelo Que for making the most out of their invitation into this event. Smith was by far the most consistent and he finished bogey free on Sunday in his first PGA Tour event.

News Grab-Bag: 10/31/2014

Happy Halloween, everyone! What is everyone dressed up as? I'm dressed as a golf blogger who is slowly becoming disheartened with the world. It didn't even involve a chance in clothes!

- Farewell to the old, unsightly tree off the tee box of number six at TPC Sawgress. The tree succumbed to disease and old age and had to be removed. If you ask me, it was about time. The tree was an eyesore, and was only a problem for anyone who mishit their shots high. Normally I am one for obstacles on a golf course, but that tree needed to go.

- Could Gary Player become Tiger Woods' next swing coach? I doubt it, but in a recent interview, Player said Woods could get back to his winning ways if he spent an hour with the Hall of Famer. Player said he wants to pass on some of his knowledge to Woods, and tweak a few minor things with his swing that would ease some of the pressure it puts on Tiger's back. Seeing as Tiger is without a swing coach at the moment and he hasn't won a major since 2008, I would, at the very least, pick up the phone if Player made the call. The worst thing that could happen for Tiger is that he wastes an hour of his time.

- The next Ryder Cup captain appears to be down to two players - Paul Azinger and Fred Couples. The arguments for both are a mile long, and it got even longer with Couples' interview this week. When asked how he would turn things around, Couples suggested adding "fun" to the proceedings. Couples reminisced about his President's Cup victories and said it was helped primarily to the fact that the players were able to play without much pressure on them. Both Couples and Azinger have indicated that they would take the job if they were asked.

- How about that for luck? For the second time in eight days, Danielle Kang scored a hole in one in LPGA competition, and in doing so, won her second car. She will leave Asia (barring another hole in one) with a Buick LaCrosse and an Audi A6. It was also Kang's third hole in one on the season, tying the LPGA record of aces in a season. Kang has never won on the LPGA Tour, but if she ever gets strapped for cash, she now has a fleet of cars she can sell.

- Former PGA President Ted Bishop apologized for his comments, but claimed that the punishment didn't fit the crime. This will be the last time I ever discuss Bishop in a blog post, as I no longer consider him relevant to the world of golf.

- The dream some equipment junkies had of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson one day uniting under a single brand has been tossed out the window. Mickelson signed a new five year deal with Callaway, meaning he is under contract until age 49. A lot of players switch equipment after they turn 50, but considering Lefty is entering his 11th year under contract with Callaway, and they have paid him enough to purchase the entire city of Dover, he is unlikely to leave the company anytime in playing career.

Wednesday Preview - CIMB Malaysia Classic

The PGA Tour leaves Sea Island and flies half way across the world to Malaysia for the CIMB Classic. Luckily, for those who played last week, the food will more than make up for the heavy helping of jet leg they'll receive. 

Course: Kaula Lumpur Golf and Country Club, West Course. 6,900 yards, which is a short one, but not devoid of trouble and not a course that can be easily overpowered. This is a different course than the one that hosted the LPGA event a few weeks ago, but it is the same country club. Ball striking and putting will be the key here.

Strength Of Field: B-. This is a preview of the kind of field we will see next week at the WGC event. I may be giving this event a better score than it's worth because it's a far better field then we saw the first three weeks, but I am rather excited about this one.

Extra Tidbits: This is the only non-major/non-WGC event PGA Tour event held outside of North America...Top Asian professional will get the opportunity to play alongside the PGA Tour professionals. The top 10 from the Asian Tour will play, as well as Japanese PGA Tour pros Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Ishikawa. China's Guan Tainlang gets a sponsor's exemption, as well as two Malaysian pros, Nicholas Feng and Danny Chia...Nicholas Thompson will get a little bit of motivation to win this week - his sister, Lexi, won the event in Malaysia last year on the East Course...David Love III, fresh off of hosting the McGladrey Classic, will tee it up this week. He is the oldest man in the field. Guan Tainlang wasn't born yet when Love won the PGA Championship in 1997.

Fantasy Four:

Ryo Ishikawa - For some reason, I see Ishikawa winning this event. He has burnt me a lot in the past, but this seems like the kind of event Ishikawa could win (limited field, no cut, in Asia). Made the cut and finished inside the top 30 in the first two events this season. Has struggled early in events, but has made his moves on the weekend. 

Hideki Matsuyama - I have played Matsuyama each week he has tee'd it up, and it has worked out this far as he has not finished outside the top 10 this season. If the leaderboard stays somewhere around ten under par, Matsuyama could be sprinting towards the finish. Great ball striker, which sets up perfectly on this course.

Lee Westwood - As much of a sleeper as I'm going to plug in this week. Has had success on this course in the past, and seems to be heading in the right direction, but may no longer be a top tier player. Could finish anywhere on the leaderboard and it would not be much of a surprise. Should feel rejuvenated after a strong Ryder Cup.

Sergio Garcia - One of the best global players out there, as he has won on virtually every continent. Well rested following the Ryder Cup, and is gearing up for the European Tour finals. Top ranked player in the field who, I believe, is in for a monster year. 

Last Weeks Team:

Tony Finau: T14

Adam Hadwin: MDF

Alex Cejka: CUT

Chris Kirk: T4

Wednesday Preview - Fubon LPGA Taiwan

Only four events remain on the LPGA schedule as the players head to Taiwan for the Fubon LPGA Taiwan. It is also the second to last event of the Asian swing.

Course: Miramar Golf Country Club, measuring at a lengthy 6,500 yards. It is the first time this event is being played at this course, but it did host the Swinging Skirt World Ladies Invitational for a number of year, which attracted big fields. Due to the course playing a little longer, general course unfamiliarity, and the chance of bad weather, expect winning scores to be single digits under par.

Strength Of Field: B. Big name players are here, but it is a limited field with 12 TLPGA stars in it, so it's not very deep. Also, Taiwan's Teresa Lu, winner of last year's Mizuno Classic and two time JLPGA winner this season, either didn't get an invite or turned one down, which is surprising. 

Extra Tidbits: This will be the first event played by Inbee Park and Stacy Lewis since Park took the number one spot away from Park last week. Lewis can take it back with a victory, Amazingly, only eight players have ever been number one in the world...Former world number one Ai Miyazato is among the sponsor exemptions for this week. Strangely, she is not playing in the Mizuno Classic in Japan next week, and hasn't done so in a number of years...This is one of the newest stops in the Asian swing, being played for the fourth time. Only the two stops in China have been around for a lesser amount of time.

Fantasy Four:

1) Inbee Park - New world number one is coming off a third place finish at the HanaBank and a second on the KLPGA Tour. She's showing the level of consistency that Stacy Lewis had for most of the season. Has finished inside the top 10 on the LPGA in eight straight tournaments.

2) Lydia Ko - Rebounded from a disappointing event in Korea with a T7 last week. Won the last Swinging Skirt event at this golf course in 2013. She's not as consistent as Park or Lewis, but crops up on a bunch of leaderboards and won twice this season. If the weather picks up and the field starts to bunch, Ko will be the player to watch.

3) Michelle Wie - Returned to action with a T5 and T3 in her last two starts. Longer course should play into her strategy. Putting seems much improved than where it was following the US Open. The stock is rising quickly.

4) Suzann Pettersen - Winner of this event the last two seasons, but this is a completely different layout. Will likely want to turn the page on this season, but familiar surroundings may be what she needs to get a kick start.

(SLEEPER) Na Yeon Choi - It's her birthday this week, so she may be a bit distracted. Had a terrible HanaBank Championship, and is wildly inconsistent, but showed flashes of her former brilliance during the first couple of Asian swing events.