It was a remarkable comeback story for Angel Yin who won Honda LPGA Thailand in some style shooting a tournament record setting -28. She came up clutch on the 72nd when all the pressure in the world was put on by Akie Iwai who shot an incredible -11 61 on Sunday. Iwai just missed out for the talented rookie. Angel Yin last year broke her leg in a skiing accident and spent a lot of time in rehab and has been taking time to get back to speed with tournament golf. After her Solheim Cup snub she played brilliantly towards the end of the year so we can't really say it hasn't been coming. Congrats to her backers. In terms of the column it was a slightly frustrating one with Amy Yang the best of the bunch in T11th and Ariya Jutanugarn in 14th and for the second final round in a row, Esther Henseleit absolutely capitulated to close with a 77 (76 in Saudi the week prior.) Which is slightly worrying but that's golf and we move on.
Tournament
This week the players move down to Sentosa Island in Singapore for what is always a great tournament at a great golf course at Sentosa Golf Club (Tanjong Course.) Fourteen-of-the-16 winners of HSBC Women's World Championships have been Major Championship Winners. That shows you the best in the world love it here in Singapore. Also in the 16 editions of this event, eight have been won by South Koreans, four by Americans, two by Australians, one Japanese and one Mexican.
Hannah Green returns to defend her title after a dramatic win 12 months ago at Tanjong where she battled from a +2 74 in Round 1 to go 67-67-67 to win by a shot over Celine Boutier. Green sunk a 27-foot clutch putt to win her second LPGA title in the span of a year. Lydia Ko returns this week as does Charley Hull and the highly rated Miyū Yamashita. Danielle Kang gets another sponsor invite along with Singapore's own LET title winner Shannon Tan. It is great to see Tandog (her nickname) get the chance to compete with LPGA Tour players while there is no spot for last weeks runner up Akie Iwai.
Course Info
The Tanjong Course at Sentosa Golf Club on Sentosa Island in Singapore is again the host course for this week's HSBC Women's World Championship for the eighth time after moving there in 2017. Before that, from 2013-2016, it was held at Sentosa's other course (Serapong Course) after previously being held for five years, since it's inception in 2008, at The Garden Course at Tanah Merah Country Club in Eastern Singapore. Tanjong is continuously one of the best courses in Asia and is a proper tough test with the winning scores here being -13, -17, -17, -17, -15, -17 and -19. This 6,700-plus yard long course certainly requires real strategic play with lots of bunkers and mass amount of water in play. It was designed in 1982 by Ron Fream before Tanjong went through a 2016 renovation by architect Andrew Johnston and his business partner Matt Swanson. For me it's certainly a course that requires supreme level ball striking, just looking at the previous winners here Hannah Green, Jin Young Ko twice, Sung Hyun Park and Inbee Park who are all elite strikers.
Former World No. 1's Inbee Park and Jin Young Ko are the most successful here at the event with two wins each while the likes of Hannah Green, Brooke Henderson and Minjee Lee have great records here as well.
Winners of HSBC Women's World Champs at Sentosa Tanjong since 2017
2024: Hannah Green (-13) by 1 to Celine Boutier
2023: Jin Young Ko (2) (-17) by 2 to Nelly Korda
2022: Jin Young Ko (-17) by 2 to In Gee Chun & Minjee Lee
2021: Hyo Joo Kim (-17) by 1 to Hannah Green
2019: Sung Hyun Park (-15) by 2 to Minjee Lee
2018: Michelle Wie West (-17) by 1 to Nelly Korda, Jenny Shin, Brooke Henderson & Danielle Kang
2017: Inbee Park (2) (-19) by 1 to Ariya Jutanugarn
Last 2 Years Top 20 & Ties
2024
1) Hannah Green (-13)
2) Celine Boutier (-12)
3) Yuna Nishimura, Mi Hyang Lee, Brooke Henderson & Nasa Hataoka (-9)
7) Andrea Lee (-8)
8) Patty Tavatanakit, Allisen Corpuz, Sarah Schmelzel, Jin Young Ko & Ayaka Furue (-7)
13) Linn Grant, Meaw Annanarukarn, Ronni Yin & Peiyun Chien (-6)
17) Yuka Saso, Madelene Sagström, Sei Young Kim & Hye Jin Choi (-5)
2023
1) Jin Young Ko (-17)
2) Nelly Korda (-15)
3) Ayaka Furue, Danielle Kang & Allisen Corpuz (-14)
6) Yuka Saso (-13)
7) Ashleigh Buhai (-12)
8) Hyo Joo Kim & Elizabeth Szokol (-11)
10) Jeeno Thitikul (-10)
11) Eun Hee Ji, Celine Boutier & Nasa Hataoka (-9)
14) A Lim Kim, Ariya Jutanugarn, Madelene Sagström, Georgia Hall, Lilia Vu & Linn Grant (-8)
20) Hannah Green, Leona Maguire, Hye Jin Choi & Na Rin An (-7)
The following players were on the shortlist for this week:
Hannah Green
Brooke Henderson
Nasa Hataoka
Lauren Coughlin
Rio Takeda
Hyo Joo Kim
Yuka Saso
Leona Maguire
Madelene Sagström
Shannon Tan
Picks
Hannah Green 18/1 (6pl ew, SpreadEx)
Course Form: Won/20/6/2
Form (Last 8 Events): 4th/20th/19th/MC/6th/Won/47th/10th
You will see a theme with the picks this week as this event has been dominated by the Rest of World with 12-of-the-16 winners being Rest of World players. The easiest port of call to start the card this week is my favourite player on LPGA who won this last year in remarkable fashion at 70/1. Since her win at JM Eagle LA Championship in 2023 she has backed that up with three wins last year, with two of them being in Asia. She also won BMW Ladies in South Korea later on. She has become a stone-ice-cold-killer whenever she is in contention with a sniff of the win. She may be 18/1 this year but it's deserved. Hannah is one of the best, if not the best, pure ball striker in Women's Golf. When she works on her main weakness, which is off-the-tee, Hannah is in that top three of players to fear. Hannah is also such a clutch putter in contention with her two of her wins, at Tanjong last year winning with a 25 foot putt and at JM Eagle in 2023 she holed a 45 foot putt to make it into the playoff before winning that at Wiltshire CC. Easiest selection in the world for me! Wouldn't take below 14/1
Nasa Hataoka 28/1 (6pl ew, SpreadEx)
Course Form: 3/11/11/49/19
Form (Last 8 Events): 11th/55th/25th/4th/63rd/2nd/9th/7th
While impressive Japanese star Rio Takeda and two-time Runner up Minjee Lee were considered in this kind of range, with the latter still in the process with a new long pole putter which will take time, I have opted for the experienced Nasa Hataoka. I will be quite frank here, I have never really took her that much but with four Top 20's at Tanjong in five starts , including third last year and back to back T11th's in 2022 and 2023, I thought I would take a chance of Hataoka. She brings a super accuracy based style of play where, in her last five events played she has ranked sixth, eighth, third, 13th and 25th for driving accuracy. She finished T11th at Founders Cup in her last start in Bradenton where she ranked eighth for Greens in Regulation, which is always key here. Nasa is strong off-the-tee and is capable of birdie runs when she is firing in the right way. She will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Japanese compatriot Ai Miyazato in become the second Japanese player to win HSBC Women's World Champs. She definitely has the game to challenge! Wouldn't take below 20/1
Hyo Joo Kim 50/1 (5pl ew, Unibet)
Course Form: 41/8/26/1/5/24/25/15/8
Form (Last 8 events): 45th/28th/10th/35th/MC/9th/17th/27th
Brooke Henderson was considered in this mid-range with her good record here at Tanjong but I've opted for 2021 Champion Hyo Joo Kim who, like Hataoka, is supremely accurate. She ranked seventh, second, tenth and first in her last four starts for driving accuracy. Hyo Joo is a prolific winner in her native South Korea, winning 15 times and has won on the LPGA Tour six times, including 2014 Evian Major Championship. It's been an okay start to this season for HJK with 45th at Honda LPGA Thailand, 28th at Founders Cup and tenth at the Tournament of Champions but with her fondness of Singapore while ranking well for accuracy and scrambling, she comes in with a chance on this mid range. Hyo Joo has five Top 15's, including the win in 2021, a fift and two eighths. Wouldn't take below 33/1
Yuka Saso 100/1 (6pl ew, SpreadEx)
Course Form: 17/6/43
Form (Last 8 Events): 17th/59th/30th/49th/MC/26th/18th/60th
My last pick for this week, with her raw explosive power at the front of my mind, is Yuka Saso. We all know she can be extremely erratic at times with an 85th at Tournament of Champions, a rare example of the volatility. Although she's very hit and miss, her of-the-tee game and distance advantage should come in handy when it comes to take advantage of the par fives. In the last two years at Tanjong, she has finished 17th and sixth. The two-time US Open Women's Champion Saso. At Lancaster CC last year, she produced one of the best Sunday rounds in recent memory to win her second USWO title at 22 years of age. I feel at 100/1, she's worth a play here as of course, she has the game to grind it out at a difficult golf course. Wouldn't take below 70/1
Thanks again guys, I'm looking for my third winner in a row this week at HSBC Women's World Champs having been on Green at 70/1 last year and Jin Young Ko at 22/1 in 2023.
Enjoy the Golf!
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