The Miramir Golf Country Club in Taipei, Taiwan will host the next stop on the LPGA Tour’s Asian swing with the Futbon LPGA Taiwan Championship this week. This will be the second tournament in the LPGA Tour’s string of six straight events in Asia and it will be the site of world No. 1 Lydia Ko’s return after she won this event a year ago. Ko is looking to become the second player to successfully defend a title in 2016 with a chance to clinch her 15th career victory this week. Of course, as has become the norm for Ko and the LPGA Tour, she’s the favorite to win the event whenever she’s participating. Her and Shanshan Feng are the only two players with odds inside of 10/1, although Canadian Brooke M. Henderson has had a fantastic season and should be in contention as well.
Event Details
Event: Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship
Category: European
Date: October 6-9
Location: Miramir Golf Country Club, Taipei, Taiwan
This will be Ko’s first start since she secured the Rolex Annika Major Award for the best performance in major championships for 2016 at The Evian Championship. Now Ko will turn her attention to finishing the 2016 season on a high note against a difficult field that will feature Shanshan Feng and Brooke Henderson among others.
Past Five Winners
2016: Lydia Ko
2015: Inbee Park
2014: Suzann Pettersen
2013: Suzann Pettersen
2012: Yani Tseng
What To Know About The Course
The LPGA Taiwan Championship was hosted by the Sunrise Golf & Country Club from 2011 to 2013, before shifting to the Miramar course for the last two events. This year’s edition should be another birdie fest after each of the first two winners at this course posted scores of 20-under or better in 2014 and 2015. Driving Accuracy will be important but ultimately this tournament should come down to which golfer makes their putts with the most consistency from start to finish.
The Field
Ko will be the obvious sports betting favorite to win this week at +400 odds followed by Feng at +800 and Henderson at +900. There is a bit of a drop off after Henderson in terms of the sports betting odds with So Yeon Ryu, Amy Yang and In-Kyung Kim all listed around +1100 to +1400 depending on the sportsbook. Anna Nordqvist could be an intriguing play to keep an eye out for at +2500 odds as well.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Shanshan Feng over Brooke Henderson
Henderson is coming off a T-4 at last week’s event in China, which was her best result since she successfully defended her title at the Cambia Portland Classic in June. However, this will be her 26th start of the season and the Canadian has struggled with consistency overall, especially when it comes to stringing strong performances together in back-to-back weeks. This will be Henderson’s first trip to this tournament and she could have trouble keeping up with Feng, who tied for 14th at this tournament last season but could easily put together a better showing after a couple of strong tournaments. Feng finished fourth at both The Evian Championship and the Reignwood LPGA Classic over her last two starts and she should be in line for another top-10 finish with a strong shot at beating out Henderson in the head-to-head sports betting matchup.
Top-Five Pick: Lydia Ko
Ko became the youngest player in history to reach 10 wins on the LPGA Tour when she did so at 18 years, six months and one day and there is no reason to expect her to slow down. Ko scored the largest margin of victory last season when she won this tournament at Miramar last year and she should be rested and focused heading in to this year’s event. Ko is a strong bet to take to win this event outright for the second year in a row and she should be a lock to finish in the top-five at the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship this week.
Top 10 Odds To Win The Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship
Lydia Ko +350
Shanshan Feng +750
Brooke Henderson +1015
In Kyung Kim +1250
So Yeon Ryu +1250
Amy Yang +1250
Mi Jung Hur +2050
Mirim Lee +2050
Ha Na Jang +2250
Anna Nordqvist +2250
Haru Monura +2550
