The best on the LPGA Tour will make the trip to Australia for the second event of the 2017 calendar year in the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open this week. Haru Nomura will return to defend her title in the tournament where she became a first-rime Rolex winner with one of her two victories from 2016. Nomura’s final round 65 was enough to edge out world No. 1 and 2015 Australian Open winner Lydia Ko but she will be in for an extremely difficult test attempting to successfully defend her title this week.
Event Details
Event: ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open
Category: LPGA
Date: February 16-19
Location: Royal Adelaide Golf Club, Seaton, Australia
This is the sixth edition of the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open so we have plenty of useful information that should help us break down the field for this week’s event. Ko’s score when she won this tournament in 2015 wouldn’t have been enough to win the Australian Open in three of the previous four years so it will be very interesting to see whether she can improve on her career-best score and earn another victory at this event.
Past Five Winners
2016: Haru Nomura -16
2015: Lydia Ko -9
2014: Karrie Webb -12
2013: Jiyai Shin -18
2012: Jessica Korda -3
What To Know About The Course
This year’s event will take place at the Seaton course at the Royal Adelaide Golf Club, which is one of three par-73 courses on the 2017 LPGA schedule. Driving Distance and Driving Accuracy are always relevant but they won’t be nearly as important as Greens In Regulation and Putting statistics this week. The true contenders will need to perform at a high level on the greens in what could end up being another birdie fest.
The Field
The fact that Nomura is listed as a +3300 long shot is a testament to the talent in this year’s field and the fact that she will have an uphill climb just to contend once again. Ko will be the favorite at +500 odds but the expectation is that she will continue her developing rivalry with Ariya Jutanugarn, who is listed at +600 odds to win outright. Ha Na Jang, Brooke Henderson and Charley Hull are in the mix among the favorites as well along with Carlota Ciganda and Minjee Lee.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Michelle Wie over Ilhee Lee
While the majority of the focus remains on the top sports betting favorites in the tournament another storyline will be Michelle Wie’s attempt to return to form at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open. Wie returns to this event for the first time since 2012 and while she has struggled to stay healthy over the years she has said she feels great entering this week’s tournament. If Wie can rediscover her old form with a strong performance then she should be in line for a surprising run this week and should easily beat Ilhee Lee in their head-to-head betting matchup as a strong value pick.
Top-Five Pick: Brooke Henderson
While she might not receive as much attention as Ko or Jutanugarn heading in to the tournament it’s clear that Henderson could be in for a big performance. Henderson posted the second-most top-10 finishes on the LPGA Tour in 2016 including two wins and she should be fresh following some time off to rest and prepare for this season. Henderson has set the bar high as one of the rising stars on the LPGA Tour and we expect a top-five finish from her in the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open this week.
Australian Open Tee Times
| 1 | 3:30p | Emma De Groot |
| 1 | 3:30p | Katherine Perry |
| 10 | 3:30p | Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong |
| 10 | 3:30p | Marianne Skarpnord |
| 10 | 3:30p | Marissa Steen |
| 1 | 3:30p | Kelly Tan |
| 1 | 3:41p | Amy Boulden |
| 1 | 3:41p | Adriana Brent |
| 10 | 3:41p | Celine Herbin |
| 1 | 3:41p | Alizza Hetherington |
| 10 | 3:41p | Olafia Kristinsdottir |
| 10 | 3:41p | Belen Mozo |
| 1 | 3:52p | Perrine Delacour |
| 10 | 3:52p | Jane Park |
| 10 | 3:52p | Mel Reid |
| 1 | 3:52p | Eui Kyung Shin |
| 10 | 3:52p | Jessica Speechley |
| 1 | 3:52p | Michele Thomson |
| 10 | 4:03p | Aditi Ashok |
| 10 | 4:03p | Nelly Korda |
| 1 | 4:03p | Wichanee Meechai |
| 1 | 4:03p | Giulia Molinaro |
| 1 | 4:03p | Madelene Sagstrom |
| 10 | 4:03p | Kelly Shon |
| 1 | 4:14p | Jacqui Concolino |
| 10 | 4:14p | Brooke Henderson |
| 10 | 4:14p | Ha Na Jang |
| 10 | 4:14p | Lydia Ko |
| 1 | 4:14p | Mi Hyang Lee |
| 1 | 4:14p | Jenny Shin |
| 1 | 4:25p | Laura Davies |
| 10 | 4:25p | Pernilla Lindberg |
| 10 | 4:25p | Mo Martin |
| 1 | 4:25p | Yani Tseng |
| 10 | 4:25p | Karrie Webb |
| 1 | 4:25p | Sakura Yokomine |
| 1 | 4:36p | Marina Alex |
| 1 | 4:36p | Chella Choi |
| 1 | 4:36p | Carlota Ciganda |
| 10 | 4:36p | Christina Kim |
| 10 | 4:36p | Azahara Munoz |
| 10 | 4:36p | Sarah Jane Smith |
| 1 | 4:47p | Cathryn Bristow |
| 10 | 4:47p | Hannah Green |
| 10 | 4:47p | Megan Khang |
| 1 | 4:47p | Katherine Kirk |
| 1 | 4:47p | Xi Yu Lin |
| 10 | 4:47p | Gaby Lopez |
| 1 | 4:58p | Cydney Clanton |
| 10 | 4:58p | Simin Feng |
| 10 | 4:58p | Nanna Koerstz Madsen |
| 10 | 4:58p | Ally McDonald |
| 1 | 4:58p | Katelyn Must |
| 1 | 4:58p | Nontaya Srisawang |
| 1 | 5:09p | Beth Allen |
| 10 | 5:09p | Amy Anderson |
| 10 | 5:09p | Caroline Hedwall |
| 1 | 5:09p | Vicky Hurst |
| 10 | 5:09p | Sadena Parks |
| 1 | 5:09p | Sun Young Yoo |
| 10 | 5:20p | Laetitia Beck |
| 10 | 5:20p | Dana Finkelstein |
| 1 | 5:20p | Jennifer Ha |
| 1 | 5:20p | Wei-Ling Hsu |
| 10 | 5:20p | Min Seo Kwak |
| 1 | 5:20p | Charlotte Thomas |
| 10 | 5:31p | Ashleigh Buhai |
| 10 | 5:31p | Ellen Davies-Graham |
| 1 | 5:31p | Ann-Kathrin Lindner |
| 1 | 5:31p | Elmay Viking |
| 10 | 5:31p | Julie Yang |
| 1 | 5:31p | Pavarisa Yoktuan |
| 1 | 8:20p | Brittany Altomare |
| 10 | 8:20p | Lauren Hibbert |
| 10 | 8:20p | Ilhee Lee |
| 10 | 8:20p | Becky Morgan |
| 1 | 8:20p | Stephanie Na |
| 1 | 8:20p | Jackie Stoelting |
| 1 | 8:31p | Holly Clyburn |
| 1 | 8:31p | Tonje Daffinrud |
| 10 | 8:31p | Min Lee |
| 1 | 8:31p | Amelia Lewis |
| 10 | 8:31p | Leticia Ras-Anderica |
| 10 | 8:31p | Han Hsuan Yu |
| 10 | 8:42p | Karen Chung |
| 10 | 8:42p | Karis Davidson |
| 10 | 8:42p | Gemma Dryburgh |
| 1 | 8:42p | Mariah Stackhouse |
| 1 | 8:42p | Michelle Wie |
| 1 | 8:42p | Angel Yin |
| 10 | 8:53p | Pei-Yun Chien |
| 10 | 8:53p | Jo Hua Hung |
| 10 | 8:53p | Grace Lennon |
| 1 | 8:53p | Ayaka Matsumori |
| 1 | 8:53p | Kris Tamulis |
| 1 | 8:53p | Cheyenne Woods |
| 1 | 9:04p | Charley Hull |
| 10 | 9:04p | Karine Icher |
| 1 | 9:04p | Ariya Jutanugarn |
| 10 | 9:04p | Stacey Keating |
| 1 | 9:04p | Haru Nomura |
| 10 | 9:04p | Alena Sharp |
| 10 | 9:15p | Rebecca Artis |
| 10 | 9:15p | Kim Kaufman |
| 10 | 9:15p | Sarah Kemp |
| 1 | 9:15p | Minjee Lee |
| 1 | 9:15p | Angela Stanford |
| 1 | 9:15p | Mariajo Uribe |
| 10 | 9:26p | Austin Ernst |
| 10 | 9:26p | Whitney Hillier |
| 1 | 9:26p | Danielle Kang |
| 1 | 9:26p | Catriona Matthew |
| 10 | 9:26p | Pornanong Phatlum |
| 1 | 9:26p | Beatriz Recari |
| 10 | 9:37p | Jodi Ewart Shadoff |
| 10 | 9:37p | Sandra Gal |
| 10 | 9:37p | Moriya Jutanugarn |
| 1 | 9:37p | Caroline Masson |
| 1 | 9:37p | Su-Hyun Oh |
| 1 | 9:37p | Lizette Salas |
| 1 | 9:48p | Katie Burnett |
| 1 | 9:48p | Hye Jin Choi |
| 10 | 9:48p | Lee Lopez |
| 1 | 9:48p | Maria Parra |
| 10 | 9:48p | Paula Reto |
| 10 | 9:48p | Jing Yan |
| 10 | 9:59p | Liv Cheng |
| 1 | 9:59p | Lindy Duncan |
| 10 | 9:59p | Yu Lu Hsin |
| 10 | 9:59p | Joanna Klatten |
| 1 | 9:59p | Maude-Aimee Leblanc |
| 1 | 9:59p | Ayako Uehara |
| 10 | 10:10p | Dori Carter |
| 10 | 10:10p | Laura Gonzalez Escallon |
| 10 | 10:10p | Dani Holmqvist |
| 1 | 10:10p | Felicity Johnson |
| 1 | 10:10p | Therese O’Hara |
| 1 | 10:10p | Hanee Song |
| 10 | 10:21p | Ssu-Chia Cheng |
| 1 | 10:21p | Nasa Hataoka |
| 1 | 10:21p | Rong Ji |
| 10 | 10:21p | P.K. Kongkraphan |
| 10 | 10:21p | Tze-Han Lin |
| 1 | 10:21p | Prima Thammaraks |
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