The best on the LPGA Tour will make the trip to Cambridge, Ontario and the Whistle Bear Golf Club this week for the Manulife LPGA Classic. This will be the fifth installment of this event with $1.6 million in prize money up for grabs. Rookie sensation Ariya Jutanugarn is coming off another impressive performance at the Canadian Women’s Open last week and it will be interesting to see if she can stay hot as one of the betting favorites to win outright once again this week. She comes into this event with plenty of momentum in hopes of her second straight win. This week’s field is stacked, though, with all of the stars coming out. We’ll see Lydia Ko, Brooke M. Henderson, Stacey Lewis and many more.
Event Details
Event: Manulife LPGA Classic
Category: LPGA
Date: September 1-4
Location: Whistle Bear Golf Club, Cambridge, Ontario
Jutanugarn has to be considered second in terms of the sports betting favorites almost by default thanks to the consistency and dominance of world No. 1 Lydia Ko. However, the gap between the two might be a little smaller than some might think and the growing rivalry between those two golfers will provide yet another reason to pay close attention to the LPGA Tour event once again this week.
Past Four Winners
2015: Suzann Pettersen -22
2014: Inbee Park-23
2013: Hee Young Park -26
2012: Brittany Lang -16
What To Know About The Course
A number of golfers got off to hot starts at the Whistle bear Golf Club a year ago when Cheyenne Woods, Cristie Kerr and P.K. Kongkraphan tied the competitive course record on the first day with opening rounds of 63. Driving Accuracy is much more important than Driving Distance, but Greens In Regulation as well as Scrambling numbers are important as well. Putting is always an important statistic to consider and it will be interesting to see if anybody emerges to challenge the course record once again this week.
The Field
Ko tied for seventh at last week’s Canadian Pacific Women’s Open, but her overall form has been incredible dating back to last season so it should be no surprise that she is the sports betting favorite to win this week. Ko is listed at +400 odds to win this event outright followed by Jutanugarn at +500 odds. As expected, there is a major drop off following the top two on the board with In Gee Chun listed at +1200 odds and then Stacy Lewis listed at +1600 along with Sei Young Kim and the home favorite Brooke Henderson.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Broke Henderson over Sei Young Kim
Kim is coming off a runner-up finish at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open last week but that strong outing followed a run of three straight starts outside the top-25 including a missed cut at the Arkansas Championship and a 50th place finish at the RICOH Women’s British Open. It makes sense to expect a small drop off in her overall performance this week while Henderson could receive a boost from the home fans. Henderson hasn’t recorded a top-10 finish in four starts since she won the Cambia Portland Classic so she is somewhat overdue for a strong outing and the support of the fans in her home country could help put her over the top this week.
Top-Five Pick: Lydia Ko
Jutanugarn might have the hot hand coming off her win at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open last week but Ko has just one finish outside the top-seven in her last seven starts. That run includes wins at the Arkansas Championship and the Marathon Classic. She is coming off a couple of sub-par performances by her incredible standards so look for Ko to respond to Jutanugarn’s victory last week with a win of her own this week. Even if she doesn’t win outright, Ko should be a lock to finish in the top-five at the Manulife LPGA Classic.
Top 10 Odds To Win The Manulife LPGA Classic
Lydia Ko +350
Ariya Jutanugarn +550
In Gee Chun +1250
Stacy Lewis +1550
Suzann Pettersen +1650
Sei Young Kim +1650
Brooke M Henderson +1650
So Yeon Ryu +1850
Ha Na Jang +2250
Mirim Lee +3050
