The LPGA Tour shifts to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and the TPC Kuala Lumpur for this week’s Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia tournament. The best in the world will be on the hand as the Asian swing of the LPGA Tour continues with an absolutely loaded field including the top golfers in the overall rankings. World No. 1 Lydia Ko will be shooting for redemption following a disappointing outing last week but she will have some stiff competition with rookie sensation Ariya Jutanugarn, Shanshan Feng and last year’s winner Jessica Korda all competing in this week’s tournament. The field is loaded, so that makes picking a winner extra challenging this week. Here’s our preview of the event:
Event Details
Event: Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia
Category: LPGA
Date: October 27-30
Location: TPC Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Korda overcame a winless drought of more than 18 months when she won this event a year ago by posting four consecutive sub-70 rounds, including back-to-back 65’s on the weekend. Korda finished with the second-lowest score in tournament history at 18-under and it will be very interesting to see if she can build off last year’s success and defend her title with another strong performance.
Past Five Winners
2015: Jessica Korda -18
2014: Shanshan Feng -18
2013: Lexi Thompson -19
2012: Inbee Park -15
2011: Na Yeon Choi -15
What To Know About The Course
The scores posted at this tournament over the last few years demonstrate why there is expected to be a birdie-fest at this week’s event as each of the past five winners have finished with scores of 15-under or better, including three straight winners at 18-under or better. Driving Accuracy will be important but the key will be the Putting statistics. Consistency from start to finish will be required in order to win this event so there will be little room for error.
The Field
The fact that Korda is listed at +2800 sports betting odds to win this event outright is a testament to how loaded the field is for this week’s tournament. Feng will be the favorite to win outright at +450 odds with Jutanugarn and Ko both projected to be in the mix at +600 and +700 odds respectively. Canadian Brooke Henderson has struggled of late but the sportsbooks expect her to bounce back with a strong performance as she is right there behind Jutanugarn and Ko at +1200 odds. Those looking to put a small amount of money on a long shot can look to the 2011 winner Na Yeon Choi, who is listed at +30000 to win this event despite the fact that she has actually already done it before.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Ariya Jutanugarn over Brooke Henderson
Henderson is projected to deliver a strong performance following an eighth-place finish at the Blue Bay LPGA last week but she has struggled with consistency at times this season and this could be a week to circle her for a potential drop off in performance. Regardless, Jutanugarn has the talent to contend for the outright win this week so Henderson could still finish in the top-10 and finish behind Jutanugarn. The rookie sensation has won an LPGA-best five times this season and it will be very fun to watch her matched up in the same group as Henderson and Ko this weekend.
Top-Five Pick: Lydia Ko
Ko has followed up back-to-back top-10 finishes at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open and Manulife LPGA Classic with a T-43 at The Evian Championship, T-20 at the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship and a T-51 at the LPGA KEB HanaBank Championship. Those are some terrible results for a golfer that has absolutely dominated on the LPGA Tour overall so we have to expect her to bounce back with a better performance this weekend. Ko didn’t compete in this event last year but she has shown a knack for delivering strong performances in past debuts and she is overdue for a top-five finish heading in to this week’s Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia.
Top 10 Odds To Win The Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia
Shanshan Feng +450
Ariya Jutanugarn +550
Lydia Ko +805
Brooke M Henderson +1250
Ha Na Jang +1650
Stacy Lewis +1850
So Yeon Ryu +2050
Haru Nomura +2250
Anna Nordqvist +2250
Mi Jung Hur +2250
Suzann Pettersen +2550
