LPGA Taiwan Championship Fantasy Picks

With players going off the tee for the 1st round at the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship the Ladies Dream Golf players have made their fantasy picks. Defending champion Suzann Pettersen’s going to try for a Taiwan Trifecta. Stacy Lewis and Inbee Park are going to duke it out for the top of the world ranking; and the fantasy picks don’t include any of them!

More from Golf News

Michelle Wie is the Ladies Dream Golf pick to win the LPGA Taiwan Championship, and I certainly don’t disagree. Wie, who’s playing in her 3rd competition coming back from a hand injury that sidelined her for most of August and September, lost valuable ground in the Race to the CME Globe and is playing hard to gain it back. She finished T5th in the LPGA HanaBank Championship in South Korea and then T3rd at the abbreviated Blue Bay LPGA Classic last week. She’s come back hot.

Wie’s paired with 2-time 2014 winner Anna Nordqvist and Yani Tseng for the 1st and 2nd rounds in Taiwan. Although Nordqvist had a strong start to the season I think she’s tired now. She hasn’t finished inside the top-20 since the Evian Championship. Tseng has been trying to play her way out of a painful slump for more than a year. I look for Wie to dominate this group as she makes her play for the top of the board.

Chella Choi. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

Chella Choi has earned her spot in the Ladies Dream Golf fantasy picks with some very fine golf. World ranked at 25th, Choi’s playing her 5th year on the Tour and is still on the hunt for her first Tour victory. She’s accumulated 25 top-10s over those five years, 9 of them in 2014 and she’s gotten achingly close to victory several times this year — runner-up at the Women’s Australian Open, T3rd at the Portland Classic and again at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia. She’s due a win and she’s a logical pick, but I don’t think she’ll outplay Michelle Wie this week.

Choi’s paired with Meena Lee and Beatriz Recari for the 1st and 2nd rounds in Taiwan. Although I keep expecting Recari to pull the game out of her bag that she was playing last year, that hasn’t happened and Lee’s been making the cuts but finishing outside the top-20 so I’m looking for Choi to dominate this group and go into the weekend playing in one of the final groups.

Caroline Masson. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Blue Bay LPGA Classic runner-up Caroline Masson got the Ladies Dream Golf players’ attention when she outplayed Michelle Wie last week in China. Masson’s been building her game for several years, first on the Ladies European Tour, where she won the 2012 South African Women’s Open, and then on the LPGA Tour. With 2 top-10s last year and 3 this year, Masson’s game is getting more competitive. But is it good enough yet to consistently get in one of the last groups on Sunday?

Certainly Masson put on an impressive display of golf excellence under very difficult conditions last week. She could be at the cusp of a breakthrough and she’ll be tested during the 1st and 2nd rounds at the LPGA Taiwan Championship. She’s paired with Lydia Ko and So Yeon Ryu, both 2014 champions. Ko has been challenging Inbee Park and Stacy Lewis for the top of the world rankings all year and 7th ranked Ryu, with 12 top-10 finishes this year that include a victory at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open, can play even with anybody on the Tour. This pairing will let me see what Caroline Masson really carries in her bag.

Belen Mozo. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

Will this be the week that Belen Mozo finally finds her solo game? Ladies Dream Golf players are betting on it. Languishing at 120th in the world rankings Belen Mozo, like Beatriz Recari, hasn’t played her A game in individual competition. Playing the 1st and 2nd rounds at the LPGA Taiwan Championship with 57th ranked Eun-Hee Ji and 24th ranked Amy Yang, I’ll be watching to see how Mozo navigates the Miramar Golf Country Club track. If she can find that game she played at the International Crown last summer, then she’ll stay ahead of Ji and Yang and go into the weekend energized.

Although the Ladies Dream Golf players didn’t pick them, Stacy Lewis and Inbee Park are paired with Suzann Pettersen for the 1st and 2nd rounds at the LPGA Taiwan Championship and given the stakes in this group, the play should be tight and exciting. Can Lewis reclaim the top of the rankings? Can Pettersen make it three in a row in Taiwan? I don’t think so. I’m looking for Inbee Park to edge out both Lewis and Pettersen and go into the weekend challenging Michelle Wie for the victory.

Home/Golf News