Portland Classic 1st Round Featured Groups

Top-seeded Lydia Ko is paired with two powerful American players for the first and second rounds at the Portland Classic, Cristie Kerr and Gerina Piller.  I see problems for the world’s number two-ranked golfer this week.

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Ko’s not especially long off the tee (250 yards) and she’s not been terrifically accurate, hitting about 75% of the fairways and ranking 53 on the Tour in driving accuracy. While Ko should be able to keep a bit ahead of Cristie Kerr off the tee they’re both going to be hard-pressed to keep up with Gerina Piller.

With drives that average 263 yards, Piller’s a big bomber, ranked 9th on the Tour in driving distance, and stands a good chance of getting herself on the putting surface ahead of Ko and Kerr, assuming she can stay out of trouble.

Things will even out once this group is putting because the flat stick is Piller’s weakness.  She’s been averaging 31+ putts per round against Ko’s 29.7 and Kerr’s 29.8.

How will things wash out in this threesome?  Much will depend on who can stay out of trouble and who’s better at getting out of trouble.  Ko’s the more conservative player and is less likely to take the high-risk shots but Kerr’s bringing two critical components to Portland: experience playing out of the rough and an intuitive sense of when to take the risk.

Look for Cristie Kerr to establish an early lead inside this group.

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