LPGA: Lorena Ochoa Invitational Fantasy Picks

It’s a golf tournament and it’s a party and the Lorena Ochoa Invitational promises some splendid golf with a small, well-tuned field.

We’re closing in on the end of the LPGA season. The Tour has wrapped up its fall romp through Asia and the select few — 36 to be exact — are limbering up their sticks at the Club de Golf Mexico for the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. It’s the penultimate event of the Tour’s season, and always a huge party as well as the setting for some splendid golf.

With Lydia Ko’s withdrawal Inbee Park tops the field but I don’t think Park is going into the Lorena Ochoa looking for the win. The Women’s British Open aside, that’s not the way she approaches competition. Her dominance of the game is grounded in a well-tuned game and the mental focus of a laser.

More from Pro Golf Now

Park’s major competition should come from two players: Lexi Thompson, who will be looking for a 3rd victory, and So Yeon Ryu, who’s still on the hunt for her first 2015 win. They could all be outplayed, however, by the Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year, Sei Young Kim, who hoisted the trophy last week at the Japan Classic and will be coming in very hot.

In addition to Thompson, who won the Lorena Ochoa in 2013, Cristie Kerr and Angela Stanford — also past champions — are playing this week. Kerr was sidelined with an injury during the HanaBank and this is her first time back in competition so I’m thinking she’ll use Mexico City as a testing ground for the Big Kauhna coming up next at Naples.

Stanford’s another matter. Look for some competition from this past champion. She was in excellent form last week in Japan and her playoff loss to Kim has only whetted her appetite. She’ll be playing for the win.