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LPGA: Predicting the 2016 Major Champions

By Elizabeth Bethel

Apr 5, 2015; Rancho Mirage, CA, USA; Brittany Lincicome (middle right) hugs her caddie Missy Pederson after taking the leap into the pond with her father Tom Lincicome (background) and fiance
Apr 5, 2015; Rancho Mirage, CA, USA; Brittany Lincicome (middle right) hugs her caddie Missy Pederson after taking the leap into the pond with her father Tom Lincicome (background) and fiance /
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Five LPGA majors and I’m seeing five champions, some of them repeats, but others new to the major championship circle.

We’re in a serious countdown now to the start of the 2016 season for both the LPGA and the LET. The rookies are hopeful and anxious and the veterans are coming out of their winter break and limbering up their sticks. And I’m thinking about the majors – the ANA Inspiration, the US Women’s Open, the KPMG PGA Women’s Championship, the Ricoh Women’s British Open, and The Evian Championship.

2015 was a year of surprises. Brittany Lincicome edged out Stacy Lewis in a cliffhanger playoff at Rancho Mirage and took her victorious leap into Poppy’s Pond, but Morgan Pressel was right there in the mix up coming down the back nine on Sunday. She needed one more birdie to make it a three-way playoff.

Inbee Park won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (formerly the Wegman’s LPGA Championship) for the third consecutive year, and although Lexi Thompson, Brittany Lincicome and Morgan Pressel all looked good for a while in the end none of them could close the gap. Park cruised to a five stroke victory.

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At the US Women’s Open the relatively unknown In Gee Chun came charging down the back nine on Sunday and with birdie on three of her final four holes played past Amy Yang, Inbee Park, and Stacy Lewis to hoist the trophy and claim her place on golf’s big stage.

At Turnberry Inbee Park showed us she has the stuff that makes a world-class champion. She played her game, that deadly-consistent level of play that makes her so dangerous every time she tees it up, finally tied up the lead at the Ricoh Women’s British Open on the 68th hole and claimed the outright lead on the 70th. This was the week Park hoisted the trophy that represented her Career Grand Slam.

Then there was The Evian Championship, where Lydia Ko claimed her first major championship and did it in a big way, by carding the lowest ever Sunday round in a major championship (63) and becoming the youngest-ever major champion.

How can 2016 possibly surpass last year’s excitement? Just watch. I think it will.

Next: ANA Inspiration

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