LPGA Volvik Championship Top 10 Power Rankings

New venue, more rain in store for the LPGA Volvik Championship field.

The inaugural LPGA Volvik Championship could be packed with surprises. It’s a new golf course for everybody. There’s a new back-to-back champion in the field who’s as hot as a firecracker. There are some hungry rookies banging at the gate. The weather is threatening.

In terms of unpredictability, that’s about as many variables as any blogger would care to incorporate into a look at the field this week.

The Travis Pointe Country Club track will provide a fair and thorough test of the field’s skills. Playing 6709 yards, the par 72 track is in the middle of a revival. Faced several years ago with becoming one of those statistics in the golf club closure debacle, Travis Pointe has reinvented itself as a member-owned club. It’s new partnership with the Tour is a part of that reinvention and I’m looking forward to watching this partnership unfold. We’ll all know more about the golf course’s playability come Sunday.

The field for the Volvik Championship is another matter – Inbee Park is out, trying to get her thumb in shape for her KPMG Women’s PGA Championship title defense. Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller are both taking a week off.  Lydia Ko headlines the field, but she will have competition. Seven of the nine 2016 Tour winners are teeing it up in Michigan. Several standout rookies are ready to challenge for a win. And, as always, there are wild cards.

Given all this – a new track with no known record, established 2016 winners looking to repeat, threatening weather problems, hungry rookies – let’s break down the power rankings for the LPGA Volvik Championship.

I’ve put Lexi Thompson at the top of this week’s rankings, but the distance between Thompson, Brooke Henderson, and Lydia Ko should be measured in millimeters.

Next: Lexi Thompson