LPGA: Founders Cup Preview

Mar 19, 2015; PHOENIX, AZ, USA; A two hour rain delay halted the start of round one of the JTBC Founders Cup at Wildfire Golf Club at JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 19, 2015; PHOENIX, AZ, USA; A two hour rain delay halted the start of round one of the JTBC Founders Cup at Wildfire Golf Club at JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sei Young Kim. Mandatory credit: Luke Franke/Naples Daily News via USA TODAY NETWORK /

A solid field is assembled at Wildfire Golf Club

wealth of talent will be assembled in the desert this week for the Founders Cup to test Sei Young Kim’s ability to defend her title.

No. 3 Shanshan Feng is the only missing top-10 player in the Rolex Women’s Golf Word Rankings.

No. 1 Lydia Ko is one of the headliners. The 19-year-old is tracking to someday match her age with wins as she goes for No. 15 this week. She is in somewhat of a winning “slump,” looking for her first win since the Marathon Classic in July.

None of those 14 wins have come at the Founders Cup, though she was close in 2016. Ko was runner-up to Sei Young Kim, who went bonkers in the final round for the cup.

Kim led Jacqui Concolino by one and Ko by two going to Sunday. Concolino and Ko rose to the occasion for a 68 and 65, respectively, on the par-72 but Kim tied the course record of 10-under 62 to breeze to a five-stroke victory.

Her 27-under-par tournament total matched Annika Sorenstam’s 72-hole record in relation to par.

Kim certainly has the chops to repeat, checking in at No. 10 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.

All four 2017 champions are in Arizona looking for their second win of the season: Brittany Lincicome, Ha Na Jang, Amy Yang and Inbee Park.

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Every past winner of the Founders Cup, which began in 2011, is back for more: Karrie Webb (-12 winning score), Yani Tseng (-18), Stacy Lewis (-23), Webb (-19), Hyo Joo Kim (-21, pictured above) and Kim (-27).

Hannah O’Sullivan will tee it up as the lone amateur in the field. The 18-year-old has been on a winding path leading her to Arizona. She qualified for the US Open at age 14, became the youngest winner on the Symetra Tour and won the 2015 US Amateur Championship at 17.

O’Sullivan eschewed playing collegiate golf at USC to enter Q-School, but then dropped out in second stage. Now, she’s opted for Duke in the fall. She made cuts in three of four majors she qualified for via the US Amateur in 2015 and ’16.

O’Sullivan claimed one of two sponsors exemptions; Natalie Gulbis received the other.

World No. 7 and fan favorite Lexi Thompson is the USA’s best shot for one of its own to win on home soil for the first time since Brittany Lang won the US Open in July.