The LPGA Tour heads north across the border to Vancouver this week for the CN Canadian Women’s Open at the Vancouver Golf Club where the defending champion will be Brittany Lincicome. Lincicome won the event last year by one shot over Stacy Lewis and Michelle Wie. Lincicome arrives in the right frame of mind to potentially defend her title given her impressive runner up finish in Oregon last week. This week s venue is a different one to that on which she won in Montreal last year. The world number one Yani Tseng appears to be turning the corner with a game that deserted her for three months or so but a much improved effort at the Safeway Classic last week suggests she could again be contending. Michelle Wie won the Canadian Open in 2010 and finished runner-up last year. Wie has not played well in 2012, that was of course until last week when she finished 8th at the Safeway. Whether she has improved enough to continue her good record in Canada remains to be seen but she did throw out signals last week. So Yeon Ryu is now developing into the player many felt she would when she won the US Women’s Open last year. On nine occasions in 2012 she has finished inside the top five, all but one of those LPGA Tour events. She won recently in Ohio and finished 4th last week in Oregon. Her chances of a top finish look very good. Stacy Lewis is the world number two although she has lost a little bit of momentum in recent starts after what had been a great first half of the year. She should bounce back as she has been one of the great improvers in the game this year but her 61st place finish last week is a concern. Mika Miyazato finally broke through last week and it will be interesting to see what way things go in her follow up effort. Like Ryu, she has become one of the game s most consistent players with seven top ten finishes in her last nine starts and with the much awaited victory behind her she could well go to an even higher level. There will be a lot of interest in the performance of recently crowned US Amateur Champion Lydia Ko. The 15 year old New Zealander was the leading amateur at the US Women’s Open and having already won a professional event as an amateur at the NSW Open in Sydney earlier this year then her ongoing progress will be watched with interest. Australians in the field include Karrie Webb, former Champion Katherine Hull, Lindsey Wright, Sarah Jane Smith and Sarah Kemp.
Author: Bruce Young / iseekgolf.com