LOTTE Championship 2025 Betting Tips: 350/1 shot one of five for Hawaii

It’s all systems go on the LPGA now, with eight consecutive weeks of events set to bring the 2025 season to a close.

The tour begins a five-week stretch in Asia with the Buick LPGA Shanghai next week, but first we stop off in Hawaii for the LOTTE Championship at Hoakalei Country Club.

Our LPGA golf expert Jamie Worsley is on-hand with a comprehensive preview for the tournament. Check out his Lotte Championship Betting Tips below, where he has picked out five players to back each-way ranging from 16/1 all the way out to 350/1!

You can bet on the tournament and check out the latest Lotte Championship Odds over on betfred.com

TOURNAMENT HISTORY 

The LOTTE Championship made its debut on the LPGA in 2012 and with the exception of 2020, it has been held every year since. It has had three different host courses: Ko Olina Golf Club from 2012-2019, Kapolei Golf Club in 2021, and current host Hoakalei Country Club took over in 2022.

After Ai Miyazato won the inaugural edition in 2012, every other winner of this event is or has become a major champion. However, there's only one player who has won it more than once, with Canada's Brooke Henderson recording back-to-back wins in 2018 and 2019.

Last five winners:

• 2024

Winner: A Lim Kim (-18)

Runner-up: Nataliya Guseva (-16)

• 2023

Winner: Grace Kim (-12, playoff)

Runners-up: Yu Liu, Yujin Sung (-12)

• 2022

Winner: Hyo Joo Kim (-11)

Runner-up: Hinako Shibuno (-9)

• 2021

Winner: Lydia Ko (-28)

Runners-up: Inbee Park, Sei Young Kim, Nelly Korda, Leona Maguire (-21)

• 2019

Winner: Brooke Henderson (-16)

Runner-up: Eun Hee Ji (-12)

A Lim Kim won the event last year, converting her 54-hole lead to beat Nataliya Guseva by one stroke. She returns to defend this week.

THE COURSE

Located just a 30-minute drive from Hawaii's state capital, Honolulu, Hoakalei Country Club is an Ernie Els design that opened in 2013.

It plays as a par 72, measuring 6566 yards and possesses 4x par 3s (135-197 yards), 10x par 4s (341-418 yards) and 4x par 5s (495-540 yards).

Situated by the coast, wind can be a factor and that certainly proved to be the case in the first two versions held here, which produced 11 and 12-under-par winning scores. However, both of those renewals took place in April and the move to a later start date in 2024 resulted in a more scoreable event, with the winner shooting an 18-under-par total.

This flat parkland layout is dotted with palm trees but is predominantly spacious. Paspalum covers the course, and water is a prominent feature, in play on 13 holes.

The generous fairways lack protection from rough but are adequately guarded by bunkers, with 112 of them around the course in total.

Sand also defends many of the putting surfaces, which are large and will play at a slow 10-10.5 on the stimp – typical for paspalum. They're often elevated and narrow or shallow in shape, enabling them to tuck away some tricky pin positions over deep greenside bunkers.

Hoakalei Country Club is characterised by its fun risk/reward nature, with water in play on each of the four par 5s, as well as several of the shorter par 4s. The players will be hoping the wind stays away to allow for another low-scoring contest this week.

THE WEATHER

Rain and wind both appear in this week's forecast, but neither is predicted to become too severe. General wind speeds vary between 7-11mph for most of the week – though we could see gusts of over 20mph – and light rain is scheduled to fall on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

KEY STATS

• SG: Off-the-Tee/Driving Distance

Last year's more lenient edition of the LOTTE Championship produced a different type of leaderboard. It was dominated by strong, lengthy drivers – no surprise on a course with wide fairways and light rough – and it may pay to side with similar players this week.

The winner in 2024, A Lim Kim, ranked 8^th off-the-tee (OTT) and 6^th in driving distance. Runner-up Nataliya Guseva ranked 11^th OTT and 8^th in driving distance, whilst 3^rd-place finisher Auston Kim ranked 2^nd OTT and 1^st in driving distance.

Quality driving has mattered here previously. 2023 winner Grace Kim ranked 15^th OTT and our champion in 2022, Hyo Joo Kim ranked 14^th, but neither are players who possess a great deal of power.

• SG: Approach

Strength with the irons has also proven important into these receptive greens, and I expect that to continue.

A Lim Kim ranked 16^th in approach on her way to victory last year; as her closest challengers, Nataliya Guseva and Auston Kim, ranked 6^th and 7^th respectively.

Grace Kim ranked 3^rd in approach when she won in 2023, beating the top-ranked iron player that week Yu Liu in a playoff. It was a similar story in 2022, as winner Hyo Joo Kim ranked 4^th in approach and runner-up Hinako Shibuno ranked 12^th.

• SG: Putting (paspalum)
• Birdie-or-Better %

Lastly, I expect scoring to be reasonably good again, which will obviously require players to hole their fair share of putts on these paspalum greens. Therefore, anyone who has shone with the flat stick on that grass type before should be respected.

CORRELATING EVENTS (COURSES)

Shoprite LPGA Classic (Seaview Bay Course)

Seaview's Bay Course is an exposed, coastal layout with heavy bunkering, large greens and some spacious fairways. Due to these aspects, it has developed significant form ties with this week's host.

Notable correlating form:

Hyo Joo Kim:

LOTTE (1^st) / Shoprite (2^nd)

Yu Liu:

LOTTE (2^nd) / Shoprite (5^th)

Linnea Strom:

LOTTE (4^th) / Shoprite (1^st)

Ashleigh Buhai:

LOTTE (4^th) / Shoprite (1^st)

Nasa Hataoka:

LOTTE (4^th) / Shoprite (4^th, 6^th)

Ryan O'Toole:

LOTTE (5^th, 6^th) / Shoprite (6^th)

Na Rin An:

LOTTE (6^th) / Shoprite (6^th)

Blue Bay LPGA (Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course)

Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course is another venue that uses paspalum throughout. Similar to Hoakalei Country Club, it's an exposed, flat course with large, slow greens and lots of water in play.

Notable correlating form:

Hye Jin Choi:

LOTTE (3^rd) / Blue Bay (9^th)

Ashleigh Buhai:

LOTTE (4^th) / Blue Bay (3^rd)

Women's Scottish Open

Typically played on coastal and exposed courses with large greens and generous fairways, the Women's Scottish Open could be worth checking out for clues.

Notable correlating form:

A Lim Kim:

LOTTE (1^st) / Scottish (4^th)

Hyo Joo Kim:

LOTTE (1^st) / Scottish (2^nd, 2^nd, 3^rd)

Ryan O'Toole:

LOTTE (5^th, 6^th) / Scottish (1^st)

Buick LPGA Shanghai (Qizhong Garden Golf Club)

Qizhong Garden Golf Club is a course of a similar length and yardage to Hoakalei Country Club. It is tree-lined yet spacious, with wide fairways, large, slow greens, and a significant amount of water in play.

Notable correlating form:

Yu Liu:

LOTTE (2^nd) Buick LPGA Shanghai (3^rd, 3^rd)

Hye Jin Choi:

LOTTE (3^rd) / Buick LPGA Shanghai (3^rd, 5^th)

Nasa Hataoka:

LOTTE (4^th) / Buick LPGA Shanghai (3^rd)

Honda LPGA Thailand (Siam Country Club – Old Course)

Siam Country Club's Old Course is laid out with paspalum from tee-to-green but uses bermudagrass on the putting surfaces. Although the generous fairways lack rough, bunkers strategically protect them and many of the large greens are elevated.

Notable correlating form:

Hyo Joo Kim:

LOTTE (1^st) / Honda LPGA Thailand (5^th)

A Lim Kim:

LOTTE (1^st) / Honda LPGA Thailand (6^th)

Hye Jin Choi:

LOTTE (3^rd) / Honda LPGA Thailand (3^rd)

THE FIELD

This week's field is headed by world No. 2 Nelly Korda, who makes her first start in the LOTTE Championship since 2021. She is one of four players from inside the top 10, alongside Charley Hull (No. 5), Miyu Yamashita (No. 6) and Hyo Joo Kim (No. 9).

A Lim Kim returns to defend, and she is joined by just two other past champions: Hyo Joo Kim (2022) and Brooke Henderson (2019, 2018).

SELECTIONS 

Market leaders: Nelly Korda 6/1, Miyu Yamashita 9/1, Charley Hull 10/1, Hye Jin Choi 12/1, Nasa Hataoka 14/1

2.5 pts Rio Takeda each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 16/1

First up for me this week is Japanese star Rio Takeda, who arrives here after a run of 11 made cuts in a row. She's already a two-time winner on the LPGA and with the second of those wins coming in the Blue Bay LPGA earlier this year, this looks a great spot for her to notch up win number three.

Among those last 11 starts, Takeda finished 2^nd in the U.S. Women's Open and 4^th in the Women's Open. Her latest completed start resulted in a 38^th-place finish in the Kroger Queen City Championship but when we last saw her, she actually started strongly in the cancelled Arkansas Championship, opening with a four-under 67.

She ranks 1^st on tour this season from tee-to-green, especially excelling with her irons, ranking 1^st in approach and greens-in-regulation. The driver is also a weapon, balancing power and length to rank 17^th and while the putter is a weakness, she ranked a solid 15^th on the paspalum surfaces in the Blue Bay LPGA.

That piece of form should be the perfect indicator that she has the game to contend here on debut, and if taking to the greens as she did the ones in China, Takeda will be a prominent force this week.

1.5 pts Jennifer Kupcho each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 30/1

Jennifer Kupcho has been knocking on the door for a second LPGA win of the season and must’ve been frustrated with the cancellation of the Arkansas Championship, having started the event with a six-under 65. She played well here on debut in 2022 – albeit in different, more demanding conditions – and as a lengthy driver who scores heavily, she should appreciate this test.

Kupcho claimed the fourth LPGA title of her career back in June with a win in the Shoprite Classic. She’s maintained form since, finishing 11^th in the Evian Championship, 23^rd in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, and prior to the non-event in Arkansas she finished 5^th in the Kroger Queen City Championship.

The driver has been her biggest asset, ranking 11^th, and she’s also a handy 20^th in driving distance. Although her approach numbers aren’t overly impressive this year, she does rank 23^rd in greens-in-regulation and when combined with her ranking of 29^th on the greens, it’s no surprise that she’s the fifth-best birdie-or-better maker.

Kupcho has played this event twice, finishing 22^nd on debut in 2021 at Kapolei Golf Club before returning to finish 18^th at this venue the following year. Furthermore, she has a victory and a runner-up finish in the Shoprite LPGA Classic, showing that she can handle conditions if those strong, gusting winds become more frequent.

1 pt Jenny Bae each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 80/1

I’ve backed rookie Jenny Bae several times this year and at a course where her length should be an advantage off the tee, she is worth another shot in Hawaii.

Bae has only missed the cut twice in her last 12 starts, over which time she recorded her best finish of the season when finishing 2^nd in the Riviera Maya Open. She picked up a second top-10 of 2025 three starts ago in the CPKC Women’s Open, and she’s another player who made a promising start in Arkansas, posting a five-under 66.

Ranking 29^th off-the-tee and 19^th in driving distance, her prowess with the driver makes her a strong fit for the demands of this event. She’s also solid with her irons, ranking 36^th in greens-in-regulation and 62^nd in approach, and as a competent 59^th in putting, she has the skillset to score effectively around this layout.

Though Bae may not have much form on the comp courses mentioned, her runner-up finish in the Riviera Maya Open came on paspalum – an event in which she ranked 6^th in putting.

0.75 pts Cassie Porter each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 175/1

I have two players at huge odds to finish, beginning with Aussie Cassie Porter. The 23-year-old rookie has shown plenty of promise this season and as a big-hitter who has gone well on paspalum, this challenge looks ideal.

Porter finished 10^th on the Epson Tour money list in 2024, earning this automatic step up to the LPGA. She began the season with a missed cut in the Founders Cup but immediately displayed her potential at this level on her next start, finishing 4^th in the Blue Bay LPGA.

Her form has been inconsistent since, but she arrives after making four of her last six cuts – recording further top-25s of 11^th in the Portland Classic and 21^st in the Women’s Scottish Open.

She’s a lengthy driver, ranking 16^th in driving distance but can be a little erratic, therefore she should benefit from the forgiving nature of this layout off the tee. Her short game is neat and tidy, and it was extra encouraging to see her putt positively on the paspalum greens in the Blue Bay LPGA, ranking 18^th.

Porter’s 4^th-place finish there represents an appealing piece of comp form and having displayed an ability to win on the Epson Tour last year, I’m confident that she’s capable of transferring it to this bigger stage.

0.5 pts Bailey Tardy each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 350/1

Bailey Tardy has missed over half of her cuts this year and struggled with most parts of her game. That said, she showed really encouraging signs in the Kroger Queen City Championship recently, and as a player with power who has winning form on one of the comp courses mentioned, I’m keen to take her at a huge price in Hawaii.

Tardy missed eight of her previous nine cuts prior to the Kroger Queen but turned her fortunes around, firing rounds of 71-66-68-72 to finish 22^nd – her best result of the season.

She drove the ball solidly there, ranking 26^th – no surprise for a player who ranks 27^th off-the-tee for the season, and 7^th in driving distance. However, I was particularly taken with her improvement on the greens, ranking 18^th in contrast to being 149^th in the season-long standings.

Tardy performed with credit here on her only previous visit in 2023, finishing 23^rd, with her third-round 65 rating as the second-best round of the entire week.

That isn’t the only time she’s performed on paspalum, as she won her solo LPGA title at the Blue Bay LPGA last year – by an impressive four shots no less – and ranking 5^th on the greens there, I’m optimistic that she’ll maintain her gains with the putter at Hoakalei Country Club.

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