BMW Ladies Championship 2024 Tips: Five to succeed in Korea

Following Ruoning Yin’s emphatic six-shot victory in the Buick LPGA Shanghai last week, the LPGA now moves on to the second leg of its East Asia journey. With trips to Malaysia and Japan to come, the tour first travels to Korea for the BMW Ladies Championship at Seowon Hills (Seowon Valley Country Club).

Our star golf tipster Jamie Worsley is back with his full BMW Ladies Championship preview and tips, which range from 20/1 to a huge 275/1!

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

The BMW Ladies Championship was first staged in 2015 on the KLPGA (Korean LPGA), running until 2017. After an absence in 2018, it returned the following year as a co-sanctioned event with the LPGA, before the tour took over full responsibility for the tournament in 2022.

Tournament winners:

• 2023 – Winner: Minjee Lee (-16, playoff); runner-up: Alison Lee (-16)
• 2022 – Winner: Lydia Ko (-21); runner-up: Andrea Lee (-17)
• 2021 – Winner: Jin Young Ko (-22, playoff); runner-up: Hee-jeong Lim (-22)
• 2019 – Winner: Ha-na Jang (-19, playoff); runner-up: Danielle Kang (-19)

The event went to a playoff for the third time in four editions last year, with Minjee Lee defeating Alison Lee on the first extra hole. Minjee returns to defend this week and would become the first multiple winner in the LPGA era if successfully able to do so.

THE COURSE

Seowon Hills (Seowon Valley Country Club) hosted the BMW Ladies Championship for the first time last year, after LPGA International Busan (2019-2021) and Oak Valley Country Club (2022) hosted the first three editions.

The original 18-hole layout opened in 2000 and there have been a further 27 holes added to the facility in the intervening years. This tournament setup incorporates the West Course as the front nine and the South Course on the back, with both courses renovated by David Dale in preparation for last year’s tournament.

The course plays as a par 72 and measures 6666 yards. It consists of 10x par 4s (351-414 yards), 4x par 5s (507-550 yards) and 4x par 3s (140-187 yards).

This tree-lined course is very hilly and undulating, with elevation changes throughout. That being said, the trees don’t really encroach on the holes, and it is generally fairly open in feel. Several holes are placed on a plateau, with severe drop-offs at the side of fairways and greens. Whilst there is water in-pay on six holes, which creates various risk/reward chances.

The sloping fairways are very wide and with the rough not too troublesome, it falls on the strategic bunkering to act as a deterrent. Uneven lies are common and makes approaches into the elevated bentgrass greens just that bit more challenging.

The subtly-contoured putting surfaces are huge and could play up to a speedy 12 on the stimp this week. They pose a difficult challenge and with steep run-offs and false-fronts commonplace, it’s a tough course at which to scramble.

Seowon Hills is reasonably lengthy but most of that distance comes from the par 3s and par 5s. The par 4s, on the other hand, look there to be got at, with many attackable with a long drive and a pitch. This includes the 360-yard 17^th, which will be pushed up to a drivable 323 yards this week.

The course provided players with a solid test last year, though it is worth noting that it was windier than what is currently forecast for this week. Therefore, I’d expect the scoring to be a touch better this time around.

THE WEATHER

Conditions look mostly ideal for this week’s field. Three of the four rounds are predicting the weather to be clear and fairly benign, with little in the way of punishing winds. This is with the exception of Friday, which could be hit by rain and gusts of up to 23mph.

KEY STATS

• SG: Off-the-Tee
• Driving Distance

These generous fairways appeared as if they would play into the hands of the longest and strongest drivers in the field prior to last year. That certainly appeared to be the case when we look at the top of the leaderboard there.

Minjee Lee ranked 4^th off-the-tee and 5^th in driving distance on her way to victory. She was followed home by Alison Lee, who ranked 9^th in driving distance and in 4^th, the big-hitting Angel Yin ranked 7^th OTT and 14^th in driving distance.

I see no reason why these types of player won’t again enjoy the most success here.

• SG: Putting (bentgrass) and/or SG: Approach

With greens that are huge and generally easy to hit, you’re going to need to combine that driving ability with either a hot putter or high-class approach play (preferably both) to make the most of the scoring opportunities.

Minjee Lee didn’t quite get it rolling on the greens but didn’t need to, as her field-leading approach play allowed her to set up many easy birdie chances.

Alison Lee in 2^nd ranked 7^th in putting and 10^th in approach, Lydia Ko in 3^rd ranked 6^th on the greens and 4^th-place finisher, Angel Yin ranked 1^st with the putter.

• Par 4 Scoring

Finally, as mentioned, those par 4s can be overpowered by the better drivers. Indeed, the top three players in 2023 performed best on these holes as a collective, with all ranking 4^th in par 4 scoring.

CORRELATING EVENTS

Due to a limited, high-quality field it’s hard to draw firm conclusions on potentially correlating events based on comp form. With that I’m going to stick to looking solely at course characteristics this week.

Buick LPGA Shanghai (Qizhong Garden Golf Club)

Last week’s host course, Qizhong Garden Golf Club looks a good place to start. This rolling, hilly venue features elevation changes throughout, generous fairways and large, contoured bentgrass greens.

Arkansas Championship (Pinnacle Country Club)

Pinnacle Country Club is another course with plenty of changes in elevation, both into the generous fairways and the reasonably large bentgrass greens.

Kroger Queen City Championship (TPC River’s Bend)

This year’s new host of the Kroger Queen City Championship, TPC River’s Bend ticks many of the same boxes. It’s a hilly, open course with extremely wide fairways and sizeable bentgrass greens.

FM Championship (TPC Boston)

TPC Boston hosted the inaugural FM Championship back in August/September. It features wide fairways and speedy bentgrass greens, whilst there are several risk/reward opportunities.

HSBC Women’s World Championship (Sentosa Golf Club – Tanjong Course)

Finally, I’m going to also look at the HSBC Women’s World Championship at Sentosa Golf Club’s Tanjong Course in Singapore. This venue is a similar length and has wide fairways, regular elevation changes and huge, quick putting surfaces.

THE FIELD

We have an excellent field teeing it up in Korea, which includes eight of the world’s top 10. Lilia Vu is the top-ranked player in the field at #2 and she is joined by Lydia Ko (#3), Ruoning Yin (#4), Ayaka Furue (#6), Amy Yang (#7), Hannah Green (#8), Haeran Ryu (#9) and Celine Boutier (#10).

Minjee Lee is our defending champion and is one of two former winners in attendance, alongside the aforementioned 2022 winner, Lydia Ko.

Brooke Henderson makes her first appearance since missing the cut in the Women’s Open back in August. It also the first time since that event that Hyo Joo Kim will tee it up in an LPGA tournament.

BMW Ladies Championship Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main BMW Ladies Championship market on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this tournament.

SELECTIONS

Market leaders: Jeeno Thitikul 9/1, Ruoning Yin 10/1, Haeran Ryu 11/1, Lydia Ko 12/1, Ayaka Furue 14/1, Mao Saigo 18/1

There’s a clear value pick for me this week. After finishing 3^rd and 2^nd for us on her last two starts, I’m hoping Sei Young Kim can make it third time lucky in Korea.

2 pts Sei Young Kim each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 20/1 

Having gone through a mid-season lull, Kim has been excellent on her last three starts. She finished 18^th in the Kroger Queen City Championship three starts ago to signal somewhat of a return to form and has backed that up with those strong contending efforts in the last two events, finishing 3^rd in the Arkansas Championship and 2^nd in last week’s Buick LPGA Shanghai.

Each of those three recent results have been achieved due to some of her best approach performances of the year. Indeed, her ranking of 5^th last week was her best of 2024.

She also produced her fourth-best putting display of the season in Shanghai and looking consistently strong off-the-tee, this lengthy player and 12^th-ranked par 4 scorer ticks every box this week.

Kim finished 70^th here last year though did come into the event having withdrawn through illness the previous week. Therefore it is reasonable to suspect she still wasn’t at 100%. Those two recent top-3 finishes could act as strong pieces of comp form and suggest that in her current mood and free of illness, she is capable of a much improved result this year.

1.5 pts Angel Yin each way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 30/1

It’s the same top two selections as last week for me and narrowly missing out on the place for us when defending her title in China, Angel Yin looks worth another shot at a course that ideally fits her game.

Following a slow, injury-plagued start to the season, Yin has hit a real purple patch in recent months. She’s finished inside the top 20 in each of her last six starts, a run which started with a runner-up finish in the Portland Classic and includes further top-10 finishes in the Women’s Open, Aramco Series – Shenzhen and last week in the Buick LPGA Shanghai, where she finished 7^th.

She has been predictably excellent on the greens and possesses the length off-the-tee to overpower many venues. However, it’s been her approach play that has caught the eye, with each of her four best iron displays of the season coming over that six-event period.

Yin fired rounds of 69-68-71-67 to finish a superb 4^th at Seowon Hills last year, where she drove the ball well and was particularly excellent in putting, ranking 1^st. Her solo LPGA win in the Buick LPGA Shanghai last year strengthens her case and shows me that she can continue her recent standard of play to double her LPGA tally this week.

1 pt Patty Tavatanakit each way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 45/1 

Patty Tavatanakit returned to LPGA action in China after seven weeks away. She looked strong throughout but did her best work over the weekend to finish 16^th. As a good fit for this challenge, she’s taken to record her third victory of the year in Korea.

Patty was one of the form players at the start of the season, recording back-to-back victories in the Aramco Ladies International and Honda LPGA Thailand.

She continued to play well, recording a further four top-10 finishes but going into last week she’d hit a flat spot of form, withdrawing in the Women’s Scottish Open, finishing 60^th in Women’s Open and missing the cut on the Korean Tour on her three previous starts. With that, her return to the top 20 on the leaderboard in China made me sit up and take notice.

Though she excelled with the short game there, she did hit her irons well over the first two rounds and there was also plenty of encouragement with the driver. This was to be expected, as the 15^th-longest driver on tour ranks 18^th off-the-tee for the season and compliments that with a sound ranking of 34^th in approach.

These approach play numbers represent a major improvement on previous seasons. While it has come at the expense of a little quality on the greens, we can take confidence from the fact she did putt these surfaces well last year.

Tavatanakit finished 28^th in 2023, signing off the event with a 7-under 65 – the sixth-best round of the week. Finishes of 3^rd and 8^th in the HSBC Women’s World Championship indicate that she can go even better and if the driver is firing, expect her to be among the main contenders.

1 pt Yuka Saso each way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 70/1

Yuka Saso’s powerful driving game and quality on the greens make her an appealing contender for this course. When also considering that she finished 4^th just three starts ago in the Kroger Queen City Championship, this two-time US Women’s Open winner looks a rather large price this week.

Saso recorded her second victory in the US Women’s Open back at the start of June at Lancaster Country Club. Though initially struggling for form thereafter, she shot back into contention at TPC River’s Bend, finishing 4^th and was 23^rd on the JLPGA on her latest start.

She did most things well in the Kroger Queen. However, whereas it was no surprise that she drove it well and holed some putts there, ranking 6^th and 16^th in those stats respectively this year, it was a massive plus to see her record her third-best approach performance of the season. An area in which she’d largely struggled in 2024.

Saso was a solid 34^th in this event last year, firing a pair of 69s in rounds two and three. The course appeared to fit her eye, as she ranked 6^th OTT and 26^th in approach. She also has some appealing comp form, with that 4^th-place finish in the Kroger Queen added to a finish of 4^th in Arkansas and 6^th in the HSBC Women’s World Championship.

0.5 pts Auston Kim each way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 275/1

Auston Kim achieved the second-best finish of her rookie season last week. Doing so after one of her strongest approach displays of 2024, she has the game to tackle this course and contend for a breakthrough tour win at a massive price.

The former #22 amateur earned her spot on the LPGA after ranking 3^rd on the Epson Tour – the LPGA’s development tour – last season, recording a victory in their Tour Championship.

Kim started this season well, finishing 6^th in the LPGA Drive On Championship and made 10 of her first 11 cuts. However, she then missed five of her following seven and failed to record a single finish inside the top 70. She has finally regained some form in recent weeks, making three of her last four cuts and comes into this week after finishing 12^th in the Buick LPGA Shanghai.

The American’s biggest asset is the driver, ranking top 50 for the season off-the-tee and she’s one of the longest, sitting 4^th in driving distance. She ranked 3^rd off-the-tee in that 12^th-place finish last week – her joint-best driving performance of 2024 – and it was extra-encouraging to see this often wayward driver find plenty of fairways.

Combined with ranking 13^th in approach, it was Kim’s best ball-striking performance of the season and any repeat of that will make her a player at this mammoth number at Seowon Hills.

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