LA Championship 2026 Betting Tips: Four against the field in California

Just one week out from the first women’s major of the season, the Chevron Championship, the LPGA heads to California for a final tune-up, as El Caballero Country Club hosts the JM Eagle LA Championship for the second time.

Our LPGA golf expert Jamie Worsley is back with his usual long-read preview for the tournament. Check out his JM Eagle La Championship 2026 Betting Tips below, where he has picked out four players to back ranging from 18/1 to 200/1!

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You can bet on the tournament and check out the latest LA Championship 2026 Odds over on betfred.com

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

The JM Eagle LA Championship – known as the LA Open until 2023 – debuted on the LPGA in 2018. It was staged at Wilshire Country Club right up until last year, when El Caballero Country Club took up hosting duties.

Moriya Jutanugarn won the first edition, and as yet, Hannah Green is the only player to claim this title more than once, going back-to-back in 2023/2024.

Last five winners:

• 2025 (El Caballero Country Club)

Winner: Ingrid Lindblad (-21)

Runner-up: Akie Iwai (-20)

• 2024 (Wilshire Country Club)

Winner: Hannah Green (-12)

Runner-up: Maja Stark (-9)

• 2023 (Wilshire Country Club)

Winner: Hannah Green (-9, playoff)

Runners-up: Aditi Ashok, Xiyu Lin (-9)

• 2022 (Wilshire Country Club)

Winner: Nasa Hataoka (-15)

Runner-up: Hannah Green (-10)

• 2021 (Wilshire Country Club)

Winner: Brooke Henderson (-16)

Runner-up: Jessica Korda (-15)

Former No. 1 amateur Ingrid Lindblad won her first LPGA title at El Caballero CC last year, beating Akie Iwai by one shot. The Swede returns to defend this week.

THE COURSE

El Caballero Country Club

• Original architect / Year opened: Robert Trent Jones / 1960
• Latest renovation: Rees Jones (son of the original architect) completed a renovation project in 2021, which focused on the removal of trees, repositioning of bunkers, and remodelling of all greens
• Par / Yardage: Par 72 / 6,679 yards
• Hole breakdown:
  • 4x par 3s (151-182yds)
  • 10x par 4s (370-432yds)
  • 4x par 5s (464-534yds)
• Course style: Traditional and hilly parkland course with frequent elevation changes. It's loosely tree-lined, featuring a mixture of tighter and more spacious holes
• Fairways:
  • The doglegged bermudagrass fairways are reasonably generous
  • Large white-sand bunkers – of which there are 86 at the property in total –

hug the landing areas, making them feel tighter

• Rough isn't too punishing but smartly positioned trees require players to drive with a level of strategy

• Greens:
  • Average-to-large (6,300 sq. ft.) bentgrass greens are heavily bunkered
  • They could run as fast as 12 on the Stimpmeter, while subtle breaks make them tricky to read
  • Predominantly elevated, they're littered with run-offs and false-fronts, requiring high-class iron play to access them
• Defences:
  • Water is in-play on four holes, guarding the greens on 5, 9, 10 and 17
  • Bunkers can prove penal but as shown by last year's 21-under-par winning score, it isn't an especially punishing layout

El Caballero came with mystery attached last year, but with four par 5s that are reachable in two for most, and several short par 4s that can be attacked with a strong drive and a wedge, it looked packed with birdie chances.

With -19 required to just get into the top five, that certainly came to fruition and unless there is any adverse weather on the way, we can expect another low-scoring contest in California.

THE WEATHER

Conditions have been warm and dry in the build-up and that is forecast to continue into the event itself, with sunshine and temperatures of at least 23°C predicted each day.

Although we could see gusts approaching 20mph, general wind speeds are a gentle 4-7mph, which means birdies should again flow at El Caballero.

KEY STATS

SG: Putting (bentgrass)

The tournament turned into a putting contest last year and there's nothing in the forecast to suggest we'll see any different this week.

• 2025
  • Ingrid Lindblad (Winner): 1^st in SG: Putting
  • Esther Henseleit (3^rd): 6^th in SG: Putting
  • Lauren Coughlin (3^rd): 8^th in SG: Putting
  • Miyu Yamashita (3^rd): 11^th in SG: Putting

SG: Approach / Greens-in-Regulation (GIR)

In an event that resulted in a birdie-fest, it's no surprise that quality iron players also enjoyed success.

• 2025
  • Ingrid Lindblad (Winner): 19^th in SG: Approach / 13^th in GIR
  • Akie Iwai (2^nd): 2^nd in SG: Approach / 7^th in GIR
  • Lauren Coughlin (3^rd): 10^th in SG: Approach / 13^th in GIR
  • Esther Henseleit (3^rd): 12^th in SG: Approach / 13^th in GIR

Birdie-or-Better %

Lastly, when searching for those most aggressive birdie makers, we can simply look at players who rank highly in birdie-or-better %.

CORRELATING EVENTS (COURSES)

Portland Classic (Columbia Edgewater Country Club)

Columbia Edgewater CC is a rolling parkland course with generous fairways and speedy, subtly-undulating greens. With winning scores regularly reaching 20-under-par, it's another birdie-fest where aggressive players thrive.

Notable correlating form:

• Akie Iwai: El Caballero (2^nd) / Portland (1^st)
• Esther Henseleit: El Caballero (3^rd) / Portland (3^rd)
• Lauren Coughlin: El Caballero (3^rd) / Portland (7^th, 9^th)
• Nasa Hataoka: El Caballero (6^th) / Portland (4^th)

Buick LPGA Shanghai (Qizhong Garden Golf Club)

Despite being situated in East Asia, Qizhong Garden Golf Club has much in common with El Caballero. Hilly with frequent changes in elevation, the layout is tree-lined yet spacious, possessing generous bermudagrass fairways and large bentgrass greens, both of which are protected by large, imposing bunkers.

Notable correlating form:

• Esther Henseleit: El Caballero (3^rd) / Buick LPGA (3^rd)
• Miyu Yamashita: El Caballero (3rd) / Buick LPGA (4^th)
• Nasa Hataoka: El Caballero (6^th) / Buick LPGA (3^rd)

Evian Championship (Evian Resort)

The Evian Resort is tighter off the tee than this week's host, but as an undulating, hilly venue with smart bunkering and elevated bentgrass greens of a similar size and speed, it can prove a worthwhile comp.

Notable correlating form:

• Lauren Coughlin: El Caballero (3^rd) / Evian (4^th)
• Esther Henseleit: El Caballero (3^rd) / Evian (7^th)
• Nasa Hataoka: El Caballero (6^th) / Evian (3^rd)

2024-2025 Kroger Queen City Championship (TPC River's Bend)

TPC River's Bend mirrors many aspects of play at El Caballero. The sloping fairways at this tree-lined course are extremely wide, elevation changes come into play on most holes, and the average-sized bentgrass greens are gently contoured, running at between 11.5 and 12 on the Stimpmeter.

Notable correlating form:

• Miyu Yamashita: El Caballero (3^rd) / Kroger Queen (4^th)
• Nasa Hataoka: El Caballero (6^th) / Kroger Queen (5^th)

2018-2024 JM Eagle LA Championship/LA Open (Wilshire Country Club)

Last up is original host of the event, Wilshire Country Club. With its wide fairways, heavy bunkering and speedy greens, this undulating, tree-lined course shares many similarities with its successor.

Notable correlating form:

• Esther Henseleit: El Caballero (3^rd) / Wilshire (8^th)
• Nasa Hataoka: El Caballero (6^th) / Wilshire (1^st)

THE FIELD

This week's field contains six players from the world's top 10: Hyo Joo Kim (No. 3), Miyu Yamashita (No. 5), Minjee Lee (No. 6), Hannah Green (No. 8), Lottie Woad (No. 9) and Sei Young Kim (No. 10).

Ingrid Lindblad is back as the reigning champion, and she is joined by just three other former winners: Hannah Green (2024, 2023), Brooke Henderson (2021) and Minjee Lee (2019).

Last year's runner-up Akie Iwai returns hoping to go one better this time around; Alison Lee makes her first LPGA appearance of the campaign; and two of the amateur game's top-15, Asterisk Talley (No. 9) and Aphrodite Deng (No. 12), arrive as tournament invites.

SELECTIONS 

Market leaders: Hyo Joo Kim 9/1, Miyu Yamashita 10/1, Minjee Lee 14/1, Akie Iwai 14/1, Hye Jin Choi 16/1, Hannah Green 18/1

2.25 pts Hannah Green each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 18/1

Australia's Hannah Green has already won three times worldwide in 2026, and I fancy her to make that four this week. She was an encouraging 9^th here last year, and with some eye-catching comp form to boot, this elite putter could take the beating in California.

Green started the new season with a 7^th-place finish at the Honda LPGA Thailand and immediately built on that, winning the HSBC Women's World Championship on her following appearance. A return home saw her claim two further victories at the Women's Australian Open and Australian WPGA Championship, but she'll need to bounce back from a missed cut at the Aramco Championship two weeks ago.

She has ranked outside the top 30 in SG: Putting just once in the previous four seasons and currently sitting 1^st this season, she's once again thriving on the greens. Alongside her ranking of 6^th in GIR, this makes for a deadly combination around here.

Green fired four rounds in the 60s to finish 9^th at El Caballero 12 months ago, doing so despite not quite being at her best with the putter. She's won this event twice before, going back-to-back at Wilshire CC in 2023/2024 and also claiming a win at the Portland Classic in 2019, her comp form strengthens an already strong case.

2 pts Chizzy Iwai each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 22/1

I selected Chizzy Iwai three starts ago in the Ford Championship, where she went well for a long way before eventually finishing 9^th. That was a continuation of her promising early-season form, and having finished 11^th at El Caballero in 2025, I’m expecting another bold showing this week.

Iwai has come on considerably since an underwhelming effort in the season-opening Tournament of Champions. She was 9^th in Saudi Arabia on her following start and then performed strongly in East Asia, finishing 2^nd at the Honda LPGA Thailand and 21^st at the HSBC Women’s World Championship.

Upon returning to the U.S, she finished 19^th at the Founders Cup before that top-10 at the Ford Championship. Whilst she did finish down the leaderboard at the Aramco Championship, I’m happy to forgive that in what turned out to be a brutally tough contest.

The Japanese star was fantastic from tee-to-green last year, ranking 15^th, and it’s been more of the same in 2026, ranking 21^st. Sitting 20^th in SG: Approach, her iron play has particularly stood out, though it’s the putter that is providing real cause for optimism, ranking 40^th in SG: Putting, a 42-place improvement on 2025.

It was the irons that shone for Iwai here last year, as she ranked 8^th in SG: Approach on the way to her 11^th-place finish. That effort is encouraging alone, but in addition to top-five finishes at both the Portland Classic and Kroger Queen City Championship, she looks to have an excellent chance of claiming her second LPGA title in L.A.

0.75 pts Jennifer Kupcho each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 110/1

Following a sluggish start to the season, Jennifer Kupcho has seen her early-year prices almost double. However, signs have been more positive in recent appearances, and as a generally solid putter who hits tonnes of greens and scores heavily, this classy major winner is worth chancing at a three-figure price.

Kupcho was in excellent form at the end of 2025, finishing 2^nd in The ANNIKA on her second-to-last outing. There was little to shout about across her first four events this year, but she looked better at the Ford Championship, finishing 42^nd and she was even sharper last time out, placing 27^th at the Aramco Championship.

Rankings of 7^th in birdie-or-better %, 23^rd in GIR, and 32^nd in SG: Putting in 2025 would make her a strong candidate for this test. Whilst she’s nowhere near that level so far this year, she did hit the ball better two weeks ago and found improvement for the switch to bentgrass greens, ranking 16^th in SG: Putting around Shadow Creek.

Kupcho failed to get anything going at El Caballero last year, missing the cut by some distance. Although, possessing a runner-up finish at the Evian Championship and finishing 5^th in last year’s Kroger Queen City Championship, her comp form suggests that she’s capable of much better.

0.75 pts Chanettee Wannasaen each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 200/1

Winning each of her LPGA titles in at least 20-under-par, Chanettee Wannasaen is a player who excels in birdie-fests. She showed that to finish 20^th at El Caballero last year and, with her form steady at the beginning of 2026, I’m keen to have her on side at this huge price.

Wannasaen was a decent 17^th at the Tournament of Champions on her first LPGA appearance this year and she followed that with another top-20 at the Honda LPGA Thailand, finishing 18^th. Results of 41^st at the HSBC Women’s World Championship and 28^th at the Blue Bay LPGA since cause little concern, and whilst she may have missed the cut at the Aramco Championship two weeks ago, that turned into a challenge that is not her specialty.

The driver is again her most reliable club, ranking 54^th in SG: Off-the-Tee in 2026. That said, she’s got a decent all-round game and that has been evident in snippets this season, she’s just struggling to produce consistency throughout the week.

If Wannasaen is going to find consistency, it will be at a course such as this, where she fired two rounds of 66 to finish 20^th in 2025. Having also recorded her maiden LPGA success at the Portland Classic in 2023, shooting 26-under-par to do so, I’m confident she can thrive in this environment.

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