Portland Classic 2025 Betting Tips: Who is Jamie backing this week?

A $2million purse is up for grabs over on the west coast of the United States this week as the top female golfers head on over to the Columbia Edgewater Country Club to take part in the 2025 edition of the Portland Classic. 

Our LPGA golf expert Jamie Worsley is on-hand with a comprehensive preview for the tournament. Check out his Portland Classic 2025 Betting Tips and see which players he's backing to be there or thereabouts at the top of the leaderboard come Sunday evening...

You can bet on the tournament and check out the latest Portland Classic 2025 Odds over on betfred.com

Following a three-event stint in Europe that brought major season to a close in Wales, the LPGA returns to the U.S. this week. It's to the Pacific Northwest and Oregon for the Portland Classic at Columbia Edgewater Country Club. 

TOURNAMENT HISTORY 

Debuting in 1972, the Portland Classic is one of the oldest tournaments on the LPGA. It took place as an unofficial team event from 1977-1982 but reverted back to a regular stroke-play event in 1983. 

Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez is the most successful player in the tournament's history, winning three renewals in 1985, 1987, and 1992.  

She is followed by a quintet of two-time winners: Kathy Whitworth (1972, 1973), JoAnne Carner (1974, 1983), Annika Sorenstam (2002, 2003), Suzann Pettersen (2011, 2013), and Brooke Henderson (2015, 2016). 

Last five winners: 

• 2024 

Winner: Moriya Jutanugarn (-22) 

Runners-up: Narin An, Nataliya Guseva, Angel Yin (-20) 

• 2023 

Winner: Chanettee Wannasaen (-26) 

Runner-up: Xiyu Lin (-22) 

• 2022 

Winner: Andrea Lee (-19) 

Runner-up: Daniela Darquea (-18) 

• 2021 * 

Winner: Jin Young Ko (-11) 

Runners-up: Jeongeun Lee5, Su Oh (-7) 

• 2020 

Winner: Georgia Hall (-12, playoff) 

Runner-up: Ashleigh Buhai (-12) 

*  2021 edition held at Oregon Golf Club 

Moriya Jutanugarn won her second individual LPGA title in Portland last year, shooting an excellent six-under 66 on Sunday to overturn a three-shot deficit on 54-hole leader Andrea Lee. She returns to defend this week.  

THE COURSE 

Columbia Edgewater Country Club has held 37 renewals of the Portland Classic in total and has been the almost exclusive host since 2013. This excludes the 2021 edition, which was shifted to Oregon Golf Club due to safety concerns. 

A.V. Macan designed the course in 1925 and made alterations in the 1950s. It has been renovated several times since – by Bob Cupp in 1993 and Arthur Hills in the early 2000s – but the majority of those changes have been reverted to Macan's original designs. 

Each nine is swapped around for this event, and the 7th hole – which usually plays as the 16th – is converted into a par 5. The result is a short and scoreable par 72 that measures 6497yds and possesses 4x par 3s (145-175yds), 10x par 4s (337-426yds), and 4x par 5s (463-546yds). 

Although it initially provided a demanding test, it has become a bit of a birdie-fest in recent years, averaging a winning score of -18.8 in the last 10 renewals, with seven winning scores exceeding 18-under-par. 

Columbia Edgewater Country Club is a pristine parkland course built on gently-rolling terrain. It is framed by an abundance of tall evergreen trees, giving a sense of seclusion throughout, and there is water in-play on seven holes, adding to the jeopardy. 

That being said, while the trees can create tight driving lines, the fairways are predominantly generous and easy to find. Fairway bunkering isn't especially prevalent, and with the rough decreasing in length in recent years, down to three inches from five, players aren't severely punished for missing the short grass. 

The majority of the fairways dogleg from left-to-right, requiring players to position the ball smartly to create the best line of attack into the greens. These back-to-front sloping surfaces are poa annua and relatively small, with subtle undulations. Set up to play at an ultra-fast 12.5/13 on the stimp, managing them is the most difficult aspect of play around the layout. 

They are protected by often large and deep greenside bunkers. Having said that, you can run the ball up onto most greens, offering those who get out of position with their drive an escape route. 

Columbia Edgewater is simply too scoreable a course to keep the modern players at bay. Each of the par 5s are gettable, including two at under 490yds, and seven of the 10 par 4s come in at under 400yds.  

It needs clear, warm and breezy conditions to firm it up and pose a challenge. Unfortunately, that doesn't look to be on the cards this week. 

THE WEATHER  

It's forecast to be hot and sunny in the buildup to the event, but it begins to cool down on Thursday. Rain on Friday and Saturday should soften the course up and with wind not likely to be much of a factor, scoring should be low. 

KEY STATS 

• SG: Approach/Greens-in-Regulation 

High-class iron play has been key to unlocking Columbia Edgewater Country Club in recent years. With potentially receptive conditions on the way, it should again prove vital this week. 

Moriya Jutanugarn ranked 23rd in approach and 7th in greens-in-regulation (GIR) on her way to victory last year. Runner-up Narin An ranked 3rd in approach and 6th in GIR, whilst fellow 2nd-place finishers, Angel Yin and Nataliya Guseva, each ranked top 25 in approach and top 20 in GIR. 

2023 winner Chanettee Wannasaen led in approach for her comfortable four-shot win. Of her closest challengers, 3rd-place finisher Ruoning Yin ranked 7th in approach and 17th in GIR. 

Andrea Lee also topped the rankings in approach when she won in 2022 and hit more greens than anyone. 2nd-place finisher Daniela Darquea ranked 4th in GIR, and top-seven finisher Hannah Green ranked 2nd in approach and GIR. 

• SG: Putting (poa) 

• Birdie-or-Better % 

To make the birdies required to contend, you usually need to get it rolling on the greens. Therefore, anyone who excels on poa should be taken seriously. 

Moriya Jutanugarn ranked 5th with the putter when she won in 2024, and runner-up Angel Yin ranked 4th.  

Although Chanettee Wannasaen was more reliant on her tee-to-green game in 2023, runner-up Xiyu Lin shone on the greens, ranking 7th. In addition, the three 3rd-place finishers ranked inside the top 20. 

Andrea Lee was a solid 24th on the greens in 2022 and of the group of players in 3rd, Narin An, Ayaka Furue, Esther Henseleit, and Lilia Vu each ranked inside the top five. 

CORRELATING EVENTS (COURSES) 

Dana Open (Highland Meadows Golf Club) 

The Dana Open – now the Greater Toledo Classic on the Epson Tour – takes place at Highland Meadows Golf Club. It's another gently-rolling, tree-lined course with small poa/bentgrass greens and is usually home to low scoring. 

Notable correlating form: 

Chanettee Wannasaen: 

Portland (1st) / Dana (1st) 

Austin Ernst: 

Portland (1st) / Dana (4th, 5th) 

Marina Alex: 

Portland (1st) / Dana (5th) 

Andrea Lee: 

Portland (1st) / Dana (5th) 

IK Kim: 

Portland (2nd) / Dana (1st) 

Ha Na Jang: 

Portland (2nd) / Dana (2nd) 

Xiyu Lin: 

Portland (2nd) / Dana (4th, 5th) 

Daniela Darquea: 

Portland (2nd) / Dana (5th) 

Chella Choi: 

Portland (3rd, 5th) / Dana (1st) 

Jasmine Suwannapura: 

Portland (5th) / Dana (1st) 

Caroline Masson: 

Portland (5th, 5th) / Dana (3rd, 5th, 5th) 

Gerina Mendoza: 

Portland (5th, 6th) / Dana (3rd) 

Meijer LPGA Classic (Blythefield Country Club) 

Blythefield Country Club is a flat, tree-lined course with generous fairways. Its poa/bentgrass greens are small and speedy, and winning scores regularly surpass 20-under-par. 

Notable correlating form: 

Brooke Henderson: 

Portland (1st, 1st) / Meijer (1st, 1st) 

Moriya Jutanugarn: 

Portland (1st, 3rd, 3rd) / Meijer (4th) 

Georgia Hall: 

Portland (1st) / Meijer (6th) 

Xiyu Lin: 

Portland (2nd) / Meijer (3rd) 

Narin An: 

Portland (2nd, 3rd) / Meijer (5th) 

Carlota Ciganda: 

Portland (3rd, 5th) / Meijer (1st, 2nd) 

Lizette Salas: 

Portland (3rd) / Meijer (2nd) 

Caroline Masson: 

Portland (5th, 5th) / Meijer (2nd) 

Somi Lee: 

Portland (5th) / Meijer (3rd) 

Gerina Mendoza: 

Portland (5th, 6th) / Meijer (2nd) 

JM Eagle LA Championship (Wilshire Country Club) 

Wilshire Country Club is a similarly short tree-lined course with generous fairways and small, speedy poa annua greens that are strongly bunkered. 

Notable correlating form: 

Brooke Henderson: 

Portland (1st, 1st) / LA Championship (1st) 

Hannah Green: 

Portland (1st) / LA Championship (1st, 1st) 

Moriya Jutanugarn: 

Portland (1st, 3rd, 3rd) / LA Championship (1st) 

Xiyu Lin: 

Portland (2nd) / LA Championship (2nd) 

Nataliya Guseva: 

Portland (2nd) / LA Championship (6th) 

Chella Choi: 

Portland (3rd, 5th) / LA Championship (6th) 

Arkansas Championship (Pinnacle Country Club) 

Low scoring is the name of the game at Pinnacle Country Club. Its ball-striking test compares closely to Columbia Edgewater, with the wide, tree-lined fairways and average-sized greens easy to find. 

Notable correlating form: 

Stacy Lewis: 

Portland (1st) / Arkansas (1st) 

Austin Ernst: 

Portland (1st) / Arkansas (1st, 2nd) 

Moriya Jutanugarn: 

Portland (1st, 3rd, 3rd) / Arkansas (2nd, 4th) 

Marina Alex: 

Portland (1st) / Arkansas (8th, 9th) 

Candie Kung: 

Portland (2nd) / Arkansas (2nd) 

Pornanong Phatlum: 

Portland (2nd) / Arkansas (4th) 

Daniela Darquea: 

Portland (2nd) / Arkansas (6th) 

Chella Choi: 

Portland (3rd, 5th) / Arkansas (3rd, 6th) 

Lizette Salas: 

Portland (3rd) / Arkansas (5th) 

Jasmine Suwannapura: 

Portland (5th) / Arkansas (1st) 

THE FIELD 

With just two players from the top 10 and nine from inside the top 25, this week's field lacks star power but is packed with intrigue. World No. 7 Angel Yin is the top-ranked player in attendance, closely followed by No. 9 Haeran Ryu. 

Thailand's Moriya Jutanugarn returns to defend. She is one of seven former winners in action, joined by Chanettee Wannasaen (2023), Jin Young Ko (2021), Hannah Green (2019), Stacy Lewis (2017), Brooke Henderson (2016, 2015), and Juli Inkster (1999). 

Three-time Epson Tour winner in 2025, Gina Kim, gets into the field on a sponsors invite. As does current world No. 1 amateur Kiara Romero. 

SELECTIONS 

Market leaders (1/5 6 places): Angel Yin 10/1, Lauren Coughlin 11/1, Somi Lee 12/1, Celine Boutier 14/1, Chisato Iwai 14/1, Haeran Ryu 14/1, Rio Takeda 14/1 

Yealimi Noh 

Yealimi Noh arrives here after three disappointing missed cuts in Europe. However, prior to that she'd recorded two major championship top-15s in three starts and returning to a course at which she's finished 2nd and 3rd in previous years, she can bounce back in Oregon. 

2025 began brilliantly for Noh, as she earned her breakthrough LPGA title in the Founders Cup on her first start, and followed with five further top-20 finishes in her next seven. After missing the cut in the opening major of the year – the Chevron Championship – she responded by picking up finishes of 14th in the U.S. Women's Open and 12th in the KPMG Women's PGA Championship in the following two, before that trio of missed cuts in France, Scotland, and Wales on her last three starts. 

Her tee-to-green game has been exceptional all season long, ranking 5th on the LPGA. She's been particularly strong with her irons, ranking 14th in approach and 6th in greens-in-regulation. The putter has regressed a touch from earlier in the year, but she has looked comfortable on these swift poa surfaces in prior visits. 

Born and raised in California, Noh is at home on the west coast, and she put that to effective use on her debut here in 2019 – on what was just her fourth LPGA start as a pro – finishing 2nd. She was then 3rd the following year and having made four of five cuts at Columbia Edgewater overall, it's a course that clearly suits her eye.  

Chanettee Wannasaen 

Our 2023 Portland Classic champion, Chanettee Wannasaen, has continued to progress in 2025, achieving the best major finish of her career three starts ago in the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. She's a player who knows how to go low and with her game showing no signs of weakness at present, I expect her to contend this week. 

Her performances were a touch underwhelming at the beginning of the season, but she's amassed some positive results since the end of April. She arrives with five top-20 finishes in her nine latest starts – the standout result by far was her runner-up finish to Minjee Lee in the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at PGA Frisco. 

She did everything to a high standard there, ranking 6th from tee-to-green and 7th in putting. This has been the story of her year on the whole, ranking an impressive 16th from tee-to-green, with gains in every area, and a solid 58th in putting. 

Wannasaen dominated this event with a superb field-leading approach display on debut in 2023, firing rounds of 68-66-65-63 for a 26-under-par total and an easy four-shot victory – her first on the LPGA. She returned to finish a respectable 39th last season and with her second LPGA win again coming in low-scoring conditions in last year's Dana Open, this is the type of test in which she excels. 

Gina Kim 

Gina Kim has been thriving back down in grade on the Epson Tour this season, winning three titles and earning her return to the LPGA for 2026. This once top-10 amateur is a player who has always had exciting potential and with her best finish at this level coming here in 2023, she can make her mark in this weak field. 

Since turning pro at the beginning of 2022, Kim has spent much of her pro career on the LPGA but has ultimately failed to make a real impact. She's had no such trouble on the Epson Tour, winning her first pro title there in 2022 and adding those three further victories this year. 

She hit the ball solidly in her first two seasons on the LPGA, and it's been pleasing to see her irons shine in 2025, ranking 22nd in greens-in-regulation and 23rd in approach on the Epson Tour. Also ranking 13th on the greens and 16th in birdie-or-better %, she has all of the relevant parts of her game ticking along nicely for this challenge. 

Kim's only LPGA top-10 came at Columbia Edgewater on debut in 2023, shooting 20-under-par to finish 3rd to Wannasaen. She then produced one of the better displays of a bleak season here last year, finishing 47th – an event she bookended with rounds of 67 and 66. 

Ruixin Liu 

China's Ruixin Liu has recorded seven victories on the Epson Tour but has yet to transfer that winning habit to the LPGA. However, she's produced eye-catching performances in recent starts and having twice finished inside the top 25 in this event in four attempts, this looks a great spot for her to break through on the biggest stage. 

Liu was in great form at the end of 2024, though hasn't really managed to carry that momentum over into this season. That being said, arriving in Portland off the back of the two best major performances of her career – finishing 21st in the Evian Championship and 31st in the KPMG Women's PGA Championship – the signs of late have been super encouraging. 

She's a player who has always excelled with the driver, combining power and accuracy to rank 32nd off-the-tee this season. Although her irons and putter have been inconsistent, they've looked good in those two latest major starts – especially in the Evian, where she ranked 13th in approach and 16th in putting. 

Liu missed the cut on her debut at Columbia Edgewater in 2019. She improved considerably on her next start in 2022, finishing 24th and after withdrawing after round one in 2023 she returned to finish an excellent 14th last year – an event in which she shot four rounds in the 60s and ranked 6th in ball-striking. 

Saki Baba 

Former No. 2 amateur Saki Baba hasn't quite given the best account of herself in the recent majors, but she was performing well in the U.S. prior to that. Her approach play had also shown improvements before she teed it up on the links in her last two starts, and returning to a more familiar style of golf, this talented golfer should bounce back. 

Baba turned pro right at the end of 2023 and spent her first full season on the Epson Tour. She was ultra-consistent there, missing just two cuts in 20 starts and recording 12 top-25 finishes. That wasn't quite enough to earn an automatic upgrade to the LPGA, but she corrected that at Q-Series, picking up the 24th of 26 cards that were up for grabs. 

She made an immediate impression on this top tier at the start of 2025, finishing 6th in the Ford Championship and 17th in the Blue Bay LPGA. Meanwhile, prior to missing the last four cuts – three of which were in majors – her form had been trending encouragingly, finishing 36th in the U.S. Women's Open, 29th in the Shoprite Classic, and 10th in the Meijer LPGA Classic. 

The story of her 2024 campaign was superb play from tee-to-green – ranking 3rd on the Epson Tour – which was held back by poor putting. She has improved on the greens this season, ranking 43rd and the driver has also been a positive, ranking 42nd.  

Her approach numbers have been a little disappointing. That said, she ranked inside the top 20 in this area on her most recent made cut in the Meijer LPGA Classic, and although missing the cut in the Evian three starts ago, she ranked 8th for her two rounds with the irons. 

I can forgive anyone not accustomed to links golf struggling in those events in Scotland and Wales. Back on a course that shares more in common to what she'd have played growing up in Japan – proven by that 10th-place finish in the correlating Meijer LPGA Classic – Baba can take advantage of a weak field to contend in Oregon.