The ANNIKA 2024 Tips: Jamie’s four for Florida

The 2024 LPGA season concludes in Florida over the next couple of weeks, but first it’s off to Pelican Golf Club for The ANNIKA, where many players will merely be scrambling to crack the top 100 and keep their place on tour in 2025.

Our resident golf tipster Jamie Worsley is on-hand with four each-way The ANNIKA 2024 Tips ahead of the event.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

The ANNIKA (formerly the Pelican Women’s Championship) was first staged in 2020, with each edition being staged at Pelican Golf Club.

Tournament winners:

• 2023 – Winner: Lilia Vu (-19); runners-up: Alison Lee, Azahara Munoz (-16)
• 2022 – Winner: Nelly Korda (-14); runner-up: Lexi Thompson (-13)
• 2021 – Winner: Nelly Korda (-17, playoff); runners-up: Sei Young Kim, Lydia Ko, Lexi Thompson (-17)
• 2020 – Winner: Sei Young Kim (-14); runner-up: Ally Ewing (-11)

* 2022 edition played over 54 holes

Lilia Vu shot the tournament record score in this event last year to win by three strokes, breaking Nelly Korda’s stranglehold on the event in the process, who had won the two previous renewals. Vu returns to defend her title this week.

THE COURSE

Pelican Golf Club was designed by Donald Ross and opened for play in 1925. It was extensively renovated by Beau Welling in 2018, who completed the project with inspiration from the original Ross design. Though built on flat terrain, it has been described as somewhat of a tribute to Augusta National.

The course plays as a par 70 and measures 6349 yards. It contains 12x par 4s (312-428 yards), 4x par 3s (143-191 yards) and 2x par 5s (495-529 yards).

The generous, rolling fairways are loosely tree-lined and many are bordered with pine straw. Large, white, steep-faced bunkers, which can be difficult to play out of, strategically protect them and offer the primary defence, with the rough not too difficult to play out of.

The sizeable and crowned bermudagrass greens are mostly elevated and could play to a speedy 12.5 on the stimp this week. Despite their size, they can be tricky to hit due to the plethora of run-offs and with many narrow/shallow in shape, there are some tricky pin positions available, often adjacent the limited but punishing bunkering.

The course has plenty of excitement, with water in-play on 10 holes and featuring many risk/reward chances. There will be three par 4s that will be near-drivable throughout the week, including the 17^th hole, that will play as short as 256 yards. Whilst the two par 5s are both reachable in two for most and also feature water.

That being said, there is plenty of sneaky length around the setup, with five par 4s at 400yds+, four of which measure over 420. These holes play a part in Pelican Golf Club’s exciting and varied challenge.

THE WEATHER

The forecast for this week is a pleasant one, with warm, sunny and clear conditions predicted throughout the week. The wind is scheduled to kick up a touch in the second round, but it looks fairly kind for the rest of the event.

KEY STATS

• SG: Approach/Greens-in-Regulation

High-class iron play has been vital here in the last two years and with conditions looking favourable, it should be the key to low scoring this week.

Lilia Vu ranked 2^nd in greens-in-regulation and 5^th in approach when winning last year. Runner-up, Alison Lee ranked 1^st in approach, fellow 2^nd-place finisher, Azahara Munoz ranked 4^th and Amy Yang in 4^th ranked top 10 in approach and GIR.

Nelly Korda hit more greens than anyone on the way to her second title in 2022; Lexi Thompson ranked 3^rd in GIR; Allisen Corpuz ranked 2^nd in approach and 7^th in GIR.

• SG: Off-the-tee/Driving Distance

Strong drivers have enjoyed plenty of success at Pelican Golf Club and due to the generous fairways, it’s no surprise that big-hitters have gone well.

Lilia Vu was 14^th off-the-tee last season, with Alison Lee in 2^nd ranking 16^th OTT and 10^th in driving distance.

Nelly Korda excelled with the driver in 2022, ranking 6^th, as Lexi Thompson in 2^nd ranked 8^th; both were among the top 6 in driving distance.

• SG: Putting (bermudagrass)

Positive experience on quick, undulating bermudagrass greens is an obvious plus here. Each of our last two winners have each putted well, with Lilia Vu 7^th on the greens last year and Nelly Korda 4^th in 2022. In addition, the runner-up in 2022, Lexi Thompson ranked 1^st on the greens.

• Par 4 Scoring

Lastly, the 12 par 4s are comfortably the most important holes on the course. The top three par 4 scorers in each of the last two editions have finished inside the top 4 on the leaderboard at the end of the week.

CORRELATING EVENTS (COURSES)

CME Group Tour Championship (Tiburon Golf Club – Gold Course)

Tiburon Golf Club’s Gold Course is a flat, gently rolling venue with wide fairways and large, undulating bermudagrass greens. Steep-faced bunkers protect much of the course and it’s a place where many longer hitters have enjoyed success.

Notable correlating form:

Sei Young Kim:

The ANNIKA (1^st, 2^nd) / Tour Championship (1^st, 2^nd)

Nelly Korda:

The ANNIKA (1^st, 1^st) / Tour Championship (2^nd, 3^rd, 5^th)

Lexi Thompson:

The ANNIKA (2^nd, 2^nd) / Tour Championship (1^st, 2^nd)

Lilia Vu:

The ANNIKA (1^st) / Tour Championship (4^th)

Lydia Ko:

The ANNIKA (2^nd, 4^th) / Tour Championship (1^st, 1^st)

Alison Lee:

The ANNIKA (2^nd) / Tour Championship (2^nd)

Amy Yang:

The ANNIKA (4^th) / Tour Championship (1^st)

Hannah Green:

The ANNIKA (4^th) / Tour Championship (2^nd)

2024 LPGA Drive On Championship (Bradenton Country Club)

Bradenton Country Club is a fellow water-laden Donald Ross design based in Florida. The flat, firm fairways are very generous and protected by smart bunkering, whilst the bermudagrass greens are fast and similar in style to this week’s venue.

Notable correlating form:

Nelly Korda:

The ANNIKA (1^st, 1^st) / Bradenton (1^st)

Lydia Ko:

The ANNIKA (2^nd, 4^th) / Bradenton (2^nd)

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

Away from Florida and I think the HSBC Women’s World Championship, at Sentosa Golf Club’s Tanjong Course could provide us with some clues. The fairways are largely generous, with the huge bermudagrass greens speedy and sloping. Water is a constant feature and with comparable bunkering there are many similarities between the two courses.

Notable correlating form:

Nelly Korda:

The ANNIKA (1^st, 1^st) / HSBC (2^nd, 2^nd)

Azahara Munoz:

The ANNIKA (2^nd) / HSBC (3^rd)

Allisen Corpuz:

The ANNIKA (3^rd) / HSBC (3^rd)

Hannah Green:

The ANNIKA (4^th) / HSBC (1^st, 2^nd)

Chevron Championship (The Club at Carlton Woods – Nicklaus Course)

The Nicklaus Course at Carlton Woods shares many characteristics with Pelican Golf Club. It’s a largely flat course with wide fairways, large and quick bermudagrass greens, and lots of water in-play that creates several risk/reward holes.

Notable correlating form:

Nelly Korda:

The ANNIKA (1^st, 1^st) / Chevron (1^st, 3^rd)

Lilia Vu:

The ANNIKA (1^st) / Chevron (1^st)

Allisen Corpuz:

The ANNIKA (3^rd) / Chevron (4^th)

Amy Yang:

The ANNIKA (4^th) / Chevron (4^th)

Ford Championship (Seville Golf & Country Club)

My final course this week is Seville G&CC. Host of this year’s new event, the Ford Championship, the course ticks all of the boxes mentioned: generous fairways, large bermudagrass greens and lots of water in-play.

Notable correlating form:

Nelly Korda:

The ANNIKA (1^st, 1^st) / Ford Championship (1^st)

Lexi Thompson:

The ANNIKA (2^nd, 2^nd) / Ford Championship (3^rd)

Alison Lee:

The ANNIKA (2^nd) / Ford Championship (8^th)

THE FIELD

We have a stellar field for the last full-field event of the LPGA season, with each of the top 6 in the world in action and 18 of the top 25.

World #1, Nelly Korda returns following a neck injury that forced her out of two events in the recent Asian Swing, whilst defending champion and world #3, Lilia Vu returns to defend. These two, along with Sei Young Kim, mean that we have every previous winner from Pelican Golf Club in the field.

Floridian and two-time major winner, Brittany Lincicome will make her final professional appearance in her home event on a sponsors invite. In addition, top-class amateurs, Louise Rydqvist and Rachel Kuehn, who have both ranked among the top 10 in the amateur rankings, also accepted invites into the event.

Of course, along with trying to win a championship and making it into the top 60 in the Race to CME Globe to get into next week’s Tour Championship, players are also battling for their futures this week. Those sat around that all-important 100^th spot in the rankings will have lots of focus, with Jiwon Jeon (#98), Celine Borge (#99) and Yuri Yoshida (#100) hoping to hold their place, and Bianca Pagdanganan (#101), Sofia Garcia (#102) and Mone Inami (#103) within touching distance of keeping their cards.

The ANNIKA 2024 Odds

2.25pts Hannah Green each-way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 22/1

Green was one of the form players at the start of the year, winning twice across her first six starts. The first of these came in Singapore in the HSBC Women’s World Championship and four starts later, she doubled her tally in the LA Championship.

She’s continued to perform well since that second win, recording two major top 10s and finishing fourth in the Olympics. She then picked up her third title of the year in the BMW Ladies Championship two starts ago and backed that up with a sixth-place finish in the Maybank Championship on her latest start.

It will come as no surprise to see that she has excelled with the putter and with her irons this year, ranking 14^th on the greens, 14^th in greens-in-regulation and 20^th in approach. She also ranks fourth in par-4 scoring and though the driver hasn’t been quite as strong as previous seasons, she did drive it excellently when winning in Malaysia two starts ago.

Green made her debut here in 2020, finishing 46^th but was much improved in 2022, finishing fourth. She’s long been an excellent poa putter but has proven herself just as capable on bermudagrass this year, most notably when winning he HSBC Women’s World Championship. With a runner-up finish also to her name in the Tour Championship, she has some positive comp form that strengthens her case.

1.75pts Rose Zhang each-way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 30/1

Rose Zhang was in fine ball-striking form when we last saw her and having already won twice on the East Coast in her short LPGA career so far, she can add a third win this week.

Zhang had a mixed start to the season, missing three cuts in her first eight starts but balanced that with several top 10s, including a win in the Founders Cup. She has been much more consistent over recent starts, missing just one cut in her last 10 and though only recording finishes of 41^st and 18^th on her two latest starts in East Asia, I was encouraged by how well she hit the ball.

This was to be expected, as it’s with the long game that she’s performed best this season. Her iron play is especially strong, ranking seventh in approach and 18^th in greens-in-regulation, whilst she’s also top 50 off-the-tee, where she’s more about accuracy but is certainly not short.

Zhang’s ranking of ninth in par-4 scoring should serve her well on debut here and if in the same ball-striking form as a few weeks ago, she should create plenty of birdie opportunities in Florida.

1.25pts Angel Yin each-way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 45/1

I’ve backed Angel Yin regularly over recent months and after again impressing when ninth in last week’s LOTTE Championship, I had to give her another go.

Yin is one of the most in-form players on tour. She’s finished no worse than 35^th in her last nine starts and has hit the top 10 on six occasions during this time, including last week. She could’ve finished much closer there, as she ranked third in the field tee-to-green but unusually for her, the putter failed to fire. This is an area in which she ranks third this season and I’d expect a response this week.

The standout part of Yin’s recent performances has been her ball-striking, specifically her iron play, which is currently as good as it has been in years. She ranked second in greens-in-regulation and third in approach last week, which was her best display in this area of the season, and came just two starts after she ranked fifth in approach in the BMW Ladies Championship – her second-best approach performance of the year.

Yin has recorded finishes of 27^th and 37^th here as well as missing the cut in 2021. A runner-up finish in last year’s Chevron Championship bodes well and if she continues to hit the ball like she has in recent weeks, she has every chance of walking away with the title at Pelican Golf Club.

1pt Maja Stark each-way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 60/1

Maja Stark looked good when we last saw her in Malaysia and with an ideal game for this test – an opinion that is franked by strong course and comp course form – she looks good value to contend again in Florida.

Stark has been consistent this year and has really shone on several occasions, recording five top 10s. The first of these came when she finished third in the Ford Championship in her sixth event of the year, before she then recorded back-to-back runner-up finishes in the Chevron Championship and LA Championship in April. A 10^th-place finish at the Olympics halted a somewhat underwhelming run of form and it was a similar case on that last start in the Maybank Championship, where she finished fourth.

The driver is her biggest asset, ranking 30^th this season, possessing a highly coveted blend of power and accuracy. Her approach play and putting has been solid overall but has looked even better in recent starts, with her display on the bermudagrass surfaces in the Maybank Championship her best of the year, as she led the field. In fact, her three best performances this season have each come on bermudagrass and it was a similar story last year.

Stark’s affinity with this type of surface helped her to a 10^th-place finish here on debut in 2022. With some excellent comp form also on offer, courtesy of a second-place finish in the Chevron Championship and third in the Ford Championship, she ticks most boxes and can claim her first pro win on U.S soil this week.

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