LET/ALPG- ActewAGL Canberra Classic Preview, 4 players to watch!
Date: 01/03/19
Location: Canberra, Australia
Course: Royal Canberra Golf Club
Prize Fund: AUD $150,000
Defending Champion: Jiyai Shin -19
4 players to watch at this years ActewAGL Canberra Classic.
Jiyai Shin (South Korea)
The former world number 1 and British Open winner returns to the LET to defend her title she won last year. Shin, who spends most of her time playing on the Japan LPGA where she picked up 4 wins last year!
Shin, also won the 2013 Women’s Australian Open at this venue as well as shooting -19 over in 3 rounds last year. It is fair to say it's a course she likes and suits her game!
Shin is currently world number 25 and the highest ranked player playing this week.
Hannah Green (Australia)
Green has had a good start to 2019. Hannah, from Perth, finished T-10th on the LPGA before heading to the Australian Ladies Classic last week on the LET, where she finished 2nd, 2 shots behind eventual winner Marianne Skarpnord from Norway.
Last year was her rookie year on the LPGA, which was a vital learning experiance for the young Australian. With that knowledge and her good finish last week she will be one of the players to beat this week on home soil.
Green, currently sits in 123rd place in the world.
Anne Van Dam (Netherlands)
Van Dam had a year to remember in 2018. She ended the season earning her 2019 LPGA tour card and with back to back victories on the LET.
The longest hitter on the LET started well with a 3rd place finish at the Fatima Bint Open in the UAE. However, she missed the cut in her opening event on the LPGA, which was disapointing for her as there was a great amount of hype to see how she would perform. However, she bounced back to finish T-16th last week on the LET and will have plenty more chances on the LPGA this year.
She finished 16th here last year and has risen to 82nd in the world rankings.
Leona Maguire (Ireland)
Maguire, who turned pro last year after holding the number 1 ranked amateur spot for a record 131 weeks (beating Lydia Ko's record) makes her 3rd start of the season this week. She finished T-44th at the Vic Open on the LPGA before a T-20th last week back on the LET.
Her first event as a pro on the LET was at the Andalucia Open at the back-end of last year where she finished 18th. She needs now to push on and turn these top 20's into top 10's and show her ability.
We have included her in our "10 to watch n 2019". Now ranked 356th in the world she could easily break into the worlds top 100 come the end of the year.
Congratulations to the United States Team of Beth Allen and Alexis Belton won the first Nation V Nation Shootout at Royal Canberra Golf Club on Wednesday, which provided the perfect warm-up for the for the ActewAGL Canberra Classic.
Prediction
Jiyai Shin continues her love affair with this course.