Can't make it up

Number 10. Minami Katsu's playoff loss to Jeeno Thitikul in Shanghai Sunday morning was our TENTH runner-up finish of the season. Katsu was four shots ahead with five holes to play. She fired a final round bogey-free 65 only to lose on the fifth(!) playoff hole to the number one player in the world, and tournament favorite Jeeno Thitikul. The books loved that result as Jeeno was a 5-1 winning ticket against our 50-1 Minami monster pay day. The Rocket Classic is still our worst beat of the year, but the Buick comes close. Katsu marks our third runner-up in the fall series. Not only did Thitikul steal our thunder, but it took the number one player in the world to break the LPGA season winner streak. The story of the 2025 LPGA schedule, before Jeeno beat us, there were 26 different winners in 25 events this season. Minami would have kept the streak alive! Alas, we move on and now have back-to-back Buick events where we owned the runner-up in China.

Say goodbye to Shanghai and hello to South Korea. The BMW Ladies Championship is the marquee event of the fall Asia swing. Trust me, having covered plenty of men's BMWs, the autobahn elite run a first-class event in every aspect, from the hospitality to the hole locations. The 2025 version, hosted annually in the Republic of Korea, is incredible. Our venue looks like something out of the Squid Game series. Picturesque Pine Beach Golf Links plays host to 21 of the top 30 women in the Rolex Rankings. Don't forget - we are still halfway around the world. Pay attention to the countdown timer, our women start on Wednesday night again.

BMW Ladies Championship starts in...

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Pine Beach Golf Links is a stunning golf setting in the southwest region of South Korea. A mere 368 miles across the Yellow Sea from Shanghai, this 27-hole facility is home to the Pine, Beach, and Ocean nines. The LPGA will use the Pine-Beach routing for the BMW. The names for each nine give the setting away, as PBGL could be easily confused with Pebble Beach Golf Links. Seriously, wait until you see this spectacular setting on television. An amazing addition to the competitive calendar, BMW has once again given us a tremendous venue. The par 72 layout covers 6,785 yards for the competition. Nine holes are framed with water, and the players will see 89 bunkers across 18 holes. The terrain is crazy in this part of the country. The course is bordered by beaches on the west side and hills on the east. Have clubs and will travel… send us on a plane immediately; holes 14 through 17 are absolutely stunning.

A seaside setting can get dicey when it comes to the weather. The RTL radar is active as the forecast for this coastal setting is worth watching. Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-70s all four days. The wind should be a little aggressive each day past noon. The breeze will be blowing out of the north, which will attack those holes featured on the Beach Nine closing peninsula. Trajectory control will be key this week in Korea. Those winds are expected to run in the 16-20 mph range. Wet weather is also expected on Wednesday night into very early Thursday morning. Then again, on Saturday until about noon. Please keep in mind, this is a weather forecast for a remote region in the Republic of Korea. The link below is your best bet for up to the minute reporting.

Our agronomy is wall-to-wall Zoysia grass and Bentgrass greens. Thankfully, the putting surfaces will not be dead like they were in Shanghai. This is another no-cut event with 78 players in the field. In 2019, the LPGA co-sanctioned the BMW with the Korean LPGA (KLPGA). The official purse is $2.3 million, and the winner will receive a check for $345,000. Our tournament favorite on the odds board is Minjee Lee. Lee finished third last week and looks set to capture another BMW title. Minjee was the 2023 winner, up closer to Seoul. Minjee was joined by her countrywoman Hannah Green as back-to-back Australians won the title the last two years. This setting may suit the Sandbelt stars again, but as I look across the LPGA schedule, I see a better comp venue, which we just competed on.

A lotte of the same

Studying Pine Beach Golf Links reminds me of my research leading into the LOTTE Championship two weeks ago. Hoakalei Country Club is another very tight target-driven venue. Considering many in this field just competed on that course, it provides a very nice preview heading into the BMW. The women will start on the Pine Nine. A little more of an inland nine, the treachery comes in the form of tree-lined fairways and perfectly positioned penalty areas. Only one par 4 over 400 yards on the front nine, players will have to attack early. We have threesomes going off both sides, so half the field will hit this side later in the morning. Getting back to those par 4s, the average length of all 10 across the scorecard is only 393 yards. The average par 5 length is 540 yards. The landscape limits length in many parts of the terrain, and I see a huge advantage for those who can score on a variety of medium 4s. All 10 par 4s are under 410 yards in length.

With so many scorable holes, ball striking will be at a premium. Position rather than length off the tee is important. Players will face 40 fairway bunkers, numerous water hazards, and 13 of the 14 tee shots bend throughout the landing area. This place is going to be fun to watch. Length will be mitigated considerably, and that will cause this competition to become an approach contest. The wind will be blowing, so the best approach players will have even more of an advantage as they can control spin and trajectory. The fifteenth hole is a 185-yard par 3 facing north across the sea. Most of the wind will be coming out of the north and northwest. That's a 200-yard approach, across the ocean into a well-guarded green. Does that mean I'm favoring bogey avoidance? Not necessarily, as the women will make a bunch of birdies. The course should be soft under the current forecast. These ladies will hit plenty of greens and hold them.

Scoring will come down to proximity and the putter. The LOTTE had average weather conditions with firm turf, and 20 women finished 10 under par or better. Our card features the best ball strikers since we returned home from Europe. Remember last year's BMW card? Celine Boutier was the runner-up to Hannah Green. Another runner-up!! Our outright targets are great par 4 scorers. They have been reliable T2G and feature incredible iron play. Look at the green locations on this course. They sit uphill, downhill, at funny angles, and at a wide variety of lengths. The par 4 breakdown makes one think this is a wedge fest, but three of the par 3s are over 170 yards in the wind. Four lengthy par 5s have serious target second shots. I believe the contenders will need a great week of positional accuracy off the tee and proximity from the fairway on approach. Thankfully, we can track the best players at the Buick and the LOTTE over the past two weeks.

With small greens and windy conditions, proving you can still score and manage a positive birdie to bogey ratio is important. LPGA players are more affected on approach by the wind than their PGA TOUR counterparts. The ball lacks the same amount of speed and spin control. Looking back at the KLPGAs management of this championship tells a similar story. Hannah, Green, Minjee Lee, Lydia Ko, and Jin Young Ko are the last four winners. All are major champions and big-time ball strikers. BMW loves maintaining an elite sponsor status as well. One final thought is about the "home course" advantage. The last four BMWs have been littered with South Korean players in contention. They may not have won every edition, but the top 10s are full of ROK players. Definitely something to favor at a venue with little history and a finicky forecast.

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Outright winners - BMW Ladies Championship

Runner-up at the LOTTE and winner in Hawaii (2022), Hyo Joo Kim is a perfect outright candidate. The South Korean star has already won this year and captured six top 10s in 16 starts. Kim has improved her ball striking in 2025, and it shows in her consistent contending. Hyo Joo is ranked fifth in the field T2G and third in strokes gained scoring. Simply put, she gains on the field with her full swing and scores in every event. Two top 20 results in the BMW, over the past three years, also mean she can play at home. Hyo Joo Kim +1600 (BM)

Third place after round one at the Walmart. Fourteenth at the LOTTE, and fourth over the weekend in China, Somi Lee was the best putter at the Buick on horrific green surfaces. Lee used that flatstick to dominate the par 4s, leading the field in par 4 scoring in Shanghai. Twelve top 15 results in 22 starts in 2025, along with a win at the Dow Team Championship, Somi is also a five-time winner on the KLPGA. Don't be surprised if a quick visit home rekindles some of those winner vibes when you consider her current form. Somi Lee +2500 (DK)

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