The Marathon Classic Recap- Danielle Kang Sweeps the Toledo Opening Leg

Trailing by five shots to former world No. 1 Lydia Ko with six holes to go, Danielle Kang answered with birdies on the 13th and 14th holes to get to (-15). She mentioned in her post-round interview on Golf Channel that she switched to match play mode at that point, and ended up winning five of the final six holes.

It came down to the 72nd hole, with Ko holding a one-shot lead after bogeys at 14 and 16. She was greenside in two on the Par 5 18th and hit a running chip through the green. Her next chip ended up short, trickling into the bunker. She ended up leaving herself a 12-footer to force a playoff with Kang. It rolled long and left, carding the only double bogey of the tournament and leaving plenty of questions for the Kiwi as she works to regain the form that had her atop the world in 2016.

Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Minjee Lee made back-to-back appearances in the top 5. The Englishwoman shooting the low round of the tournament Friday of 63. Lee was as consistent as could be, with three rounds of 67 and a 68.

Rookie Andrea Lee charged up the leaderboard Sunday with a 65 for the first top-five finish of her nascent career.

The feel-good story of the week was Emma Talley's performance, who lost close friend Cullan Brown, due to osteosarcoma, a bone cancer in the thigh, just before the tournament began. She pledged to donate for every birdie she made to the Cullan Brown Memorial West Kentucky Junior Golf Development Fund. She made 15 during the week.

Bets Of The Week Analysis

Top 10

1) Danielle Kang (-15) (+750)

T2) Lydia Ko (+4000)

T2) Jodi Ewart Shadoff (-14) (+4500)

4) Minjee Lee (-13) (+750)

T5) Andrea Lee (-8) (+22500)

T5) Marina Alex (-8) (+2800)

T5) Yu Liu (-8) (+2800)

T5) Emma Talley (-8) (+30000)

11 players tied for 9th at (-7).

Picks

Carlota Ciganda at 7.5 units (+1800)- T9

Mina Harigae at 5 units (+2500)- Missed Cut

Yui Kawamoto at 5 units (+7000)- Missed Cut

Gemma Dryburgh at 5 units (+9000)- Missed Cut

Jasmine Suwannapura at 2.5 units (+12000)- T53

ROI on the season: +75%

Market Inefficiencies Identified- History at the Course, Playing During the Break

Lydia Ko has past success at Highland Meadows Golf Club, winning the Marathon Classic in 2016. The 15-time winner bounced back from an 80 throwing off an otherwise strong performance at Inverness Club.

No market inefficiency can top sheer dominance. Kang is the preeminent player on tour right now, finishing in the top 3 in six of her last seven starts dating back to her victory at the LPGA Shanghai in October of last year.

Ewart Shadoff posted her third consecutive top 10 finish, It's the third second-place finish of Ewart Shadoff's nine-year LPGA Tour career. She's improved week over week as the tour returns to the United Kingdom.

Minjee Lee joins Ewart Shadoff with back to back top 5s, finishing in fourth after finishing in third last week. She finished T19 last year in her second career appearance at Highland Meadows Golf Club.

The value of playing over the break is diminishing with two events in the books on the LPGA Tour. While the picks were influenced by the player's performances at the Drive On Championship, with three players in the top five in each tournament so far, I'll be looking at the higher end of the leaderboards so far for picks next week.

Kang's odds dropped from (+1100) to (+750) this week, it'll be interesting to see the number it slides to with back to back wins. There will likely be better odds for the other favorites because Kang's odds should only get smaller.

Up next the LPGA Tour heads across the Atlantic for the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open next week. Picks will be up Wednesday.