U.S Women's Open Five Takeaways from A Lim Kim's Victory and Bets of the Week Analysis

Photo provided by Ben Harpring

1) A Lim Kim Becomes the 9th South Korean to win the U.S. Women’s Open of the last 13

This week was the first time A Lim Kim returned to the United States in four years. On her last visit, Kim took part in winter training in Palm Springs, California.

The 25-year-old had never played in a Major, let alone play in Bermuda grass, a staple in the U.S., before this week at Champions Club.

It didn’t bother Kim at the start of play, as she fired a 68 at the Jackrabbit course Thursday to sit three under through the opening 18.

Cypress Creek didn’t treat her as well, as she posted a 74 and a 72 to sit one over par coming into play, five shots back of 54-hole leader Hinako Shibuno. Joined by the best Kim in the world in Sei Young Kim in her group, A Lim Kim charged early Sunday, going bogey-free on her front nine to end up at (-2), right in the hunt with nine to play.

The debut's nerves felt apparent as she made the turn, handing two shots right back with bogeys on the 10th and 11th to fall back to even par. After pouring it in with the putter on the opening side, a three-putt on the 10th as her first slid by the cup and another three shots taken around the green as she left her first putt from the fringe 12 feet short knocked her back.

Kim steadied the ship but couldn't capitalize on the final par 5. With three holes to go, Kim was two back. The 75th U.S. Women's Open's most memorable stretch began with a dart on the par 3 16th. The towering five iron tracked the cup after it landed, lightly turning to the right for a stress-free birdie to get to one under.

On the 17th, from the center of the fairway, Kim emoted after contact like she didn't like her shot. The 160-yard effort landed short and right of the flag, and trickled out towards the cup. It settled a few feet away with an easy birdie to move into a tie for the lead.

The 72nd hole, in her major debut, showed no nerves behind the mask Kim wore all week. She charged through like the light brigade, grabbing a wedge and parking it 8 feet short right of the flag. The downhill, left to right putt started a cup outside the hole and ended up in the heart, grabbing the lead and the Harton S. Semple Trophy in the process.

The South Korean vaulted to 30th in the world with the victory and has a week to decide if she will accept LPGA Tour membership. Like Sophia Popov, the win grants her a two-year exemption. In her post-tournament presser, Kim mentioned she would take some time with family to decide, as she's heading back to Korea and a 14-day quarantine.

2) Amy Olson's Near Victory after Facing Personal Tragedy

Saturday evening, Olson received the news that her father in law had passed away. Her husband Grant had flown down to watch her play, and Olson took Sunday to help get him on his way back to his family. She trailed Shibuno by one and played in her group in the final round. There was no way to know how Olson would play, given the tragedy off the course she had to overcome.

“Coming out this morning I had no idea what to expect. It was just one of those things I felt very weak and helpless the last couple days, and probably same went today on the golf course. I really believe the Lord just carried me through. Just so many -- it just makes you realize how much bigger life is than golf. But pleased with my finish overall and my performance,” Olson said.

Despite her best efforts, early on, it didn't look pretty. Olson bogeyed the 2nd through the 4th, falling back to even, three behind the 2019 AIG Women's Open Champion.

The story wasn't finished at that point, as Olson pushed back the rising tide of momentum against her. Olson fired off back to back birdies on the 5th and 6th to return to (-2). The scorecard, looking like a kid's coloring book with all of the colors on it through six holes, became clean as a whistle through the 16th hole.

The steadiness despite the personal tragedy was a heroic effort in and of itself. The difference for the tournament was on the final par 3. Olson’s tee shot also soared into the sky but took off into the Bermuda rough past the green after landing pin high, versus Kim’s landing short and trickling near the cup.

The comebacker went high and right past the flag, as Olson immediately asked the ball to sit off contact on her chip. The par putt was short, Olson’s first bogey in nine holes. The hole that she found the 29th ace in the history of the U.S. Women’s Open knocked her off course at the end. After the bogey, the American needed two birdies to force a playoff in the last two and got half of it done. She parred 17 and birdied the final hole to join Jin Young Ko in 2nd place.

Olson remains searching for her first victory on the LPGA Tour in 147 career starts, settling for her third top 10 finish of 2020.

3) The Future of Women’s Golf is Shown all the Brighter

Majors provide the opportunity for more than the usual cast of characters from the LPGA Tour to shine on the brightest stage and give a preview of future winners on the LPGA Tour. Jin Young Ko, Sung Hyun Park, and Jeongeun Lee6 all performed well in majors before winning themselves as LPGA Tour members in recent history. In particular, Amateurs get a chance at the U.S. Women's Open, and plenty took advantage.

Kaitlyn Papp, who played in the final pairing Saturday, took the low amateur honors at T9 with weekend rounds of 74. The American was joined by Gabriela Ruffels (T13), Maja Stark (T13), and Linn Grant (T23) as four amateurs to finish in the top 25. Papp summarized after her round what all of them can take away from strong performances in Houston's freezing temperatures in December.

“I learned that I can pretty much handle whatever conditions come our way. We experienced perfect weather, we experienced kind of difficult weather this week. I think I just learned that I'm pretty mentally tough out there,” Papp said.

The performances from international non-LPGA Tour members were even stronger. Joining A Lim Kim's breakthrough victory include Hinako Shibuno (4th), MinYoung2 Lee (T11), Sayaka Takahashi (T11), Eri Okayama (T13), Yuka Saso (T13), and Hae Ran Ryu (T13) in the top 15 at Champions Club.

Japan's platinum generation of women golfers, including Shibuno, Takahashi, and Okayama, shined brightly as the host nation for the 2021 Olympics is hoping to have more than two representatives. Countries can have up to four players represent them in women's golf at the Olympics, but those players must all be in the top 15 in the world to do so.

As of the rankings update today, Japan has two players in the field, with Nasa Hataoka in 7th, and Shibuno moving up three spots to 13th. Knocking on the door is Ayaka Furue, who missed the cut to drop one place to 16th, and Ai Suzuki moved to 21st in the world.

4) Quadruple Bogeys Take Away Rolex Player of the Year Lead from Sei Young Kim

Sei Young Kim’s top 20 streak hung since late 2019 on by a thread this week, as she posted T20. Her second hole of the tournament was a quadruple bogey, her second quad in a major this year.

The other was at the ANA Inspiration, during the third round on the 13th. If we humor replacing those quads with pars and nothing else, Kim has three top 10s in majors this year. This isn't how golf works, but those eight strokes are the difference between Kim in a commanding position with the Rolex Player of the Year Award versus now losing her lead to Inbee Park, and needing at least a fifth-place finish next week.

She would've finished T6 at both the ANA Inspiration and the U.S. Women's Open this week with those quadruples becoming pars. That's worth 10 Rolex Player of the Year Points each, putting her at 126 points. That would be a 14-point lead over Inbee Park, which only a victory could overcome. Now, she trails by six, the number of points fifth-place awards.

Those quadruple bogeys haven't affected her Vare Trophy Award lead. She sits with an average of 68.7, a one-shot lead over Brooke Henderson. As long as Kim does not withdraw, she will play 35 rounds in 2020.

The LPGA Tour hasn't indicated what the Vare Trophy rules are for the minimum round requirement. In a full season, it's 80 rounds. Of the players in the top 15 in scoring average, Minjee Lee has played the most rounds at 57. No one will reach 80 rounds played this year.

5) CME Group Tour Championship is Finalized- Sophia Popov Misses Out

After the LPGA announced the sponsor's exemptions of Sarah Kemp and Natalie Gulbis, it finalized what Jin Young Ko and Sophia Popov needed to do to get into the CME Group Tour Championship. Popov's AIG Women's Open victory did not count for her point total as she was not an LPGA Tour member at the time of her win.

Ko needed a top 4 finish and Popov a top 14 finish to play into the top 70 in the Race to CME Globe points.

The world no. 1's charge Sunday up the leaderboard punched her ticket to the sunshine state, as she started play tied for 9th at (+1).

Popov couldn't conjure up the same magic, finishing 82nd in Race to CME Globe Points with a T40 finish this week. As Grant Boone of the Golf Channel tweeted, if her AIG Women's Open points counted, she'd be well within the top 70. With an emoji, Popov vocalized her feelings on Twitter.

Natalie Gulbis received the sponsor exemption instead. The one-time career LPGA Tour winner has made one cut on the LPGA Tour since the Ricoh Women’s British Open in 2015, a 36-start span.

Other notable recent winners that aren’t in Tiburon include 2019 U.S. Women’s Open Champion Jeongeun Lee6, former world no. 1 who was atop the rankings in 2019 Sung Hyun Park, , and two-time winner last season in Mi Jung Hur.

Bets of the Week Analysis

Kent on Ben’s Picks

Lydia Ko T13 (+3300)

Hae Ran Ryu T13 (+5500)

Hee Jeong Lim MC (+7500)

Seon Woo Bae T52 (+12500)

Ji Yeong Kim2 T30 (+75000)

Total Units Spent: 75

Units Won: 0

ROI: N/A

The best pick of the group was not the best finish. Ji Yeong Kim2, at 750 to 1 (!!!), was in contention Sunday, sitting five back of Shibuno with 18 holes left. The whole point of gambling is to try and maximize value in contention, as winning is random. This pick was the best value selection Ben has made this season.

Ben is in the 99th percentile in the United States of watching international tour women's golf. This vast knowledge leads to no surprise that he selected two players who performed well in Hae Ran Ryu alongside Kim2.

Unfortunately, the wins haven't come yet, but the value selection was there. Majors with less known names provide a market inefficiency of possible winners from outside of the LPGA Tour, which is an outcome that not many sports in the United States can imagine. A Lim Kim is a prime example of this today, but isn't the first one. This market inefficency provides significant value for daily fantasy. In major DFS, Ben's picks of international players are players to add.

Lydia Ko was selected, which is Ben's brand. Ko's play has trended in the right direction coming into the week, and Sunday didn't go her way. As he notes in his analysis of my pick of Lydia, the only player we shared this week, he's high on her in the 30/1 range. Not unreasonable.

Ben on Kent’s picks

Jin Young Ko T2 (+1800)

So Yeon Ryu T20 (+2500)

Lydia Ko T13 (+3300)

Ayaka Furue MC (+6600)

Stacy Lewis T44 (+9000)

Units Spent: 325

Units Won: 547.5

ROI: +68.5%

Jin Young Ko. The World Number One. Going into a Major Championship, a week after finishing Solo 5th at the Volunteers of America Classic, this seemed like an excellent bet. Sure enough, it was! Jin Young finished T2, and only one shot behind the winner, A Lim Kim. Ko is consistent across the board and makes her presence felt in Major Championships. Two Major victories in 2019 are proof of that. Can't go wrong picking the top-ranked player in the world.

So Yeon Ryu played good, solid golf. I just can not argue picking her, especially at a U.S. Women's Open. Ryu has now played in 11 U.S. Open's, and she's finished in the Top-25 ALL ELEVEN times! She has SIX Top-5's, including a victory in 2011. So Yeon finished T20 this week. Not quite in contention, but not far off either. Ryu will be a great pick at the U.S. Women's Open for the foreseeable future.

Lydia Ko continued her strong play in 2020. Just a good bounce or two away from getting back in the winner’s circle. Ko’s T13 finish this week is further proof that she is getting more and more confident with her game. I will not be surprised to see her win multiple times in 2021. And if her odds continue to be in the 30/1 to 35/1 range, it’s a pretty easy pick.

Ayaka Furue. I won’t argue this pick. There is great value in picking players from other Tours. And Ayaka had a lot of success in Japan, winning multiple times, before making the trip to Houston. But a missed cut is not necessarily surprising either. It’s not easy playing in an unfamiliar place, at a very difficult tournament. At her odds, though, I think it was a good risk to take.

Stacy Lewis, a winner in 2020, at 90/1 odds? Yeah, great pick! Lewis is from Houston and is a member of Champions Golf Club. This selection was a great value pick, and a great pick in general. Home field (course) advantage can not be taken lightly. Lewis did not quite have it this week, finishing T44, but overall, I think it was a good bet.