2023 FREED GROUP Women's Scottish Open

Some of the invitees are now posted.

1 Weiwei Zhang CHN
2 Tiffany Chan HKG
3 Ginnie Ding (a) HKG
4 Louise Duncan SCO
5 Heather MacRae SCO

My field rating for this tournament is a mediocre 55%, significantly down from 68% last year.
My breakdown is 59% from the LPGA Priority List and 51% from the Rolex Rankings.
Six of the top ten players in the world rankings are teeing it up this week:
Celine Boutier, Ruoning Yin, Lillia Vu, Allisen Corpuz, Minjee Lee, Atthaya Thitikul.
Four of the top ten will not be teeing it up:
Nelly Korda, Jin Young Ko, Lydia Ko, Brooke Henderson.

There is plenty of other stuff to post this week:
Atthaya Thitikul's top ten finish was her 8th this year which now leads the tour.
Nelly Korda's top ten finish this year was her 7th, which ties her with Ayaka Furue for 2nd place.
Celine Boutier became the 4th player this year to win twice. 
Boutier now leads one of the closest Player of the Year races ever with 103 points. She is followed by Ruoning Yin (97), Allisen Corpuz (95), and Lilia Vu (94).
It has been an amazing start to the season for Rose Zhang. Not only did she win her first event, she is the only player to finish in the top ten in each of the last three major championships.
Hyo Joo Kim has finished in the top twenty in each of her last seven tournaments.

The Rookie of the Year Race is also up for grabs this year:
Hae Ran Ryu - 535 points (without a victory)
Grace Kim - 460 points (1 win this year)
Rose Zhang - 324 points (1 win, has played just 5 events)
Celine Borge - 315 points

Celine Boutier's victory was the second for France this year (both by Boutier). They now join China, Korea, and Australia with two each. Only the USA, with five wins, has more.
The last twenty-two majors played have been won by 21 different players. Only Minjee Lee has won twice.

As is usually the case after a major championship, there was lots of movement in the Rolex Rankings:
Celine Boutier made the biggest splash, moving from No. 11 to No. 4.
Brooke Henderson also moves into the top ten this week 12 to 8.
Nasa Hataoka jumps up from 19 to 14.
Rose Zhang continues her weekly rise as she jumps up from 35 to 32.
Gaby Lopez rises from 53 to 36.
Other Big jumps include: A Lim Kim 50 to 37, Gemma Dryburgh 61 to 50, Alison Lee 64 to 58, Sarah Schmelzel 91 to 83, Ryann O'Toole 90 to 84, and Stephanie Kyriacou 109 to 98.
There were also some huge jumps outside the top 100:
Celine Borge's third place finish this past week results in her leaping up from 214 to 102.
Morgan Metraux vaults from 134 to 116, Esther Henseliet rises from 167 to 128, and Sarah Kemp surges from 168 to 140.

There was also some movement to note in the Race to the CME Globe. A player has to finish in the top 100 to retain their full playing privileges for the 2024 season.
I will keep reporting this weekly, but sticking to the bottom part of the list, as that is where the players are fighting to stay in the top 100.
Wei Ling Hsu moves moves into the top 100 this week jumping from 101 to 95. Morgan Metraux does the same 117 to 94. Sarah Kemp greatly improves her top 100 chances with a jump from 82 to 74.
On the downside we had two players fall out of the top 100 this week:
Frieda Kinhult (100-102) and Lucy Li (99 to 101).

I mostly just remember the earmuffs from that year.

I thought Shibuno Fever was supposed to be over by now. Damn Fauci...

Can't you just imagine the voice of the late great Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster, Harry Kalas, if he had lived to announce women's golf in the current era, intoning her name almost lyrically or poetically, "Hi-NA-ko Shi-BU-no!"

(Phil, do you remember Harry from when you lived in SE PA?)

Great second round by In Gee -- 66, tied for best of the day so far. And they actually showed her on the coverage! The only Korean they showed, but it's better than nothing.

The downside is that she's still out of it, 8 shots back. But a top ten would be great for her. She played really well today, hitting most of her greens and usually giving herself good birdie tries, which she made or barely missed. She even got an eagle! Also, no bogies today. Really, one of her best rounds of the year.



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