Ricoh Women’s British Open – 5 Sleeper Picks

Talent goes deep at the 2016 Ricoh Women’s British Open. The field who will be competing for a prize fund of £2,072,253 includes 28 of the world’s top 30 on the Rolex World Rankings, 49 of the current top 50 on the LPGA Race to CME Globe, and 30 of the top 30 on the LET Order of Merit.

The player who hoists the trophy Sunday will have played past recent Major winners Lydia Ko (World No.1) and Brooke Henderson (World No. 2) as well as 24 other Major Champions including past winners, Stacy Lewis, Mo Martin, Jiyai Shin and Yani Tseng.

Read More About the Top 10 in the 2016 Ricoh Women’s British Open Field Here

While Inbee Park’s 2015 win at Turnberry – her 7th major championship – came as no surprise, Mo Martin’s dramatic eagle on the 72nd hole at Royal Birkdale to notch her 1st – and to date only – pro victory brought all of us to our feet. Will this year take an established championship to the top or will there be a fresh face hoisting the Open trophy?

If you’re playing Ladies Dream Golf Pick-4 or LPGA Fantasy Golf you’ll have to make some tough choices from the top of the field, but you’ll also be looking for some Mo Martin-like possibilities to fill our your team.  Check out these five sleeper picks.

Charley Hull is back on home base this week, and I mean she’s really at home. Hull is a member at Woburn. She knows every trick and turn on the Marquess track and the air’s much more to her liking than that Chicago stuff that irritated her asthma.

I am absolutely buzzing to have the chance to play in a Major at my own club against the world’s best players. – Charley Hull

This would be the ideal setting for Hull to win her first major championship and take her place alongside Lydia Ko, Brooke Henderson, and Brittany Lang as a 2016 Major Champion. It’s not a question of “if” for Hull – it’s a question of “when” she’ll add a major to her resume. She’s not a favorite with the oddsmakers but I think she should be!

Holly Clyburn is playing her rookie year on the LPGA but she’s no stranger to competitive golf and she’s shown repeatedly that she has the game in her bag to stay in the game.

Clyburn’s Curtis Cup experience (2010 & 2012) served her well and she qualified as an amateur for the Women’s British Open in 2012. Don’t overlook the fact that she beat out Charley Hull for the win at the 2013 Deloitte Ladies Open and played well enough to help Team England hold on to a 3rd place finish last week at the UL International Crown.

Clyburn’s going to be one of the least expensive players to pick for your fantasy team  and probably one of the best bets in the field to deliver a solid performance with the potential for a surprise or two.

I don’t think you’ll have to look very far down the board on Sunday at Woburn to find Haru Nomura‘s name. With two 2016 wins on her resume, Nomura is a player who’s steadily working her way up the leaderboard and the world rankings. I think she’s undervalued for her potential, particularly on a track like Woburn’s Marquess.

Although Nomura’s performance in the majors has been largely unimpressive, both this year and in the past, I think she’s just coming into her game and we have yet to see her top performance. Her T11 finish at the 2016 US Women’s Open signals, for me, Nomura’s arrival on the front page of the major championship leaderboard.

Candie Kung is a pro golf veteran. The 34-year old Taiwanese has been playing on the LPGA Tour for 14 years and this will be her 14th appearance at the Women’s British Open. Her best finish, a T4, came at her first appearance in 2002 but she’s finished in the money 11 times!

Kung’s player stats don’t match her record. She’s solid off the tee, keeps her ball in the short grass, and doesn’t linger on the green. She has exactly the kind of down-the-middle golf game that can keep her in the mix on a track like Woburn’s Marquess; and she’s warmed up nicely. It was Kung’s gritty, determined game that kept Chinese Taipei in the mix at the International Crown right up to the end.

Candie Kung will be an economical add to your fantasy golf team and she’s almost certain to deliver above her value.

I know that Alison Lee has missed more cuts than she’s made this year and I know she’s been struggling with injury as well as with divided mental energy, but I think this fine young player is healthy and back on track coming into the Ricoh Women’s British Open.

We all know Lee has a competitive game in her bag – we watched it go to work last year when she earned her spot on the Solheim Cup Team USA. Although she slogged through the ANA Inspiration and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and then missed the cut entirely at the US Women’s Open this year, I was encouraged by her top 10 finish at the Marathon Classic. She’s coming to Woburn rested and, I think, ready to deliver some golf we can enjoy.

Give Alison Lee a look – I don’t think she’ll disappoint this week.

Cover Photo via Twitter