So Much for My Major Picks This Week!

It looks like this is going to be one of those unpredictable majors. The ANA Inspiration is probably giving its new sponsors everything they could have asked for... because no one could have predicted this!



If you had bet me that Cristie Kerr would go 27 holes without a single birdie, I would have taken that bet. If you had chosen Sei Young Kim as the 36-hole leader -- even though she won earlier this year -- I would have thought you were taking really long odds.

As it stands, Kim leads at -7, Morgan Pressel (winless for several years) is solo second at -5, and three players -- Brittany Lincicome, Jenny Shin, and Catriona Matthew -- are T3 at -4.

Stacy Lewis and Lexi Thompson, both of whom I thought might play well but would not win, at -3 are easily ahead of ALL of my picks:

• Cristie Kerr did finally make some birdies on her back 9 Friday to finish at +1 (T42).
• Hyo Joo Kim is also at +1 (T42).
• Inbee Park sits at -1 (T22).
• One of my fliers, rookie Alison Lee, is doing the best at -2 (T13).
• And my other flier, Se Ri Pak, shocked me by missing the cut with a +5 score.

Lydia Ko sits at even par, her under-par streak broken at 29 and leaving her tied with Annika's record. But apparently my assessment of her being tired was accurate. Judy Rankin mentioned some unusually noticeable head dipping during her backswing that coach David Leadbetter said typically happened when she got tired. And Michelle Wie narrowly made the cut at +2, so perhaps she's still feeling the effects of several weeks of poor health.

But now, with good weather on the docket for the weekend and the course drying out quickly, the winners are even more in doubt. While the high rough will favor the more accurate (and frequently shorter) hitters like Kim, Shin, Pressel and Matthew, the hard greens will be more accessible to the more powerful high ball hitters.

An interesting note: Pressel seems to be hitting the ball higher than she used to... and she won this event once before, as have Lincicome, Lewis and Thompson. It looks like it may come down to a putting contest after all, and all of these players tend to be streaky.

But I think Sei Young Kim has to be the favorite now. You see, she won the 2015 Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic -- her only LPGA win -- in a playoff, as well as four of her five KLPGA Tour victories. Do you understand? She's only got 6 pro wins, and she won 5 of them in playoffs. That should make the rest of the field a bit nervous.

I don't think I'll be taking any more bets on this major though. It's just too hard on my wallet!