The LPGA's Asian Swing Begins

The first event in the Asian Swing, the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship in South Korea, is this week. (Remember, there are five consecutive events in South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Japan and China. The Tour Championship in Florida is the final event.)



As usual, Tony Jesselli has a preview of the event over at his website. But here are the broad strokes:

• An invitational event with only 78 players
• Played at the Sky 72 Golf Club Ocean Course
• 72 holes since 2014
• Par 72, 6316 yards (that's from the LPGA site -- Tony lists 6364)
• Carlota Ciganda is the defending champ

The Top3 in the world -- So Yeon Ryu, Sung Hyun Park and Lexi Thompson -- are all in action, so presumably the #1 spot is up for grabs once again. The last two winners -- Brooke Henderson in the LPGA New Zealand event and Cristie Kerr in the LET France event -- are both playing. And Michelle Wie is making her first appearance after her appendectomy. You may have seen her Instagram photo:

Survived my first 18 hole practice round since surgery...well barely 😂😂😂😂 #mondaypracticerounds #whosaidgolfisntasport #grassfeelssogooood

A post shared by Michelle Wie (@themichellewie) on Oct 9, 2017 at 1:56am PDT

The event will be tape-delayed on GC all four days, beginning at noon ET on Thursday. But at least we won't have to stay up all night to watch.