Twofer Tuesday: US Women's Open

Twofer Tuesday breaks with tradition and moseys down to Texas for the US Women's Open.

As a general rule I don't do Twofer Tuesday for any event but the PGA Tour, simply for simplicity's sake. But having the final major of the year just a couple of weeks before Christmas -- even though it's an LPGA event -- it just made sense for this to be my last Twofer Tuesday of 2020. 

It looks as if this will be a real tester for the ladies. While the temperature is expected to be around 76°F on Thursday, it will drop each day until it's around 58°F on Sunday... and rain is expected almost every day, including a 70% chance of thunderstorms on Friday. Add the unfamiliar course conditions -- the USGA rarely runs an event in December -- and this will be an entirely unpredictable US Women's Open.

This major will be held at Champions Golf Club in Houston TX. There are two courses, the Jackrabbit Course and Cypress Creek. The women will play one round at Jackrabbit and three at Cypress Creek. The USGA often uses Jackrabbit as a qualifying course while Cypress Creek is the primary competition course, and Cypress is the longer of the two by around 300 yards.

Jeongeun Lee6 is the defending champion. But US Opens are notoriously difficult to defend, and with this year's difficulties added in, this one is probably up for grabs.

That's especially true given how well so many of the women are playing. I have no guiding principle for making choices this week, so let's just toss the sticks up in the air and see how they land!

• My first pick is Jin Young Ko. I know the World #1 hasn't played much over here this year due to the pandemic, but in only her second event back (last week) she finished solo 5th in tough conditions. This major will also be in tough conditions, and I see no reason her methodical approach won't put her in position to win again.
• As for my second pick... look, I can name at least six or seven players who I should probably pick before Angela Stanford, but this is a heart pick. She's been all over the place this season, but in the last two weeks she has finished T6 and 1. Most importantly, she's from Texas. I suspect she's played in these conditions more than once. I'm hoping she's on a run.

Here's a link to the USGA's complete airtime listings. But GC's live first round coverage runs from 12:30pm-6pm ET on Thursday. It's our last major of 2020, so let's enjoy it!