DRIVE ON CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYERS TO WATCH 2022

I cover every tournament on the LPGA Tour on my Cobe Life Youtube channel. Usually I provide my Subscribers with a few Favourites, Dark Horses, and one or two Sleepers to potentially wager on. I provide them with some course history, and examples of why I selected the players I did.

In addition to that video I am going to highlight 3 players each tournament week on this Blog. They won't necessarily be players I am betting on. Instead these are players that I believe could possibly break out later in the season. I am scouting them for potential bets at future LPGA events.

When scouting LPGA players there are a few key things to look for. The first and foremost is their putting ability. How accurate are they from distance? How confident is there stroke within 6 feet? Where do they finish in the Strokes Gained Putting rankings? You can't win an event if you don't Putt well so I always pay attention to their play on the Greens. Secondly how long and accurate are their Drives? What's important to note here is that a player doesn't need to be great at both. A nice balance between the two is preferable, but exceptionally great at either is fine as well. The last thing I pay attention to is their Approach play, or more specifically their proximity to Hole when they hit the Green.

If a player shows better than average ability across those 3 categories then they are poised to compete for Top finishes in future events. It's not rocket science. Those three areas of the game work in concert to produce low scores. Beginning on the Tee - a long or accurate Drive makes for an easier Approach shot. If your Approach game is on your proximity to Hole will be much smaller. Then if your average Putt is shorter you will make more 1 putts. Last season I was really high on Xiyu Lin because she was improving those 3 skills all season long. She finished the year 38th in Driving Accuracy, 52nd in Driving Distance, 20th in Greens in Regulation, 20th in Putts per GIR, and 34th in Putting Average. It was her Putting that let her down and prevented her from winning. That's why I rank it the most important. Ideally you want a player you're betting on to have a better Putting per GIR ranking compared to their Greens in Regulation, and a Putting Average no more than 50% worse.

Hopefully that has you fully versed on what to look for. Now for the three players I will be paying extra attention to at the Drive On Championship at Crown Colony Golf & Country club.

All of the players on this week's list were selected for their ability on Links style courses. Although situated in Ft. Myers Florida, the Crown Colony Golf & Country club has a Links style design with usually fast Greens, and dry hard Fairways. One of the ways modern Golf courses have reduced costs is by adding dry grasses to the Fairways that don't require much water and produce a Links style feel while also generously increasing Driving Distance for members by increasing the amount of roll out.

Carlota Ciganda

Currently ranked 44th in the world. Two Top 10 finishes in 2021.

Key Stats

-Driving Accuracy 123rd on tour

-Driving Distance 19th on tour

-Greens in Regulation 45th on tour

-Putts per GIR 40th on tour

-Putting Average 85th on tour

For Carlota Ciganda this type of course should make her feel right at home. She already hits it long, and the difficult to predict bounces and increased roll out of the Fairways should have a lot of players missing their target off the Tee. So her Accuracy shouldn't be as much of a hindrance. Her Putting was plain ugly last year. Hopefully she has addressed that during the break. This course should provide a true test.

Leona Maguire

Currently ranked 37th in the world. Five Top 10 finishes in 2021.

Key Stats

-Driving Accuracy 52nd on tour

-Driving Distance 80th on tour

-Greens in Regulation 105th on tour

-Putts per GIR 10th on tour

-Putting Average 6th on tour

Leona Maguire has played a massive amount of golf in Europe on similarly styled courses. This should be a great fit for her. Hard Fairways will have her pulling higher lofted clubs from her bag. That was her biggest issue last year. Holding greens was impossible for her with a long Iron or Hybrid in her hand. Lets see if she can use her Links familiarity to get the most out of her game.

Anna Nordqvist

Currently ranked 25th in the world. Three Top 10 finishes in 2021. Won the AIG Women's Open.

Key Stats

-Driving Accuracy 34th on tour

-Driving Distance 98th on tour

-Greens in Regulation 78th on tour

-Putts per GIR 98th on tour

-Putting Average 77th on tour

Winner of the AIG Women's Open in 2021. This will let us know if that was just a fluke or not. Her play around the Greens on Links style courses is second to none. Her Putting stats look terrible but she actually Putts better on Greens with a lot of Break. Depending on Pin positions that could play a major role this week.

Be sure to check out my Cobe Life Youtube videos for the best LPGA Tour betting advice.

Pay attention to the comments because we have an active community of sports bettors that provide their opinions on every event as well.

Good Luck this week!