The Drive On Championship Recap- Danielle Kang Takes Home the LPGA Return to Golf

The body's natural response in pressure-filled situations is to pump out adrenaline, sending more blood to the bigger muscles in the body. This removes blood from the muscles that affect touch the most on the golf course. After a five-and-a-half-month layoff from LPGA golf, Danielle Kang's response to this familiar feeling was hitting shots longer than usual, blasting three wood off the tee and hitting it past the flag on approaches.

Celine Boutier's response was missing short putts, with a putt rolling off the left lip on the 15th and sneaking inside the same lip on the 17th for par. It came back in the worst of the ways at the last. Boutier fired a dart to four feet to set up a potential playoff at the Drive On Championship. Instead, her ball refused to cooperate, once again rejecting the cup by way of the left lip.

Both players put on a show at the 54-hole Drive On Championship, starting the day at a three-way tie alongside Jodi Ewart Shadoff at (-5) in what may well serve as a 2021 Solheim Cup preview.

Kang threw the first punches out of the opening bell, birdieing two and four to settle into a three-shot lead through five after Boutier and Ewart Shadoff gave a shot back.

The 9-year veteran picked up a birdie at nine to sit two behind Kang and one ahead of Boutier. She fell behind after going (+4) from the 13th through the 15th. Ewart Shadoff finished at (-2), in solo 5th place and one of five players to finish under par for the event.

The Frenchwoman then counterpunched, birdieing 11 alongside Kang. Her ball broke COVID-19 social distancing protocol after kissing the pin at 12 and settling a foot away for a tap-in birdie. Boutier picked up another shot on Kang after the American bogeyed the 13th, her worst hole on the course for the week at (+2). The 2020 Texas State Open Champion then climbed out of the three-shot hole after birdieing 14 off a beautiful approach that parked her in striking distance. It was the final birdie of the tournament for Boutier.

Kang parred out, and Boutier missed the first of two pivotal short looks for bogey at 15 to break the tie. Boutier's consistency wasn't quite enough to match Kang at Inverness Club, as she was the only one in the 132-player field to shoot under par in all three rounds.

It's Kang's 4th career victory, her 4th consecutive season with a win on tour for the eight-year LPGA veteran.

Bets Of The Week Analysis

Picks:

Danielle Kang at 7.5 units (+1100)- 1st

Lexi Thompson at 7.5 units (+1200)- T16

Bronte Law at 5 units (+6600)- Missed Cut

Anne van Dam at 2.5 units (+9000)- T11

Maria Fassi at 2.5 units (+27500)- Missed Cut

Units Won: 82.5

ROI: +230%

As my Dad always says, you can't win them all if you don't win the first one (and no, I don't imagine I'll pull that off). The low-round return of Kang proved most valuable down the stretch. Her best scoring day came on day 1, where she shot a 66, the low round of the tournament. Conditions completely flipped as rain pelted Inverness club Saturday. Only Sarah Schmezel and Alena Sharp broke 70 over the weekend. No one shot better than 70 Sunday. The play over the final two rounds is closer to the play during the European leg of the return of LPGA play than the Marathon Classic next week.

2019 Solheim Cup players played very well at Inverness. Ten of the 20 who played at Gleneagles in the field finished in the top 20.

Playing over the break was also a factor for Boutier, who won the Texas State Open. Two other players in the top 10 benefited as well. Mina Harigae won four times on the Cactus Tour and finished T6. Gemma Dryburgh finished the same as Harigae after winning back to back wins on the Rose Ladies Series.

In terms of different market inefficiencies, I'm going to post the Marathon Classic picks of the week two hours later, at 4:00 P.M. PST on Wednesday. Marina Alex at 3:00 P.M. PST this past Thursday put out a tweet that she was having to withdraw from the event. This is notable since MyBookie didn't update the odds after this, which is of benefit to the bettor.

In theory, every player in the field's odds should slightly worsen with fewer players in the field. It's like if you're playing Roulette, and the house blocks off one of the 36 numbers, yet leaves the odds to pick a number at 35 to 1. I'm going to add a do not bet on section for only players that withdraw going forward.

We're going from the first time the LPGA Tour has played at the Inverness Club to the 30th consecutive time the Marathon Classic has played at Highland Meadows Golf Club next week.

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