Who will win the ANZ Ladies Masters?

Yani Tseng was just flawless last week. Her confidence was huge and attacked every pin on the course foir most of the tournament. She must go into this tournament as favourite but it is worth keeping in mind what happened last year. In 2010 she also won the Australian Open but then went on to struggle at Royal Pines, finishing 14 shots behind the winner, Karrie Webb.

Alexis Thompson

The Ladies Masters is the brain child of Bob Touhy and his company who have staged the event since 1990. He enticed American Jane Geddes to come out and play  that year as one of the marquee players. She not only came out to play but won the first two tournaments which were originally held at Palm Meadows.

The event has been held at Royal Pines Resort ever since and Touhy has been proactive in enticing the best young talent in the world each year. In 1992 Touhy invited a youg Karrie Webb to play in the tournament, and in 2006 he invited amateur star Amy Yang to play. She surprised everyone and won the event in a playoff.

This year, Touhy has invited young American star Alexis Thompson to the Masters. She turns 16 on Thursday. She qualified as a 12 year old for the US Open in 2007 and Touhy believes she’ll be world number one in the next three or four years. She had a poor first round at the Australian Open last week, keep an eye on here to get back on track this week.

I still think Katherine Hull is ready to fire. She won here in 2009 and finished runner-up behind Webb last year. She also finished tied for 7th last week despite poor opening and closing rounds. If she gets off to a good start, look out. Same goes for the defending champion, Karrie Webb. She really wasn’t on her game last week but still finished tied for 6th. She also won this tournament by six shots last year with a finsal round 11-under par.

World number one Jiyai Shin, was the only player apart from Yani Tseng to post two rounds in the 60’s last weekend. She just needs to lock out her bad rounds. She will finish top-10 but it is just a matter of where.

One player who may get under everyone’s radar is Korean So-Yeon Ryu. She is 41st in the world and plays well at Royal Pines Resort. She finished second in 2009, fifth last year and had some form to finish 12th last week. Definitely s sneaky chance to win this event.