The draw for the first round of the LPGA Tour's Sybase Match Play championship has been released and, as the top seed, World No 1 Yani Tseng, is not expected to be stopped in the first round.
Not if statistics mean anything.
Tseng is set to play Korea's Jeong Jang when the tournament gets underway at Hamilton Farms Golf Club in Gladstone, New Jersey, this week and nobody is expecting the bottom seed in the elite, 64-strong field to beat women's golf's latest super-star - even though match play, especially, in an 18-hole 'sprint', does have a habit of producing some nasty surprises.
A nasty surprise, however, is something Karen Stupples, England's No 35th seed will be hoping to come up with in her all-European clash with Sweden's Sophie Gustafson, the No 30 seed.
Not so Britain's other Sybase Match Play hope, Catriona Matthew. The Scot, seeded 16th, is drawn to play Taiwan's Candie Kung, the 59th seed.
Based on the World Rankings, the seedings have seen to it that Tseng heads up the Patty Berg division which includes Matthew and leading Americans Paula Creamer, Brittany Lincicome, and Brittany Lang.
Ai Miyazato, the top seed in the Kathy Whitworth division, will open her championship bid against Mariajo Uribe in a division that includes Cristie Kerr, Angela Stanford, Maria Hjorth, Eun-Hee Ji and Michelle Wie and is on the same side of the bracket as the Berg division.
Norway's defending champion Suzann Pettersen is the top seed in the Annika Sorenstam division and will play Jodi Ewart in the first round. Stacy Lewis, Karrie Webb, Sophie Gustafson, Sandra Gal and Azahara Munoz are also in her division.
Korea's Na Yeon Choi is the top seed in the Mickey Wright divsion and will tee off against Grace Park in a division that includes Jiyai Shin, Morgan Pressel, Anna Nordqvist and Inbee Park.
Here is the full draw for the first round:
(Seedings in brackets)
(1) Yani Tseng vs (64) Jeong Jang
(2) Na Yeon Choi vs (63) Grace Park
(3) Suzann Pettersen vs (62) Jodi Ewart
(4) Ai Miyazato vs (61) Mariajo Uribe
(5) Cristie Kerr vs (60) Belen Mozo
(6) Stacy Lewis vs (59) Pat Hurst
(7) Jiyai Shin vs (58) Jennifer Song
(8) Paula Creamer vs (57) Jennifer Johnson
(9) Brittany Lincicome vs (56) Ryann O'Toole
(10) Amy Yang vs (55) Amy Hung
(11) Sun Young Yoo vs (54) Amanda Blumenherst
(12) Angela Stanford vs (53) Wendy Ward
13 So Yeon Ryu vs (52) Karin Sjodin
(14 Karrie Webb vs (51) Tiffany Joh
(15 Morgan Pressel vs (50) Mindy Kim
(16) Catriona Matthew vs (49 Candie Kung
(17) Caroline Hedwall vs (48) Haeji Kang
(18) Inbee Park vs (47) Hee Won Han
(19) Azahara Muñoz vs (46) Lindsey Wright
(20) Michelle Wie vs (45) Mina Harigae
(21) Maria Hjorth vs (44) Eun Hee Ji
(22) Hee Kyung Seo vs (43) Jessica Korda,
(23) Mika Miyazato vs (42 Natalie Gulbis
(24) Brittany Lang vs (41) Julieta Granada
(25) Hee Young Park vs (40) Karine Icher
(26) Anna Nordqvist vs (39) Beatriz Recari
(27) Sandra Gal vs (38) Pornanong Phatlum
(28) Meena Lee vs (37) Vicky Hurst
(29) Song Hee Kim vs (36) Katherine Hull
(30) Sophie Gustafson vs (35) Karen Stupples
(31) Jenny Shin vs (34 Jimin Kang
(32) Chella Choi vs (33 Katie Futcher
golf365.com