Jin Young Ko Predicted To Win South Korea’s Only LPGA Tour Event

More than seven dozen top LPGA players have teed off in Busan, South Korea for the 2021 BMW Ladies Championship. Sportsbooks expect world No. 2 Jin Young Ko to take the lead in Round 1 and carry that edge all the way through to a victory.

Because of the time difference, bettors who want to live bet the rounds will have to pull all-nighters. There’s a crowded field of strong contenders and the event poses an opportunity for the favorite to perhaps take over the top spot in the Rolex Rankings.

Jin Young Ko favored in BMW Ladies Championship

South Korea’s only LPGA Tour event takes place from Oct. 21 to 24 at the LPGA International Busan, a course owned by the LPGA itself.

The inaugural 2019 event ended in a sudden-death playoff where Korean LPGA favorite Ha Na Jang beat out American Danielle Kang for the win. Jang and Kang both shot 19-under par in the inaugural event, suggesting the tournament will be a low-scoring event for this year’s ladies as well.

This 72-hole event features a purse of $2 million and happens to be the first Asian-based golf event since the start of the pandemic. A total of 23 of the top 50 Rolex Women’s World Golf players along with 30 KLPGA players are featured within this limited 84-player field.

With world No. 1 Nelly Korda sitting this one out in America, Jin Young Ko entered the BMW Ladies Championship as the betting favorite. She tied for ninth place at this tournament in 2019 and had shot 69 or lower in every single one of her last 14 rounds before carding a 71 in the first round here.

Sportsbooks expected Ko to take the lead after the first round, with DraftKings giving her +850 odds of doing so. Odds of her going on to win the weekend sat at +450 before tee-off.

Fellow tournament contenders

Twenty-five-year-old Minjee Lee ranks sixth in the current Rolex Ranking, having won the Amundi Evian Championship back in July and finishing in the top 10 during five other events this year. Sportsbooks gave her the second-best chance of claiming a victory with +1400 odds.

Previous runner-up Danielle Kang has yet to win a tournament this year and was given +1600 odds of a first-place finish in this event. Kang has, however, logged eight top 10 finishes this year. Half of those finishes were ties for fifth place or better. She held +175 odds of finishing in the top 10 here and +340 odds of a top 5 finish.

Hyo Joo Kim won the HSBC Women’s World Championship at the end of April and has placed in the top 10 during three other events this year. DraftKings gave her +1600 odds of an outright win and +175 odds of a top 10 finish.

Lydia Ko finished first during April’s LOTTE Championship and tied for second at the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open in August. Her two most recent appearances, however, have been less impressive, resulting in ties for 29th and 25th place. This Ko had +1600 odds of a win and +175 odds of a top 10 finish prior to the opening round.

World No. 4 Sei Young Kim was also given +175 odds of finishing with a single-digit rank, though her odds of a total victory sat at +1800.

Ha Na Jang returns as the defending champ, but sportsbooks position her further down in the pack with +3500 odds of a consecutive victory.

Sportsbook boosts and promos

Golf fans new to the betting game can take advantage of various sportsbook promotions when placing an initial wager. First-time FanDuel bettors can receive a site credit refund of up to $1,000 if their first wager loses.

Similarly, new Caesars Sportsbook users are eligible for a free bet of up to $5,000 if their first wager turns out to be a flop. After making a first-time deposit of $5 or more at DraftKings, new users are eligible to receive a 20% bonus of up to $1,000.

Eager betting fanatics can stream the BMW Ladies Championship in real-time on the Golf Channel beginning at 11 p.m. ET on Oct. 20. The Golf Channel will broadcast each round again the following day beginning at 2 p.m. ET.