US Women's Open 2014: A preview, player profiles and best bets for Pinehurst

When it was first announced that the US Women's Open would be played back-to-back with the men’s tournament, on the same course, there was widespread excitement.

There seemed no downside, only huge potential for showcasing the women’s game.

Live LPGA Tour Golf

But earlier this year it was clear that doubts had begun to emerge. The USGA executive director Mike Davis met with LPGA members to address them and risked the wrath of some by making a joke in response to their fears of a course full of divot holes at the end of two weeks of intensive championship use.

His tone may have been misguided on that occasion, but he is insistent that the USGA feels the opportunities of this unusual arrangement far outweigh the risks.

And it’s possible to argue that before a ball has even been hit this week the USGA has been proved correct because on the final day of action for the men the presence of the women watching and/or practising became a big story on TV, in print and on social media.

Already the US Women’s Open was attracting attention it had never received in the past.

What we now have is the exciting prospect of seeing what the women can do on a course the men, with the exception of Martin Kaymer, found so difficult.

It will not represent an exact parallel, but it will be intriguing for anyone who is genuinely interested in the art and craft of playing golf. Will one of this week’s field trounce the field in the manner of Martin Kaymer’s supreme performance? Or are we set for a thrilling finish of another kind?

Sky Sports has coverage of all four days.

The course

As discussed above we have a totally unique situation this week - we know exactly how Pinehurst No 2 will play because we’ve just seen the men tackle it. 

Ahead of Martin Kaymer’s victory there was much talk about which other courses the new Pinehurst challenge (no rough, sandy waste ground, shaved run-off areas around the greens) would resemble. Three venues kept cropping up, but how did they fare? 

St Andrews? Well, Kaymer certainly has a superb record at the home of golf and so too does Henrik Stenson, who contended.

Royal Melbourne? Jason Day, Adam Scott and Matt Kuchar were all top four there in the 2013 World Cup and all made the top 12 last week.

Sunningdale? There’s even reason to believe this comparison has some credence because Brooks Koepka, a surprise package last week, won (with some ease) the Open Qualifying event there last June. 

And the good news is that the LPGA has played all three courses in recent years. Pinehurst No 2 is also, of course, a Donald Ross design and two of those have been used for recent US Women’s Opens - Interlachen in 2008 and Broadmoor in 2011.

No Charley Hull?

One of the new stars of the ladies game has fallen into a kind of exemption Bermuda Triangle.

She might be ranked 34th in the world and number one on the LET Order of Merit. She might also be a winner in Europe this year and have finished seventh in the year’s first major, but none of that matters so instead she plays this week in the Allianz Ladies Slovak Open (and is 5/2 favourite with Skybet).

European qualifiers

There may be no Hull, but there are eight golfers who join the field via the first-ever international qualifier, held at The Buckinghamshire in May.

Leading the way from that group are young British trio Holly Clyburn (a winner l