The ANA Inspiration is often referred to as the Masters of the LPGA because it returns to the same course each year and is heaped with tradition, such as the winner’s leap into Poppie’s Pond on Sunday. In a normal year, the ANA is the first major on the LPGA calendar – it is played in April as the golf season is just starting up.
The ANA’s five-month move to September raises the temperature on the event, literally. Heat is one of the top storylines this week at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage. More on that below, plus a few other things to note:
The heat
The Palm Springs area just saw a weekend where the thermometer hit a record-breaking 122 on Saturday and 120 on Sunday. How hot will it be this week should be a topic of conversation for everyone during the ANA Inspiration. The weather forecast calls for it to be a little cooler. Desert residents might handle 105 degrees, but we probably aren’t walking 18 holes of golf in that kind of heat, either. Some players will react well, others might struggle. Hopefully, the temperatures will stay under 110 degrees on the weekend.
No defending champion
This is no one’s fault, of course, unless you blame the coronavirus. Jin Young Ko didn’t make it to Mission Hills to defend her title because of travel restrictions and an abundance of caution. That means she can’t join Sandra Post and Annika Sorenstam as winners of the ANA Inspiration in consecutive years.
Changes to the golf course
Some long-time players might be stunned that more than 100 trees have been taken out of the Dinah Shore Tournament Course, giving the course a more open look in the rough. Members seem pleased with the trees being removed, but the trees were part of the landscape of the tournament over the last 30 years or so. Every course at some time has to deal with aging trees, and that’s what has happened at the Dinah Shore Tournament Course this year.
An American winner?
The last player from the United States to win the ANA Inspiration was Brittany Lincicome in 2015. Lincicome is one of three Americans to win the tournament in the decade of the 2010s. With players like Danielle Kang, Nelly Korda, Lincicome, Stacy Lewis and other Americans looking for a win, and a handful of top Koreans out of the field, could the decade of the 2020s start with an American victory?
No fans
Maybe having no fans on the golf course won’t mean much to players who are playing the fifth hole on a Thursday afternoon. But the players who make the cut for the weekend will certainly miss the atmosphere of supportive desert fans on the first and 10th tees as they begin their rounds and on the 18th green Sunday. The tournament is doing lots of things to create some atmosphere for the players, but there is no substitute for high-fives with fans as the winner walks up the 18th green before crossing Poppie’s Pond.
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