Category: LPGA

‘How can we get involved?’: Greg Norman hints at growing interest for women’s LIV Golf League

“I have personally had discussions with individual LPGA Tour players … They love what our product is showcasing.”

On the eve of the first women’s major championship of the year in Texas, Greg Norman hinted at a growing interest in a women’s LIV Golf League while speaking ahead of the upstart circuit’s next event in Australia.

The CEO and commissioner of LIV Golf was asked about the future of LIV both from a men’s and women’s perspective and admitted there have been internal discussions “on a regular basis” about the latter.

“I have personally had discussions with individual LPGA Tour players, LET Tour players, Ladies European Tour. They love what our product is showcasing,” claimed Norman during a press conference at Grange Golf Club ahead of LIV Golf Adelaide. “They ask all the time, ‘How can we get involved? We’d love to see a LIV ladies series.’”

It’s important to note that while LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan has previously said she would meet with LIV Golf officials, there has been no public indication that meeting has taken place.

“We can only drink out of a fire hydrant so much, so we have a lot of opportunities and initiatives coming across our plate,” Norman explained. “Our focus is to make sure this year we produce what we’re producing (with the LIV Golf League) from day one, 2023, and then going forward we’re looking what are the best opportunities to build on to what we have today.”

Believe him or not, Norman has been adamant that his goal for LIV was to coexist within the golf ecosystem. For the sake of their tour, LPGA players past and present can only hope Norman is good on his word.

“I think if Norman does do this, it’s going to totally ruin the LPGA, because I think most of the girls would go, just because the money is a game-changer,” said 31-time LPGA winner Juli Inkster last August.

“If it’s the money that they have on the LIV, you know they’re going to crush the LPGA,” said 10-time major champion Annika Sorenstam. “Hopefully they have the intention of growing the game and working together with the LPGA.”

Seven-time major winner Karrie Webb said she’d hold a grudge against players who doesn’t agree with her fellow Aussie Norman.

“If the LPGA were to suffer because a group of players went and started playing on a tour similar to (LIV) and the LPGA would suffer, I would hold that against them,” Webb said. “I know that (Greg Norman has) had this vendetta against the PGA Tour as long as I’ve known him, So I don’t think there would be any changing him. I would just ask him that in his ambition to succeed, that he doesn’t ruin women’s golf in the process.”

“I hope we survive it,” added former world No. 1 Stacy Lewis. “Should we talk to them? Absolutely. Ultimately, I think we have to find a way to co-exist.”

LIV Golf has long been criticized as a way for Saudi Arabia to sportswash its controversial human rights record. The Kingdom has been accused of politically motivated killings, torture, forced disappearances and inhumane treatment of prisoners. Members of the royal family and Saudi government were accused of involvement in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist.

How can a women’s organization reconcile doing business with a regime that has such a horrendous record of human rights abuses, especially toward women?

“I think that’s maybe one of the reasons we should partner,” said Sorenstam, “to be able to make a difference.”

Contributing: Golfweek senior writer Beth Ann Nichols.

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2023 Chevron Championship merchandise photos: Featuring ‘Girls Rule’ gear for kids and cowboy hats

What item is your favorite at this year’s Chevron Championship.

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – The merchandise tent at the Chevron Championship is brimming with junior golf goodies, from “Girls Rule” shirts to major championship teddy bears.

There’s plenty for adults as well, including cowboy hats and crossbody handbags with the trophy’s silhouette.

This marks the first year the Chevron Championship is being held in The Woodlands on the Nicklaus Course at The Club at Carlton Woods. For 51 years the tournament was staged on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club.

Proceeds from much of what’s in the merchandise tent goes to a good cause. Profits made from the Trophy Collection, for example, will be used to carry-forward Dinah Shore’s legacy by funding the Chevron Dinah Shore Scholarships annually through the LPGA Foundation.

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Chevron: Lexi Thompson, making just second LPGA start of 2023, comes into first major with wrist pain after grinding too much at home

“I think I just overworked it. It’s nothing crazy severe, but it’s there. But we’ll see.”

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – From a scheduling standpoint, Lexi Thompson has eased into the year’s first major, teeing it up only twice so far in 2023 – once on the LPGA and once in Saudi Arabia.

But all that time off didn’t exactly lead to a rested approach, at least physically. Turns out Thompson, 28, grinded so hard back home in south Florida that she arrived at the Chevron Championship with a taped-up right wrist. The pain started about a week ago.

“I’ve just been hitting so many golf balls at home,” said Thompson, when asked about the black tape that ran up past her elbow, “and I’ve kind of — I’m not going to say injured, but it’s hurting a little bit. But I’ve gotten work done the last few days and getting it taped up.

“But yeah, I think I just overworked it. It’s nothing crazy severe, but it’s there. But we’ll see.”

2023 Chevron Championship at The Club at Carlton Woods
Lexi Thompson of the United States hits her approach shot on the first fairway during a practice round prior to The Chevron Championship at The Club at Carlton Woods on April 19, 2023 in The Woodlands, Texas. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Thompson began the week in Texas at the Champions Dinner, where she enjoyed some hearty laughs at the table with former Solheim Cup captains Juli Inkster and Pat Hurst. For all the joy and heartache she experienced at Mission Hills Country Club, it was her favorite stop on tour.

This week marks a big transition for the American star.

“It’s definitely a major feel for this golf course,” said Thompson of the Nicklaus Course at The Club at Carleton Woods. “It’s playing long, and it’ll get windy. It’s Texas, so it’ll get windy out there and play difficult … that’s how a major should be.”

At home, Thompson typically spends two hours a day on her putting, and in the weeks leading up to this event, she was especially focused on ballstriking.

Chevron: Photos

Stacy Lewis grew up in The Woodlands and said great ballstriking will be a premium this week given that the greens are firm and precision is required to certain hole locations.

“Then I think you could look to anyone that grew up playing on Bermudagrass,” said Lewis, “and the chipping and the surrounds. I think that’s going to be a big factor this week of just knowing how to play those shots around the greens.”

As for the wrist, Thompson said the pain is the worst when she hinges on the way back and releases on the way through.

“Just kind of the pressure of putting my thumb on top of the club,” she said. “But overall, it was better today, so hopefully it’ll just slowly go away.”

Thompson began the year in February at the Saudi Ladies International, an LET event that featured a $5 million purse. In March, she made her LPGA season debut at the Drive On Championship in Arizona, where she missed the cut. She hasn’t teed it up since.

“You know, just enjoying my life a bit more off the golf course,” she said of the prolonged break.

“I’ve taken the offseason, got to spend a lot of time with my family and friends, and I gave myself an extra month basically. I played in Saudi Arabia earlier in the year, and then played in Arizona, and just kind of spacing out my events, making sure I’m nice and healthy and not too tired for the events that I really want to play in and the golf courses that set up for my game.”

Being on her own schedule, close to family, she said, does wonders for her mentally. Her parents are at the Chevron this week and older brother Nicholas is on the bag.

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“I mean, this is my 13th year (on tour), so it’s not like it’s just my first, second year. I’ve been playing golf since I was 5 years old. I haven’t known any different ever since I was 12,” said Thompson, when asked if she’s ever been burnt out.

“Not so much burnt out, but just maybe in too much of a routine, and I’m not even going to say rut, but I just wasn’t allowing myself to go on the vacations and live life more because there’s just so much more to it than a game.”

An 11-time winner on the LPGA, Thompson last won on tour at the 2019 ShopRite LPGA Classic. She won on the LET last October at the Aramco Team Series event in New York.

Her lone major title came at the 2014 Chevron Championship, where she beat Michelle Wie West by three strokes. Thompson has since finished in the top five at major championships on 10 different occasions, suffering a number of devastating finishes along the way.

“I think I’m just a lot more refreshed,” she said of her lighter schedule. “I think I’m in a better mindset, more relaxed, just happier to be out here. Not saying that I wasn’t before, but just refreshed. I had the time off that I needed.

“Of course, I was training probably harder than ever when I was home, but I made sure to take the time later in the day and the nights to really unwind and get my mind off golf and making sure that I’m excited to come back out.”

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2023 Chevron Championship odds, picks to win: Can Nelly Korda claim another major title?

Nelly Korda is due for another major championship.

The 2023 Chevron Championship is going to be different.

Last year was the final playing at the iconic Mission Hills in California and now the year’s first women’s major championship is being held at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas.

Jennifer Kupcho, the 20th-ranked player in the world, is the defending champion and is coming off a T-25 performance at the DIO Implant LA Open.

Several players in the field, including Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko, discussed the new venue and how it differs from Mission Hills.

Korda and Ko are the betting favorites this week at 11/1 (+1100), followed closely by Jin Young Ko and Atthaya Thitikul at 12/1 (+1200).

Chevron: Photos

Golf course

The Club at Carlton Woods | Par 72 | 6,824 yards

Lydia Ko of New Zealand hits her approach shot on the 18th hole during a practice round prior to The Chevron Championship at The Club at Carlton Woods on April 19, 2023 in The Woodlands, Texas. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Odds, expert picks

‘Look to anyone that grew up playing on Bermudagrass’: Here’s what players are saying about Chevron’s new major venue in Texas, where everything feels big

“I think it’s totally different than Mission Hills,” Atthaya Thitikul said.

THE WOODLANDS, Texas — If everything is bigger in Texas, the property here at The Club at Carlton Woods is no exception. Everything from the clubhouse to the buildout to the Inspiration Dome, an enormous golf-ball lookalike structure that houses, among other things, virtual reality golf, is oversized at the Chevron Championship’s new home.

Players report that the golf course feels big too, with the official yardage coming in at 6,824. It likely won’t play that long, however, as the week progresses and tees move up, but by accounts the Nicklaus Course will present a proper challenge, though nothing similar to what players faced for decades at Mission Hills Country club.

“I think just the way it makes you think,” said Georgia Hall. “You have to think a little bit more around this golf course … mostly on the greens. In Palm Springs, I thought it was quite simple to read the greens, no grain at all, but now we have the grain, I heard it’s going to be a little bit windy, as well, and a lot of factors come into play.”

Those who are familiar and confident on Bermudagrass certainly hold the advantage.

Chevron: Photos

Here’s what several players had to say about the tour’s newest major home and how it compares to Dinah’s place:

Photos: 2023 Chevron Championship at The Club at Carlton Woods

Find the best images from the women’s first major of the year here.

The first women’s major championship of the year is upon us, as the best players in the world are in The Woodlands, Texas, for the Chevron Championship at The Club at Carlton Woods.

The Club at Carlton Woods is replacing the longtime venue of this event, Mission Hills in California, and is a par-72 track that measures 6,824 yards.

Jennifer Kupcho, the 20th-ranked player in the Rolex Rankings, is the defending champion. The 25-year-old finished tied for 25th in her last LPGA start at the DIO Implant LA Open.

Check out some of the best photos from the 2023 Chevron Championship at The Club at Carlton Woods below.

CHEVRON: Leaderboard | Photos | Merchandise

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With the Chevron Championship at its new venue, how will Dinah Shore’s legacy continue in Texas?

The hospitality area around the 18th green will be named “Dinah’s Place” and Shore’s family has been invited.

Every time Pat Bradley walked by the statue of Dinah Shore next to the 18th green at Mission Hills Country Club, she’d climb up on the little base and put her hand on Dinah’s arm and have a chat. Longtime Desert Sun golf writer Larry Bohannan recalled the scene as he considered the question: How should Shore’s legacy continue in Texas?

Bradley, like so many LPGA greats, was friends with Shore. The Hollywood superstar made such a tremendous impact on the tour in the 1970s and ’80s that they put her in the LPGA Hall of Fame as the only non-playing member.

But as the 52nd Chevron Championship, still known by many as “The Dinah,” leaves the Dinah Shore Tournament Course and heads to The Woodlands near Houston this week, it’s natural to wonder how Shore will fit in.

“You can’t create that,” said Bohannan of Bradley’s ritual, “that has to be something that’s organic.”

Shore died in 1994, before nine of the top 10 players in the world were even born. Jane Blalock, the tournament’s first champion in 1972, said Shore could be compared to a modern-day Oprah in terms of her popularity and reach.

Another burning question before this year’s Chevron: Will the champion’s leap, the most significant tradition (one might argue the LPGA’s only noteworthy tradition), carry on?

Tournament organizers told Golfweek there’s no expectation that a player will jump into the lake on the 18th next month at the Nicklaus Course at The Club at Carlton Woods, but should the mood strike, the championship team is making sure it will be safe.

An area of the lake at the 18th green is being dredged and netted to make sure it’s deep enough for a player and her caddie and family to take the plunge. The traditional robe and slippers will also be on standby, if needed.

“Whoever wins this year needs to jump in and keep it going,” said Brittany Lincicome, a two-time champion at Mission Hills.

The hospitality area around the 18th green at the Nicklaus course at Carlton Woods will be named “Dinah’s Place” and Shore’s family has been invited to attend.

Shore’s name will also live on in the generosity of the Chevron Dinah Shore Scholarships, given to high school seniors who are pursuing a college education but not playing collegiate golf. Nominees must have a passion for women’s golf and desire to help grow the game.

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There will once again be a Champions Dinner with Thomas Keller, chef and proprietor of The French Laundry, creating a special menu to honor 2022 champion Jennifer Kupcho. The tournament will also bring back a Junior Legacy Pro-Am, designed to link up legends of the game with bright young stars.

The Champions Wall will be, for now, a temporary structure that will celebrate the 51 years of history that took place at Mission Hills.

Sandra Palmer, an honorary member at Mission Hills who won 19 times on the LPGA, including the Colgate Dinah Shore Winner’s Circle before it was a major, feels the championship needs to find a new identity in her native Texas.

There was talk at last year’s Chevron about the LPGA Legends staging an event in the Coachella Valley this spring. There was even a news conference about it Sunday morning before Kupcho won.

Two weeks later, the PGA Tour Champions announced that the new Galleri Classic would be held March 24-26 at Mission Hills. Fred Couples, Steve Stricker, Ernie Els, Bernhard Langer and David Duval are among those who have committed to the field.

So far, nothing has been announced in the area for senior women.

Patty Sheehan, who won at Mission Hills in 1996 and lives there now part-time behind the 14th tee on the Dinah Shore Course, signed up to volunteer at the Galleri Classic. She was given three choices: walking scorer, work the range, help out in the caddie tent.

Sheehan, who hasn’t yet decided which job she’ll take, reported that the greens are hard and fast on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course but the rough isn’t up. They’ve added a couple new tees and trimmed the eucalyptus trees to open it up more.

“They’re trying to clean up Poppie’s Pond,” she said, “in case one of them tries to jump.”

Sheehan said she’s trying to “go down the positive road” about how things have turned out.

2019 ANA Inspiration
Jin Young Ko, caddie David Brooker and agent Soo Jin Choi leap into Poppie’s Pond next to the 18th green at Mission Hills Country Club after the 2019 ANA Inspiration on the Dinah Shore course in Rancho Mirage, California (Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Judy Rankin, who like Palmer and Blalock won the Dinah before it was a major, is doing the same. Rankin was part of the deep history of the LPGA at Mission Hills for five decades, right up to the final putt last year in the broadcast booth. She too would like to see the Chevron begin its own kind of history in her home state of Texas, noting that it’s probably right not to see a lot of Dinah this year, but that it’s never right to forget her.

“I think it’s part of growing old gracefully,” she said of adapting to change. “Be glad you had it, celebrate on a rare occasion, and let the new be new.”

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Jennifer Kupcho had one request for this famous American chef at the Chevron Champions Dinner – macaroni and cheese

“It was obviously not Kraft mac and cheese, but it was amazing.”

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Jennifer Kupcho had one request for renowned chef Thomas Keller: her favorite food, macaroni and cheese.

The Champions Dinner at the Chevron Championship is a swanky affair as Keller, owner of The French Laundry and once named the Best Chef in America, curates a menu in honor of the previous year’s champion.

Kupcho’s favorite mac ‘n’ cheese is the iconic blue box Kraft variety, but she gave Keller’s version high marks.

“I would say most of the time like fancy mac and cheese is a little bit too rich for me,” said Kupcho, “but he did an amazing job. It was not too rich. It was obviously not Kraft mac and cheese, but it was amazing.”

She also appreciated the Regiis Ova Ossetra Caviar starter, a potato and toasted onion blini, Vidalia onion crème fraiche.

“I probably would never think to order it,” she said, “but it was absolutely amazing.”

Full menu by Thomas Keller at Monday night’s Champions Dinner

Past champions on hand included Amy Alcott, Juli Inkster, Stacy Lewis, Dottie Pepper, Brittany Lincicome, Sandra Palmer, Morgan Pressel, Lydia Ko, Lexi Thompson and Pat Hurst.

“Juli Inkster spoke and talked about how it was so special to see everybody again,” said Kupcho. “So I’m looking forward to that in the future, just being able to catch up every year like that. It’s really special.”

Kupcho, of course, was the last player to win at the Dinah Shore Tournament Course, making the final champion’s leap into Poppie’s Pond.

Last year, she remembers calling her swing coach in a panic on Wednesday morning trying to work out what was wrong with her swing.

“Miraculously, turned around really good,” said Kupcho, who won three times last season.

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Meet the seven amateurs invited to the LPGA’s first major including Amari Avery and Zoe Campos, who will tee it up without a practice round

While this no longer overlaps with the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, it does conflict with several NCAA conference championships.

World No. 3 Saki Baba headlines the seven amateurs who will tee it up in the Chevron Championship, the first LPGA major of the year. The 2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion will make her debut in the April 20-23 event, held for the first time at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas.

While the championship no longer overlaps with the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, it does conflict with several NCAA conference championships. The Pac-12 and American Athletic Conference championships end on April 19 while the Big Ten, the Big 12 and several others end Sunday, April 23.

Top-ranked amateur Rose Zhang, who recently won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, will aim for her 10th college title at the Pac-12 Championship rather than make another major championship start.

Here’s the full list of amateurs in the field:

Prize money payouts for each LPGA player at 2023 Lotte Championship

Coming into the Lotte Championship, rookie Grace Kim had made $4,460 in one made cut.

Coming into the Lotte Championship, rookie Grace Kim had made $4,460 in one made cut. By the end of the Lotte, Kim’s career earnings had ballooned to $304,460.

Needless to say, it was a banner day for the 22-year-old Australian, who was making only her third start to the season in Hawaii.

Yu Jin Sung, who was playing on sponsor invite, earned $159,346 for her share of second with Yu Liu.

Second-year tour player Lauren Hartlage took home the biggest check of her career, $58,483, with a share of sixth.

A total of 73 players made the cut. Here is the full breakdown of the Lotte Championship’s $2 million purse:

Pos Player Score Earnings
T1 Grace Kim -12* $300,000
T1 Yu Jin Sung -12 $159,346
T1 Yu Liu -12 $159,346
T4 Linnea Strom -11 $93,539
T4 Pei-Yun Chien -11 $93,539
T6 Georgia Hall -9 $58,483
T6 Lauren Hartlage -9 $58,483
T6 Natthakritta Vongtaveelap -9 $58,483
T9 You Min Hwang -8 $42,978
T9 Siyun Liu -8 $42,978
T11 Brooke Henderson -7 $36,656
T11 Caroline Inglis -7 $36,656
T13 Celine Boutier -6 $31,213
T13 Hye Jin Choi -6 $31,213
T13 Esther Henseleit -6 $31,213
T16 Nasa Hataoka -5 $27,000
T16 Perrine Delacour -5 $27,000
18 Celine Borge -4 $25,079
T19 Gabriella Then -3 $22,854
T19 Emma Talley -3 $22,854
T19 Amanda Doherty -3 $22,854
T19 Karis Davidson -3 $22,854
T23 Erika Hara -2 $18,278
T23 Ayaka Furue -2 $18,278
T23 Stacy Lewis -2 $18,278
T23 Frida Kinhult -2 $18,278
T23 Lucy Li -2 $18,278
T23 Bailey Tardy -2 $18,278
T23 Charlotte Thomas -2 $18,278
T23 Dewi Weber -2 $18,278
T31 Stephanie Meadow -1 $13,536
T31 Dana Fall -1 $13,536
T31 Aline Krauter -1 $13,536
T31 Jing Yan -1 $13,536
T31 Arpichaya Yubol -1 $13,536
T31 Mi Hyang Lee -1 $13,536
T31 Christina Kim -1 $13,536
T38 Marina Alex E $9,576
T38 Brittany Altomare E $9,576
T38 Ryann O’Toole E $9,576
T38 Lauren Stephenson E $9,576
T38 Stephanie Kyriacou E $9,576
T38 Xiaowen Yin E $9,576
T38 Sarah Kemp E $9,576
T38 Polly Mack E $9,576
T38 Yuna Nishimura E $9,576
T38 Maria Torres E $9,576
T48 Hyo Joo Kim 1 $6,708
T48 Pauline Roussin-Bouchard 1 $6,708
T48 Sarah Schmelzel 1 $6,708
T48 Gina Kim 1 $6,708
T48 Jennifer Song 1 $6,708
T48 Pavarisa Yoktuan 1 $6,708
T48 Magdalena Simmermacher 1 $6,708
T48 Soo Bin Joo 1 $6,708
T48 Valery Plata 1 $6,708
T57 Hinako Shibuno 2 $5,360
T57 Emily Kristine Pedersen 2 $5,360
T57 Pernilla Lindberg 2 $5,360
T57 Ilhee Lee 2 $5,360
T61 Wei Ling Hsu 3 $4,804
T61 Ines Laklalech 3 $4,804
T61 Su-Hyun Oh 3 $4,804
T61 Amy Olson 3 $4,804
T65 Hae Ran Ryu 4 $4,500
T65 Yae Eun Hong 4 $4,500
T67 Jaravee Boonchant 5 $4,298
T67 Riley Rennell 5 $4,298
T69 Yan Liu 6 $4,062
T69 Luna Sobron Galmes 6 $4,062
T69 Jeong Eun Lee 6 $4,062
72 Yealimi Noh 9 $3,943
73 Cristie Kerr 11 $3,893

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