No American player has won the Rolex Player of the Year since Stacy Lewis in 2014.
Lilia Vu’s breakout season has her in position to become the first American to win the Rolex LPGA Player of the Year Award since Stacy Lewis in 2014. Before Lewis won it for the first time in 2012, no American won the title since Beth Daniel in 1994.
As the LPGA season nears its final stretch, Vu holds a 21-point advantage over Celine Boutier and Ruoning Yin with a total of 154 points. Lydia Ko won last year’s POY Award with 180 points. Those who win a POY title also earn an LPGA Hall of Fame point.
Player of the Year points are distributed only to top-10 finishes on the LPGA. A victory at a non-major is worth 30 points while a runner-up showing is worth 12.
There are seven events left on the LPGA schedule, and this week’s Volunteers of America stop in Texas marks the last domestic event until mid-November.
Here’s how the top five players on the POY list currently stand:
Three players went unbeaten over the three days but only one earned 4 points over the five sessions.
CASARES, Spain — The 2023 Solheim Cup couldn’t have been closer.
The 18th edition of the biennial bash between the United States and Europe was all square at 8-8 entering Sunday singles, and after the final 12 matches – five won by the both teams and two ties – the competition ended in a 14-14 tie, and the Europeans retained the Cup.
In the event’s 23-year history, the Americans have taken home the trophy on 10 occasions, with the Europeans earning the other eight. Team Europe hasn’t lost since 2017 in Iowa.
Spain’s Carlota Ciganda was the only player to score four points this week (4-0-0) and was one of four players who went unbeaten, joining Gemma Dryburgh (0-0-2), Megan Khang (3-0-1) and Cheyenne Knight (2-0-1). Two players went winless for each team, but only one failed to earn a point.
Here’s a breakdown of how each player fared this week by event at the 2023 Solheim Cup.
World No. 2 Lilia Vu is on the bench for the opening matches, as is rising star Rose Zhang.
CASARES, Spain — The opening tee shots of the 2023 Solheim Cup are just hours away and the first group of pairings have officially been announced.
Friday morning’s foursomes pairings and matches at Finca Cortesin on Spain’s southern coast were released during the opening ceremony Thursday night at nearby Marbella Arena, with none other than U.S. star Lexi Thompson, who has struggled this year, set to take the first swing alongside Megan Khang against European and Swedish rookies, Linn Grant and Maja Stark.
Notably on the bench for the American side are world No. 2 Lilia Vu, who won two major championships this season, as well as rising star Rose Zhang, who has a penchant for match play.
“I wanted to get off to a good start. I wanted to get out four really good pairings and that’s kind of been my focus this whole time,” said U.S. captain Stacy Lewis. “So it was more about who matched up together versus even — I didn’t even look at who was sitting, to be honest. I wasn’t even worried about who was sitting. It was more just what are my best four options.”
“For my sake, I feel like I’ve had these four pairings down on paper for quite a few months now,” added European captain Suzann Pettersen. “It was more like in what order do you play ’em.”
Check out the four matches and pairings, as well as the eight players who will ride the pine pony for the first session of matches at the 2023 Solheim Cup. (Note: Spain is six hours ahead of Eastern Time in the U.S.)
A drivable par-4 1st hole sets a unique tone for what fans should expect to see this week in Spain.
CASARES, Spain — When’s the last time you saw a drivable par 4 on the first hole of a golf course?
Fans who tune in to the 2023 Solheim Cup this week at Finca Cortesin on Spain’s southern coast will be treated to the rarity as the opening hole will provide a risk-reward option for players right from the jump.
A lot of the pre-match discussion this week from both players and captains has been about the unique test that this year’s host course will provide. The course at Finca Cortesin offers wide fairways and will bless the good shots and penalize the poor ones. Not only that, the heat and hills will make the 18th matches between the United States and Europe an equal parts physical and mental test for players and their caddies.
Here’s what the stars of the week had to say about this year’s host course as the Solheim Cup is held in Spain for the first time in its nearly two-decade history.
If you look at past records, the advantage at the 2023 Solheim Cup lies with the home side Europeans.
CASARES, Spain — Who are the favorites at the 2023 Solheim Cup?
The gambling experts in Las Vegas currently have the host Europeans as the favorites at -115, but it’s a close bet with the Americans at +100. A tie is currently +950.
The Rolex world ranking gives the U.S. side a slight advantage as all 12 Americans are ranked inside the top 50. Nine Euros are inside the top 50, with two outside the top 120.
If you ask United States captain Stacy Lewis, she’ll say Suzann Petersen and her European counterparts have to be favored. After all, Team Europe has claimed the last two Cups and will be playing on home soil.
“And that’s not to doubt my team. I just think Europe is really, really strong. They have got all the momentum in this event right now,” said Lewis last month when she made her captain’s picks for the biennial event that begins on Friday at Finca Cortesin on Spain’s southern coast. “That’s going to be our biggest thing is we are going overseas, and we don’t have the momentum on our side. And so we are going to go try to flip it.”
“We have a lot of new blood that has not experienced the last two years,” Lewis continued. “They don’t know what it’s been like, and I think that’s going to be to our advantage, as well.”
Sure, ignorance can be bliss, but the other side of that coin is a lack of high-pressure experience in a truly unique event. That could be an issue for the U.S., who fields a 12-player team this week that features five rookies.
Not only is Team Europe two-time defending champions, but of the 24 players competing, nine have winning records in the event, and six are European.
Three players will make their debut for the European side next month in Spain.
In just a month’s time the U.S. and Europe will square off at the 2023 Solheim Cup, and one of the two squads has been set.
European captain Suzann Pettersen announced her four captain’s picks on Tuesday, completing the 12-player team bound for Finca Cortesin in Andalucia, Spain, Sept. 22-24. Team Europe is comprised of the top-two players in the Europe Solheim Cup standings, the top-six players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Ranking (not already eligible) and four captain’s picks.
The Americans have been victorious 10 times, most recently in 2017 at Des Moines Golf and Country Club in Iowa, while the Europeans are looking for a third consecutive win and their eighth overall.
Meet the 12 players who will take on the U.S. at the 2023 Solheim Cup.
Boutier won at Dundonald Links in Ayshire, Scotland, by two shots over Hyu Joo Kim and by three over Ruoning Yin.
It’s Boutier’s fifth LPGA victory and second in two weeks after she claimed the 2023 Amundi Evian Championship in France. She’s the first LPGA golfer in seven years to win a major and then win the next week’s event. She’s the first on the LPGA to win consecutive tournaments in two years. And she’s the first to win three times in 2023, after having also won the LPGA Drive On Championship in Arizona in March.
Her $300,000 payday in Scotland pushes her past the $2 million mark for the 2023 season.
AYRSHIRE, Scotland — Celine Boutier is riding such a wave of confidence these days, you half expected her to march up the 18th at Dundonald Links whistling a jolly tune of surfing satisfaction by the Beach Boys.
A week on from her maiden major victory in the Evian Championship, the Frenchwoman is on course for a notable double whammy of triumphs as she forged a sturdy advantage on the penultimate day of the Freed Group Women’s Scottish Open.
A composed, classy and clinical performance led to a 6-under 66, a 13-under total and a three-stroke lead over Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit and Maja Stark of Sweden.
Seven days ago on the shores of Lake Geneva, Boutier led by three after 54-holes and went on to win by six. Here on the Firth of Clyde, her latest three-stroke lead could prompt another procession to a coronation.
There is a lot of golf to be played, of course, but in this particular parish, Boutier, last year’s runner-up, is in her element. This was her seventh consecutive round in the 60s at Dundonald. Her position of authority at the summit is so fortified, her name on the leaderboard could be shielded by a portcullis.
The home of golf certainly brings out the best in Boutier. Four years ago at Gleneagles, she won four out of four during a thrilling Solheim Cup debut to help Europe claim a famous victory. Here in 2023, individual glory beckons in the game’s cradle.
It was one of those days when all the golfing cogs and pistons were working and finely tuned. “Sometimes you envision shots and they don’t always happen,” said Boutier. “But today, it happened the way I saw it.”
When she did make the odd deviation from the straight and narrow, Boutier took the positives from it. “I made a bogey on the ninth, which actually fired me up,” she added. “It was nice to get some more energy going.”
Boutier had been five shots off the halfway pace set by Japan’s Hinako Shibuno but she chomped into that deficit with gusto. Four birdies on her first seven holes had her bounding along nicely as Shibuno stumbled and stuttered. Stark, the 23-year-old who was leading the chasing pack after 36-holes, would take up the front-running and did briefly move into a two-shot lead before her round unravelled on the run-in.
Shibuno, a wonderful Women’s British Open champion at Woburn back in 2019, endured a trying day, meanwhile, and a double-bogey on the short 15th prompted a pained grimace from the woman known as the Smiling Cinderella. It would get worse for the 24-year-old. A bogey on 17 was followed by a trip into the water on the last and another leaked shot in a 77 left her six shots off the lead.
Those late lapses were pounced on by Boutier, whose poise and purpose was rewarded with a brace of birdies at 17 and 18 as she conjured a telling late thrust. Stark also found the wet stuff on the 18th and dropped a costly shot in a level-par 72.
Stark may have been left scunnered by that sore one, but the six-time Ladies European Tour winner remained determined to make amends on the final day. “I want revenge,” she hissed through clenched teeth as she plotted a closing offensive. “I think it’s just a ‘screw it’ mentality now because it’s the final day and you know where you’re standing. It’s all about getting the win.”
Boutier, meanwhile, will be hoping to stay in the winning habit, but she will also stay in the moment. “I definitely have to keep my expectations in check and not get too far ahead of myself,” she said.
Tavatanakit, a major champion in 2021, is not out of it and she energised her title tilt with a charging 66 that was illuminated by eagles on the third and 14th.
On the home front, Gemma Dryburgh, the Scottish No 1, moved up a couple of gears with a four-under 68 which hoisted her up into the leading 30 on two-under. Four birdies in five holes from the third was an enjoyable flurry for the LPGA winner. “I got on a pretty hot run there and that was fun,” she said after a decent stride up the order.
As could be expected, Celine Boutier was teeming with emotion after securing her first major victory at the Amundi Evian Championship, causing her to skip a few REM cycles after she traveled to Paris to celebrate the historic title.
Boutier became a French icon after her win on home soil, taking the crown by a comfortable margin by finishing the tournament at 14 under which was good enough for a six-stroke victory over runner-up Brooke Henderson.
Time spent with family and friends after the victory had her so revved up that she couldn’t sleep in advance of her media appearance at the Freed Group Women’s Scottish Open, which will take place this week at Dundonald Links in Ayrshire, Scotland.
And who needs a sleep cycle? Boutier insisted all week that winning the Amundi Evian would be a “dream scenario,” one that would make her season, if not her career, complete.
Of course, dreams don’t last forever. And while Boutier was still riding high on Tuesday, her clubs were just riding. When she arrived on-site in Scotland the Duke University product’s clubs had yet to finish the trip.
“First day off for me today,” she said, “but hopefully they will get on the next flight that’s coming tonight.”
It’s about the only thing that has gone wrong for Boutier over the last few days. She entered the Amundi Evian with three LPGA victories and three wins on the Ladies European Tour, but left with the prize she most coveted. Still, she’s smart enough to realize how fleeting success can be at this level.
“I think winning at any level is difficult. I think especially on the LPGA, the talent is just unbelievable and it’s very hard to be able to pull it off, and to be able to do it in major conditions is even harder because of the pressure and because of what it means because of the history,” she said. “And so I feel like, yeah, the fact that I had a chance to even play for the win on Sunday was already a big win for me, and to have the crowd behind you, I feel like it definitely also like carried me a little bit.”
Celine Boutier celebrates with the Amundi Evian Championship trophy following victory in the Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club on July 30, 2023, in Evian-les-Bains, France. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
As for the final celebration, which included more champagne than even Botuier could have imaged, it’s something she’s been replaying in her mind ever since she clinched the crown.
“I never really pictured how it was going to happen. Obviously, it was such a dream for me. I wouldn’t even call it a goal for me this year. I obviously wanted to perform well in the majors,” she said. “But in the past I was never really able to play well in Evian, just the pressure of everything was a lot for me to handle and this year, I just decided to really do it for myself and not put so much pressure on myself. The fact that I even had a chance to play for the win in the final round was a big advantage for me and to pull it off on the final day to, have the crowd behind you, which I never imagined that they would be so loud and so energetic, so passionate about it.
“It felt like a win for me and it felt like a win for them as well. To be able to share it with everyone in my home country is an absolute dream come true.”
There’s no rest for the weary, however, as Boutier now prepares to meet up with an impressive field this week at the Scottish Open — a total of seven of the year’s 15 winners are expected to play, including Ashleigh Buhai (ShopRite LPGA Classic), Allisen Corpuz (U.S. Women’s Open), Linn Grant (Dana Open), Cheyenne Knight (Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational), Lilia Vu (Honda LPGA Thailand, Chevron Championship) and Ruoning Yin (DIO Implant LA Open, KPMG Women’s PGA Championship).
And Boutier’s mother and sister are still in tow, as they often make the trip to European stops when possible. Although the Evian was the one she truly wanted, Boutier said she’d be thrilled to play well this week, perhaps getting to celebrate again with her family and friends.
“That would be unbelievable. I feel like Scotland is definitely the Home of Golf, so it would be a goal of mine to win in Scotland for sure during my career,” she said. “So any opportunity I will have to play for the win, I will definitely try to seize it and do my best.”
It pays to play well on the LPGA, especially at the major championships. Just ask this week’s winner, Celine Boutier.
The 29-year-old Frenchwoman claimed her first major title on Sunday at the 2023 Amundi Evian Championship at the Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains, France. The Duke product shot rounds of 66-69-67-68 to finish at 14 under, six shots clear of runner-up at defending champion Brooke Henderson.
For her efforts, Boutier will take home a cool $1 million, with Henderson earning $585,967. Nasa Hataoka, A Lim Kim, Yuka Saso, Celine Borge and Gaby Lopez each finished T-3 at 7 under and earned $283,278.
Check out the prize money payouts for each LPGA player at the 2023 Amundi Evian Championship at the Evian Resort.
