Elizabeth Szokol – Syndication Server

2023 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational prize money payouts at Midland Country Club

The duo earned $326,872.

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There are two winners this week at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, meaning two players are taking home the top prize.

The LPGA’s best took on Midland Country Club in Midland, Michigan, this week in a team competition. With a major championship on the horizon next week in Europe, some players took the week off, but there was plenty of star power in the field looking to fine tune their games before the Amundi Evian Championship.

Cheyenne Knight and Elizabeth Szokol held on to their 54-hole lead to win at 23 under. Matilda Castren and Kelly Tan had a birdie putt on the 72nd hole to force a playoff, but it just missed. Knight and Szokol earned $326,872 for their victory, splitting the first-place prize.

Here’s a look at the prize money payouts for the 2023 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational.

Position	Player	Score	Earnings (per player)
1	Cheyenne Knight, Elizabeth Szokol	-23	$326,872
2	Matilda Castren, Kelly Tan	-22	$160,017
T3	Celine Boutier, Yuka Saso	-20	$77,400
T3	Jodi Ewart Shadoff, Emma Talley	-20	$77,400
T3	Celine Borge, Polly Mack	-20	$77,400
6	Stacy Lewis, Maria Fassi	-19	$49,366
7	Yan Liu, Muni He	-17	$43,306
8	Sarah Kemp, Alena Sharp	-16	$38,403
T9	Peiyun Chien, Yu-Sang Hou	-14	$30,914
T9	Yu Liu, Ruixin Lin	-14	$30,914
T9	Paula Reto, Amelia Lewis	-14	$30,914
T9	Ana Belac, Bianca Pagdanganan	-14	$30,914
T13	Daniela Darquea, Karis Davidson	-13	$30,369
T13	Megan Khang, Alison Lee	-13	$30,369
T13	Mi Hyang Lee, Jeongeun Lee5	-13	$30,369
T13	Wichanee Meechai, Pavarisa Yoktuan	-13	$30,369
T17	Dewi Weber, Alexa Pano	-12	$21,925
T17	Hae Ran Ryu, Yaeeun Hong	-12	$21,925
T17	Carolina Inglis, Amanda Doherty	-12	$21,925
T17	Sarah Schmelzel, Lindsey Weaver-Wright	-12	$21,925
T21	Min Lee, Weiwei Zhang	-11	$11,822
T21	Jennifer Chang, Karen Chung	-11	$11,822
T21	Linnea Strom, Linnea Johansson	-11	$11,822
T21	Jasmine Suwannapura, Cydney Clanton	-11	$11,822
25	Maddie Szeryk, Lauren Hartlage	-10	$9,737
T26	Hannah Green, Su Oh	-9	$9,125
T26	Pornanong Phatlum, Dottie Ardina	-9	$8,853
T26	Pauline Roussin, Pernilla Lindberg	-9	$8,853
T29	Pajaree Anannarukarn, Aditi Ashok	-8	$7,218
T29	Yealimi Noh, Soo Bin Joo	-8	$7,218
T31	Savannah Grewal, Annabelle Pancake	-6	$6,469
T31	Julietta Granada, Sofia Garcia	-6	$6,469
33	Christie Kerr, Kristy McPherson	-5	$6,060
T34	Christina Kim, Lindy Duncan	-4	$5,788
T34	Haeji Kang, Tiffany Chan	-4	$5,846
36	Sophia Schubert, Haylee Harford	-1	$5,345
37	Jasmine Ly, Kimberly Dinh	1	$5,209

Cheyenne Knight, Elizabeth Szokol hold on for victory at 2023 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational

It’s the first LPGA victory for Szokol.

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Matilda Castren smacked her putt, and partner Kelly Tan watched anxiously as it rolled toward the cup.

The ball looked as if it was going in the whole way, but instead, it broke hard right at the hole and missed. Standing off to the side of the 18th green, Cheyenne Knight and Elizabeth Szokol gave a hug to each other before Emma Talley and Maria Fassi rushed the green and sprayed them in champagne.

Knight and Szokol held on to their 54-hole lead, shooting 5-under 65 to hold on at 23 under and win the 2023 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational at Midland Country Club in Midland, Michigan. For Knight, it’s her second LPGA victory while Szokol picked up her first. It was their third start as partners in the tournament.

“It’s amazing to get my first win,” Szokol said. “It’s something I’ve been working for a long time, and it’s so tough to win out here. Everyone is such a great player.

“So to finally do that, and it’s even better with Cheyenne by my side. We’ve been talking about this event all year. And since our good finish last year, we couldn’t wait to get back, and to actually win is pretty amazing.”

Knight and Szokol also became the second American duo to win the event, joining defending champions Jennifer Kupcho and Lizette Salas.

They each won $326,872.

Castren’s putt would’ve forced a playoff, but her and Tan settled for solo second at 22 under. There was a three-way tie for third at 20 under, including Celine Boutier/Yuka Saso, Jodi Ewart Shadoff/Talley and Celine Borge/Polly Mack.

There was a nearly two-hour rain delay with the leaders on the 13th hole, but Knight and Szokol made two birdies down the stretch to hold on.

“It was hard going to the rain delay, two-shot lead coming back, and it evaporated really quickly,” Knight said. “It was just surreal. It was, like, wow, we did it. We’ve been out here all day, but we did it. So it was just, yeah, pure joy.”

Up next is the fourth women’s major championship of the year, the Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club in France. Brooke Henderson is the defending champion.

Cheyenne Knight, Elizabeth Szokol lead LPGA’s Dow Great Lakes team event

The Dow is the first official team competition in LPGA Tour history.

The duo of Cheyenne Knight and Elizabeth Szokol was tied for 18th after the first round and tied for sixth after the second.

After 54 holes at the LPGA’s Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, the duo holds the outright lead, three clear of the field.

And they did so by posting the tournament’s 18-hole foursomes scoring record.

“We’re really good friends, so I think we’re very comfortable playing together,” Szokol said. “We know each other really well, and I have so much trust in Cheyenne’s game, and that makes it so much easier for alternate shot.”

On Friday, Knight/Szokol recorded a 62, their day featuring a back-nine 29, nine total birdies and only one bogey at Midland Country Club in Midland, Michigan.

“I think our goal every day is just to have fun. I think before we started on Wednesday, alternate shot you are a little bit nervous, but we just said, let’s just have fun and enjoy it,” Knight said. “We don’t get a format like this or a team event very often, so it’s just super fun.”

Knight and Szokol are at 18 under overall, three ahead of Matilda Castren/Kelly Tan. Celine Borge/Polly Mack are tied for third at 13 under along with Shadoff and Talley.

Knight has one LPGA win, the 2019 Volunteers of America Classic. Szokol is seeking her first victory.

Notable teams that missed the Thursday cut included Brooke Henderson/Lexi Thompson, Ruoning Yin/Xiaowen Yin and Georgia Hall/Ryann O’Toole.

The tournament concludes Saturday, giving those headed to the LPGA’s next major, the Amundi Evian Championship in France, an extra day for travel and preparation.

Sunday finish for Dow in 2024

The Dow started in 2019 and has always featured a Saturday finish. Next year, however, it’ll conclude on a Sunday.

The first official team competition in LPGA Tour history, the Dow is shifting dates to accommodate the 2024 Summer Olympics, which will be in Paris.

Playing on a medical exemption, Elizabeth Szokol runs away with early LPGA lead at HSBC Women’s World Championship

Six major champions are in close pursuit at the LPGA event in Singapore after round one.

It was the Elizabeth Szokol show on Thursday at the HSBC Women’s World Championship.

The 28-year-old set the pace in the first round with a blistering 8-under 64 at the Tanjong Course at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore. Starting on the back nine, Szokol made her lone bogey of the day on No. 10 but got back on track with birdies on Nos. 14, 16 and 18. The Northwestern and Virginia product kept the momentum with another birdie on No. 1 before catching fire to close out her round. Szokol, playing this week on a medical exemption after dealing with a herniated disc in her back, eagled the par-5 5th hole and proceeded to make birdies on Nos. 6, 8 and 9 to sign for the lowest score of her professional career.

“Yeah, after that bogey, I just kind of focused on making birdies and made a few longer putts, and then got a little more comfortable and started hitting some good iron shots in and had some closer looks,” she said after the round. “So it was a fun day.”

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Yuka Saso, winner of the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open, is in close pursuit and just three shots back after a 5-under 67 on Thursday. Of the six players sitting T-3 at 4 under, five are major champions: Nelly Korda, Ariya Jutanugarn, Patty Tavatanakit, Jeongeun Lee6 and Hyo Joo Kim. World No. 1 Lydia Ko sits T-14 at 2 under, while defending champion Jin Young Ko is T-36 at even par.

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Tampa resident Elizabeth Szokol primed for career week, CME berth at Pelican Championship

Elizabeth Szokol is in position to have a career week at the inaugural Pelican Women’s Championship.

BELLEAIR, Florida – It’s a home game of sorts for Elizabeth Szokol, who moved to Tampa from Chicago a little over a year ago. Her instructor, Justin Sheehan, is director of golf here at Pelican Golf Club. They met in 2017 at the KPMG Women’s PGA at Olympia Fields when Szokol was out following fellow Virginia grad Brittany Altomare.

Sheehan, who in addition to Altomare also works with Nelly Korda, was immediately drawn to 26-year-old Szokol’s sunny attitude. The pair started working together two years ago, and Szokol, who was a rookie in 2019, finds herself in position to have a career week at the inaugural Pelican Championship and earn valuable points in the Race to the CME Globe standings.

“It’s nice to be at home,” said Szokol, “and that’s helpful and relaxing.”

Szokol, who’s career-best finish is a share of sixth at last year’s Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open, currently sits in eighth place. Sei Young Kim extended her lead to five at Pelican but the rest of the top 10 is bunched together. Because Szokol isn’t in the U.S. Women’s Open, she has one more event in Dallas to make a push for the season-ending event.

It was only a couple months ago that Szokol left a lesson with Sheehan with a mile-long list of things to work on. Sheehan said the list totaled 11 areas of concern; Szokol said it was more like 17. Whatever the case, she took it seriously.

“Her setup had gotten the face pretty open,” said Sheehan, “so she was hitting a lot of weak shots.”

After this year’s KPMG, Szokol switched putters to the Ping Heppler and the move paid off quickly.

Szokol’s mom is in the gallery this week (players are allowed two guests), and she’s enjoying sleeping in her own bed as the commute home takes about 40 minutes. She was alternate for this event until last Friday, when a number of players withdrew because of injury or a positive COVID-19 result in tournament pre-testing.

Szokol, by the way, has since trimmed down her list of swing thoughts down to two, and it’s all coming together at the right time.

“I like how she doesn’t think too much,” said Sheehan of his fast-paced pupil, “just gets up and hits it. Always positive, always smiling.”

A strong finish this week will boost Szokol into the top 70 on the Race to the CME Globe points list. She’s currently 79^th on the list with 222 points. The field at the CME Group Tour Championship was increased this season from 60 to 70 to give more playing opportunities in a shortened season. (There will also be two sponsor exemptions.)

Yui Kawamoto currently holds the 70^th spot with 288 points. Notable names outside the top 70 include Jessica Korda (71), Angel Yin (74), Charley Hull (76), Annie Park (77) and Eun-Hee Ji (80).

Here is the points breakdown for official LPGA events with a cut:

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