“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.
Lewis closed with a 5-under 67 at Superstition Mountain to vault into a share of seventh.
Stacy Lewis’s fine play at the LPGA Drive On Championship isn’t enough yet, she said, to start a serious conversation about being a playing captain at the Solheim Cup in Spain.
Lewis closed with a 5-under 67 at Superstition Mountain to vault into a share of seventh. Her only wish was that the tour was headed next to Mission Hills Country Club, a favorite stop and site of her first major victory. But with the Chevron Championship headed to Texas next month, Lewis and the tour will move on to Palos Verdes Golf Club for the DIO Implant LA Open, where the 13-time winner hopes her good momentum continues.
“I wouldn’t say it’s not possible,” she said of playing and captaining at the Solheim Cup in Spain. “I think it’s possible, but I hope there are 12 playing better than me, and our team is going to be in a really good spot if that’s the case.”
Lewis started feeling better about her putting toward the end of last season. After the Asian swing, she took advantage of a couple weeks off to put new shafts in her irons and is pleased with her ball-striking.
“The combination of getting some new irons, longer irons getting up in the air, easier to hit, and things working on with my golf swing starting to come together,” she said of what’s clicking.
Stacy Lewis holds the trophy the closing ceremony of 2015 Solheim Cup in Germany. (Photo: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
Lewis wears multiple hats every week she’s on tour, trying to get to know the rookies who might be on her team in September as well as she can.
“Just the time you can be around them,” she said, “seeing them in player dining, talking to them warming up, just that a little bit of interaction goes a long way with them feeling more comfortable for that week so everything is not so new, right?
“Solheim Cup is a crazy week, and if you throw a brand new face in front of them telling them what to do, that’s really hard. So just trying to be around them as much as I can and be there when they have questions and just making sure they’re always thinking about it.”
Potential Solheim Cup rookie Lilia Vu, already a winner this season, finished T-7 and hasn’t placed outside the top 15 this season.
Lucy Li, another player Lewis has her eye one, made her debut as a LPGA member this week and struggled mightily, shooting 76-76 to miss the cut.
Here’s a list of players and caddies who have found a good rhythm and seem to be in it for the long haul.
There’s turnover every season when it comes to player-caddie partnerships on the LPGA, particularly at the start of the year. World No. 1 Lydia Ko has changed caddies regularly throughout her career, including this season, despite having an enormously strong 2022.
Minjee Lee, who won a couple majors in the past two years, will begin 2023 with a new looper after enjoying much success with veteran Jason Gilroyed.
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Plenty more players have made changes, but there are a number who have stood the test of time. While not by any means exhaustive, here’s a list of players and caddies who have found a good rhythm and seem to be in it for the long haul:
View photos of two-time major champion Stacy Lewis throughout her career.
Stacy Lewis is the personification of American golf.
The 14-time LPGA Tour winner and two-time major champion has become synonymous with Team USA throughout her career. She was recently tabbed as Solheim Cup captain for 2024, making her a two-time captain before her 2023 team even tees it up in September.
With the full trust of the USGA to field a competitive team, Lewis will have been a part of every Solheim Cup since 2011. The 38-year-old played in four Cups and was named to the 2019 team but did not play due to a back injury.
Earning the privilege to represent the United States so many times means Lewis has played elite golf for the entirety of her career.
Turning pro in 2008, Lewis nearly made a huge splash, holding the 36-hole lead at the US Women’s Open before sliding to third after a final-round 78. She officially joined the LPGA in 2009 and has since racked up 14 wins, two major championships and countless accolades along the way.
As a pillar of the game, women’s golf has arguably never been in better hands than those of Stacy Lewis.
With the Solheim Cup being contested in back-to-back years, Lewis, 37, will lead the American team both in Spain and Virginia.
Stacy Lewis has yet to lead Team USA into battle at a Solheim Cup, but she already has the job lined up for a second time. With the Solheim Cup being contested in back-to-back years, Lewis, 37, will lead the American team both in Spain and Virginia, the LPGA has announced.
Already the youngest captain in Solheim Cup history, she’ll be 38 when Team USA tries to take back the Cup from Europe on Sept. 22-24 at Finca Cortesin in Spain. The youngest U.S. captain to date was Patty Sheehan in 2002 at age 45.
The 2024 Solheim Cup will take place Sept. 12-15 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia. Lewis will be the fifth player to captain Team USA more than once, joining Juli Inkster (2015, 2017, 2019), Judy Rankin (1996, 1998), Patty Sheehan (2002, 2003) and Kathy Whitworth (1990, 1992).
“This is such an amazing honor, to be asked to again captain the U.S. Solheim Cup Team. Receiving the first call was one of the highest points of my career, and I am truly grateful to add this second opportunity,” said Lewis in a release. “I’ve said it many times – representing the United States and wearing our colors are experiences that stand out in any player’s career. To have the chance to lead our country’s best players twice, and especially in 2024 outside our nation’s capital, is a true privilege.”
Stacy Lewis of team USA holds the Solheim Cup trophy at the closing ceremony of The Solheim Cup at St Leon-Rot Golf Club on September 20, 2015, in St Leon-Rot, Germany. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
A 13-time winner on the LPGA who ascended to No. 1 and won two majors, Lewis is a big-picture thinker and straightforward communicator. She’ll take advice and she’ll compromise, but there will be no gray area. While her Solheim Cup record is lacking at 5-10-1, she’s open about what she has learned over the years and wants to improve on every aspect of the event that she can.
“I want to figure out what we’re missing,” said Lewis last February. “The pieces that we’re missing to help these girls play better and help make it be a better experience for the fans or whatever it may be.”
To that end, she has already put in place a new stats system to help identify potential pairings. After reading about the stats systems both Ryder Cup teams (and Presidents Cup teams) have relied upon in recent years, Lewis went on a mission to get something similar for her team.
“In the past, we’ve made pairings based on being friends or who gets along,” said Lewis, “there’s really been no rhyme or reason. Juli did the personality test and things like that because we’ve never had stats to put to it.”
Lewis met with the stats groups that work with the U.S. men (Scouts Consulting Group) and Europe (Twenty First Group). She knew she’d have to find a creative way to fund the program outside of the Solheim Cup budget. That’s when KPMG stepped up to help, creating an extension to the already existing KPMG Performance Insights with the continued help of the Twenty First Group.
By the time the 2023 Solheim Cup is staged, there will be two years’ worth of data to analyze.
“It’s going to help project who’s going to make the team and then from that,” said Lewis, “making your picks based on pairings and who will pair well together.”
The data will also be specific to the golf course, looking at details like what kinds of shots will be hit from the tees and how many of the par 5s are reachable.
Lewis plans to keep some of the pod system that three-time captain Juli Inkster put in place but make it more flexible. After being forced to withdraw from the team in 2019 due to injury, Lewis served as an unofficial assistant captain under Inkster. She worked in that role in an official capacity under Pat Hurst in 2021.
“It comes down to making putts,” said Lewis after she was named captain the first time around.
“We didn’t do enough of that at Inverness. That’s what I talked about, being in these last groups and learning how to handle the pressure and the emotions of it. That’s really what the putting comes down to.”
“I’m concerned about the future of the tour,” said Duffy, who will hand over a $2 million check on Sunday.
NAPLES, Fla. – The seeds of the CME Group Tour Championship began with a pro-am 15 years ago. In those early years, CME Group Chairman and CEO Terry Duffy received note after note from clients who so enjoyed their rounds of golf with LPGA players that they instantly became fans of the tour.
Beginning in 2011, CME began title-sponsoring the LPGA’s year-ending event, eventually integrating the firm’s Global Financial Leadership Conference in Naples, Florida, with the LPGA’s season-ending event at the Ritz-Carlton’s Tiburon Golf Club. This week, Duffy will hand over the biggest check in the history of the women’s game – $2 million. The overall purse of $7 million is the largest on the LPGA outside of the majors (and is bigger than the purses at two of the five majors). The last player in the field of 60 will make $40,000, close to what 10th place made last week.
Former U.S. presidents, secretaries of state and business tycoons have presented at CME’s conference, and for Tuesday night’s dinner, the firm typically invites a select number of players to attend. Earlier this week, when Duffy asked for the houselights to be turned on so that he could applaud the players in the room, the only people standing were those serving the tables.
Not a single player showed up.
“It’s an embarrassment to a company of my size and an embarrassment to me personally,” said Duffy, two days after the event.
Duffy’s beef isn’t with the players, though — it’s with who’s at the helm.
“I am exceptionally disappointed with the leadership of the LPGA,” he continued. “They better get their act together because they’re going to lose people like me over stuff like this.”
When CME first sponsored the Titleholders event in 2011, the purse was $1.5 million and the winner received $500,000. Three years later, the Race to the CME Globe season-long points race was introduced with a $1 million bonus. That bonus has since been folded into the official prize money with a winner-take-all format. In 2018, it was announced that the winner would receive $1.5 million, which at the time was more than what most PGA Tour winners received.
“This announcement is really about setting a new standard in women’s golf,” said then-commissioner Mike Whan four years ago. “I would love to lie to you guys and say that I called Terry 16 times and pushed and pushed him for it, but it was his idea.”
Duffy aimed to blaze a trail that he hoped other organizations would follow. His influence today is similar to what David Foster did at Mission Hills in the 1970s to elevate the women’s tour with the Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner’s Circle.
LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan speaks with the media during a roundtable during the second round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on Nov. 18, 2022, in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Mollie Marcoux Samaan was named commissioner of the LPGA 18 months ago, and she was at the dinner that players skipped.
“There hasn’t been any greater supporter of the LPGA than CME Group and Terry Duffy,” Marcoux Samaan told Golfweek on Friday when asked about the incident.
“There was clearly a disconnect, and it’s my responsibility to make sure that this doesn’t happen. So on this particular issue, I’m taking full responsibility as a leader of the organization to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
This week, the LPGA announced that the total prize fund in 2023 will cross the $100 million mark for the first time, despite losing three full-field events and only adding one (although it’s unknown at this point if players will actually be able to travel to the two events in China that are worth $4.2 million). The majors and CME represent nearly half of the tour’s prize money, with only three additional events on the schedule with a purse of at least $3 million. A dozen events still offer purses below $2 million.
As the LPGA’s big events do the heavy lifting, it’s still a grind to push longtime sponsors to higher purses and fill in the gaps of those who don’t renew. Veteran players, who not too long ago worried that the LPGA might not survive, understand that a culture of appreciation remains vital.
The accessibility and approachability of players is what drove Duffy to take a pro-am event with about 20 players and build it into a benchmark event for women’s sports.
While the LPGA continues to reach new heights financially, the chasm between the men’s and women’s tours only grows deeper as some purses on the PGA Tour’s schedule now reach $20 million. LPGA veteran Karen Stupples believes it’s critical that LPGA players maintain the “act like a Founder” mantra that Whan preached for years.
“They went to baseball parks and did tricks on the fields to bring people in to watch them play golf,” said Stupples of the 13 women who founded the tour in 1950. “The players don’t have to do that anymore, They have to go to a party or two. Just treat it as your job. Your job description is to do this.”
Terry Duffy addresses the crowd with Keith Urban, who performed on the lawn at the Ritz on Wednesday as part of the week’s festivities at CME. (Photo courtesy of CME)
It’s not unusual now for top players to turn down pre-tournament interviews, even at major championships and CME. Some will meet with the print media or Golf Channel, but not both. Sometimes, it’s nothing at all.
When Stacy Lewis became the No. 1 player in the world, a couple of LPGA Hall of Famers sat her down and outlined the expectations.
“They just said, as a top American, as No. 1 in the world, you’re going to be asked to do a lot of things,” said Lewis. “You’re going to be asked to do a lot of interviews that you don’t want to do. You need to do it because it’s what’s best for the tour. It will be productive for you; it will be productive for the tour. It creates more exposure, and that’s your job. Your job as a top player is to help build this tour.”
Stupples believes that players often get so caught up in their own little bubbles that they fail to see the bigger picture. Lewis agrees.
“It’s all these kinds of things that for so long they were unsaid, and people just did it because it’s the right thing to do,” said Lewis, “and the current generation needs to hear it, needs to be taught it.”
For the LPGA to continue on an upward trajectory, player buy-in remains critical, especially when it comes to knowing the expectations of those who write the checks.
“I’m concerned about the future of the tour,” said Duffy, “because the leadership needs to work with their players to make sure that everybody has a clear understanding of how we grow the game together, along with sponsors and others. There’s no one person, no two people who can grow it alone. You need everybody. They say it takes a village, and I think their village is getting a little fractured.”
Marcoux Samaan said she continues to emphasize the “act like a Founder” culture Whan created at staff and player meetings, believing that the organization’s “secret sauce” of hospitality, sponsor engagement and accessibility remains one of its biggest strengths.
“We just need to continue to deliver that message,” said Marcoux Samaan, “and I don’t think anyone disputes it. I think everyone believes it. Sometimes you just miss in the moment.”
The top-ranked player in the LPGA is not playing this week, leaving the door open for Nelly Korda.
Jin Young Ko will not defend her title at the Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America but despite the absence of the world’s top-ranked player, the tournament boasts its strongest field ever in its 10-year history.
Ko, who lives in Frisco, about 20 miles away from Old American Golf Club in The Colony, Texas, has missed the last month due to injury.
That has opened the door for Nelly Korda to return to the top spot world ranking. It was July of 2021 that Korda took over the title of No. 1 after winning the KPMG Women’s PGA. Six days later, Ko won the Volunteers of America tournament and when she won again in October 2021, she returned to the top of the rankings and has held the spot ever since.
That could change once again. Korda, who has six top-10s in 2022 but has yet to find the winner’s circle this season, could reclaim the top spot with a long overdue win this week.
Last week’s tournament winner, Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand, has two wins this season. She’s the first LPGA rookie to do that in five years. Thitikul is third in the Rolex Rankings after leapfrogging Minjee Lee and Lydia Ko, who is playing this field this week. Lee is not.
It’s also a big week for Stacy Lewis and Texas native Angela Stanford. Lewis, the 2023 Solheim Cup captain, named Stanford her third and final assistant captain on Tuesday.
“I love that we get to play here, and so, yeah, I think it’s going to be another great week,” she said at their Tuesday news conference ahead of the Volunteers of America event. “Like Stacy said, this is the most perfect time to be in Texas. I tell people all the time October is it, and we’re sneaking up on October.
“Just a great time to be here. (The Dallas) Cowboys won last night, so everybody is happy right now.”
After this Texas stop, the LPGA will have five events left, with a visit to California before back-to-back trips overseas to Korea and Japan. The season ends with consecutive tournaments in Florida, including the season finale, the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida.
Stanford was a six-time player for the U.S. in the Solheim Cup.
Angela Stanford will be an assistant captain for the Americans at the Solheim Cup for a third time in 2023.
Captain Stacy Lewis made the announcement Tuesday, naming Stanford to the third and final assistant slot, joining Morgan Pressel and Natalie Gulbis.
Stanford was a six-time player for the U.S. (2003, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015) in the event which will be held at Finca Cortesin in Spain, Sept. 22-24, 2023.
“I’ve known Angela for a long time and I’m so happy that she agreed to work with me at the 2023 Solheim Cup,” Lewis said in a statement. “Angela has a great eye for statistics, finding the little details that go into picking the best players and making the right line-up combinations. As we look ahead to our week in Spain, I know that I have three great people – and great friends – who will work with me to bring these players the best experience, on both sides of the ropes.”
Stanford, who joined the LPGA in 2001, has six victories, including a major championship at the 2018 Amundi Evian Championship.
“I am extremely honored and excited to be part of Stacy’s team in 2023. Stacy’s passion for women’s golf and the Solheim Cup is truly awesome. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love the Solheim Cup, and I’m so happy to represent my country again,” Stanford said in a statement.
Lewis and Stanford, U.S. teammates three times (2011, 2013, 2015), were assistants for Pat Hurst at the 2021 Solheim Cup, which the European side won 15-13 at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. Europe also won in 2019.
“I just love her passion and her energy for the Solheim Cup,” Lewis said. “She’s great in the team room with the girls. Last week we announced the stats kind of program that I’m working on, and I think Angela has a really good brain for that.
“So that was honestly, when I got the stats thing done I was like, I need Angela on board. So I think she’s going to bring a good mindset there and going to help me a lot the week of with that.”
The U.S. won the two Cups prior to that in 2017 and 2015. Stanford earned the winning point for the U.S. in 2015 in Germany.
“I think the thing about Solheim Cups is everybody knows how much I love a Solheim Cup,” Stanford said. “I love playing them, but it’s different when you get to be invited to be a part of the Captain’s team. Not everybody gets to do that.”
This year, Vu has eight top-20 finishes in 17 starts and sits 37th on the money list.
Lilia Vu got so nervous teeing it up alongside Stacy Lewis at the CP Women’s Open that she blocked her opening tee shot 40 yards. Vu pulled herself together, but the nerves only reiterated how badly she wants it. Lewis is the 2023 U.S. Solheim Cup captain, and Vu wanted to make a strong impression.
“I love team events,” said Vu, who teamed up with Jennifer Kupcho and Kristen Gillman in 2018 to win the World Amateur Team Championship, Curtis Cup and Palmer Cup.
After Lewis lost her own match, she went out to watch Vu play in the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play event last May in Vegas, where Vu advanced to the semifinals. Later in the summer, Lewis invited Vu to a Solheim Cup dinner during the KPMG Women’s PGA.
“I don’t know that she’s going to need a pick, to be honest,” said Lewis after playing a practice round with Vu last month at the Dana Open in Ohio.
Lewis, who calls Vu “super solid” and “sneaky long,” wouldn’t be surprised to see Vu play her way onto the 2023 team that will take on Europe next September in Spain. She’s now on a short list of potential rookies that includes Andrea Lee, Allisen Corpuz and Lucy Li.
USA players, from left, Lilia Vu, team captain Stacey Collins, Jennifer Kupcho and Kristen Gillman with the Espirito Santo Trophy after the 2018 World Amateur Team Golf Championships at Carton House in Maynooth, Co Kildare. (Photo By Matt Browne/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
Vu, 24, currently sits in a share of eighth on the Solheim Cup points list with fellow UCLA player Alison Lee. The top seven qualify for the team of 12 off the points list. Points will be doubled in 2023. Two more come off the Rolex Rankings, and Lewis has three captain’s picks.
“She was the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world for two years,” said Lewis. “Not really a surprise in my book.”
It wasn’t all that long ago that Vu thought about quitting the game. During her first year on the LPGA in 2019, she made one cut in nine starts and earned $3,830. The winningest player in UCLA history, with eight titles, then thought about going to law school.
Vu’s mom, however, convinced her to stay the course.
“Every shot was life or death,” explained Vu.
In 2021, she turned a corner on the Epson Tour, winning three times to clinch her LPGA card.
Lilia Vu of the United States and Andrea Lee of the United States share a laugh at the second tee during the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play Hosted by Shadow Creek at Shadow Creek Golf Course on May 29, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
This year, Vu has eight top-20 finishes in 17 starts. She’s 37th on the money list with $573,580 and 32nd in CME points. She even has two aces on the season.
“I think I love golf more every day, honestly,” she said.
When asked what she attributed that to, Vu said, “Just thinking about how people would really kill to be in this position and get the privilege to play golf … and travel.”
Vu, of Fountain Valley, California, will compete in the next four domestic events on the LPGA, beginning this week at the AmazingCre Portland Classic and winding up close to home at the LPGA Mediheal Championship at the Saticoy Club in Somis, California.
Vu has played out of Shady Canyon Golf Club in Irvine, California, since she turned professional along with fellow touring pros So Yeon Ryu, Patrick Cantlay and Brendan Steele.
“I’ve played with Steele before,” said Vu. “He shot 60.”
Lilia Vu of the United States hits out of a sand trap on the first hole during the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play Hosted by Shadow Creek at Shadow Creek Golf Course on May 29, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Vu counts several members of Shady Canyon as mentors. They have their own success stories in areas outside of golf and share bits of wisdom, encouragement and book recommendations.
As she tries to wait patiently for that first LPGA victory, Vu counts her mental game as her biggest strength.
“I think I’m very resilient,” she said.
A trait captain Lewis knows the value of better than most.
“An out-of-reach goal is maybe getting into the Solheim Cup next year, if I play well enough.”
Lucy Li only had one practice round last week at the Dana Open and still managed to hold the lead going into Sunday. Li, 19, doesn’t have status on the LPGA, but for a second week in a row, she has parlayed a top-10 performance into another start.
This time at the inaugural Kroger Queen City Championship, Li will tee it up Thursday without having played a single hole at Cincinnati’s Kenwood Country Club. Heavy downpours and lightning closed the course multiple times early week, and Lee was only able to walk it on Tuesday without her clubs.
“It is a very, beautiful, beautiful golf course, very classic,” said Li. “We have the trees and the rough and the bunkers. … not many expectations going in there tomorrow.”
Li’s two summer victories on the Epson Tour wrapped up her LPGA card for 2023. This week marks her fourth consecutive start on the LPGA, dating back to the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland, which she played on a sponsor exemption. She has finished T-27, T-9 and T-4 in her last three LPGA starts.
Lucy Li plays her tee shot on the 16th hole during the second round of the 77th U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina. (Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
In addition to her play on two separate tours, Li also takes online courses at the University of Pennsylvania. The former prodigy and now Ivy Leaguer who once counted the late Mickey Wright among her mentors, also has a sponsor invite to next week’s AmazingCre Portland Classic.
“My goal after I locked up my card was to try to get as many starts out here as I could,” said Li, “kind of get myself prepared for next year, work on my world ranking.”
While Li can’t earn CME points as a non-member, she can improve her Rolex Rankings position, which helps move her toward another goal.
“Fingers crossed,” said Li, “kind of like long-term … more of an out-of-reach goal is maybe getting into the Solheim Cup next year, if I play well enough.”
Li, who made headlines around the world by qualifying for the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open at age 11, can’t begin earning Solheim Cup points until she becomes a member of the tour, but points are doubled starting in 2023. She can also play her way onto the team via the Rolex Rankings.
Back in March, Li ranked as low as 291st in the world, but jumped to 125th after last week’s share of fourth.
At the Dana Open, 2023 Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis told Golfweek that she believes “there’s going to be some opportunities for younger players to get in the mix.” Lewis then rattled off four would-be rookies: Andrea Lee, Allisen Corpuz, Lilia Vu and Li.
“I’d say those four are probably four to watch, I think,” Lewis said.
The top seven players on the points list will be picked to represent the U.S. in Spain next fall. Vu currently ranks seventh in points while Lee is 11th and Corpuz is 14th.
Li, who turns 20 on Oct. 1, competed on the U.S. Curtis Cup team in 2018. She earned 3 ½ points in the American rout.
