Category Archives: LPGA

Week in Review: U.S. Jr. Amateur, Women’s Scottish Open, and Jackson Koivun

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There was lots of golf to watch this week and I was surprised at the outcomes in men’s amateur golf, the women’s professional game and the men’s professional game.

U.S. Jr. Amateur at Saucon Valley

The USGA championships are a grind with two days of stroke play to finish in the top 64 to advance to match play.

I was fully expecting Miles Russell to win the U.S. Amateur. He is ranked #1 in the AJGA (American Junior Golf Rankings) and #7 in WAGR (World Amateur Golf Rankings). Russell sailed through stroke play as “medalist” (meaning he finished in first place in stroke play).

In match play Russell won his first match 6 and 5, the next won 4 and 2, the next match won 2 up; and won his quarter final match 6 and 5 and his semifinal match 2 and 1. In the final, championship match, they play 36 holes (18 morning then lunch and 18 in the afternoon). Russell’s opponent was Noah Maclauchlan with an AJGA ranking of 31 and a WAGR of 2,047. Maclauchlan got into the championship as an alternate and did great finishing T39 to make it into stroke play.

Noah Maclauchlan won the U.S. Jr. Amateur against Miles Russell 6 and 5 (ending on the 31st hole). It was certainly nice to see the “under dog” win; but I also felt it was a very disappointing final. It was televised on golf channel and you could see that Russell was off his game all day (with a two-way miss). Russell fought hard but was down in the match the majority of the day. Frankly I feel like this is the problem with the national amateur championships being settled by match play. My opinion is that it just seems if you want to crown the best player in the world then you need to have the championship be stroke play.

Scottish Women’ Open

Jenny Shin won the Scottish Women’s Open. It is her first win in 10 years. Shin is Korean and her other win 10 years ago was the 2016 Volunteers of American Texas Shootout.

Happy for Shin but it was another odd tournament where the big names did not show up to the party. Nelly Korda finished T16 (+2), Lottie Woad finished T37 (+7), and Charley Hull finished T44 (+10). Now every player faced the same cold and windy conditions and only seven players were under par; Shin had two great rounds of 66 and 67 to start and that gave her a huge buffer going into Sunday so that even shooting 75 in the final round she was able to win at 9 under (two strokes ahead of second place.)

Let’s hope at the AIG Women’s Open (which follows the Scottish Open) the big names have a better week.

Jackson Koivun

You know the name Jackson Koivun if you follow college golf because he has been the top golfer for a few years; with an all time NCAA career scoring average record at 68.89 and won every major award for men in college golf. He helped Auburn win the NCAA D1 championship in June (of this year) and in his third PGA Tour tournament start this week he won the 3M Open with a score of 25 under par; and holding off world #1, Scottie Scheffler who finished 22 under par.

We have seen other players come out of PGA Tour University (a program that let’s the #1 college golfer go straight to the PGA Tour) and win (remember Nick Dunlap) but many of those players haven’t made much of a splash lately. Will Jackson Koivun be the “one in a million” that comes out and gives the current superstars a run for their money? A number of PGA Tour pro were asked about Koivun’s game. Most Pros just praised his game but the funniest reply I heard was from Ben Griffin who shared that he joked with Koivun (when he played with him while he was still an amateur), “Tell me when you are going to turn pro so I can plan my retirement.”

One final thing that was interesting, the reporter interviewing Koivun after the win asked what was written on his glove. He said “Confidence, Trust, and Dominate.” Here is the clip on Instagram

Evian Championship or Scottish Open

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Which golf championship are you going to watch this weekend; the Evian Championship or the Scottish Open?

I’m just going to be blunt. As an LPGA fan, the third major for the ladies, the Evian is the least important major for the LPGA. I doubt many general golf fans even known the Evian is the weekend because the Scottish Open is also this week with all the top PGA Tour golfers playing to get ready for The Open next week.

EVIAN CHAMPIONSHIP

This week the ladies head to France for the Evian Championship. It has always been clouded by the fact that it was added in 2000 (during the rein of Mike Whan as LPGA Commissioner) as the fifth major in the ladies professional game. I think it is “clouded” because of the debate of four vs five majors; but the unspoken thoughts are that by giving Evian the status of a major the door was closed on a women’s masters. I’m sure Mike Whan never thought Augusta National would have a women’s event and yet in 2019 the first Augusta National Women’s Amateur was held.

The 2026 Evian is July 9 through July 12 and the defending champion is Grace Kim. Of course, I believe, the golf news will be all about Nelly Korda and can she win a third major this calendar year; but for me the real story for Nelly will be can she win the next “important” major, the AIG Women’s Open which is being contested July 29 to August 2 at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in England.

But back to the Evian. The purse is $9.1 million with the champion taking home $1.365 million. I am sure Nelly Korda would love to win the Evian because she has not won this major yet. A few of the big names that have won in the past and are in the field this year include Lydia Ko, Brooke Henderson and Celine Boutier. A fun fact is that the first winner in 2000 was Annika Sorenstam and she won $270,000.

An indication of the lack of status of this championship is that all coverage will be on the Golf Channel (no Sunday afternoon NBC or CBS prime time coverage). But still I will probably watch some of the coverage; especially if Nelly Korda, Charley Hull, or Brooke Henderson are in the lead.

The USA TV times (eastern time zone) on Golf Channel are: July 9 & 10 (Thursday & Friday): 6 am to 11 am and July 11 & 12 (Saturday & Sunday): 4 am to 10 am. You can also watch one additional hour on the Golf Channel App from 11 am to Noon on Thursday and Friday.

SCOTTISH OPEN

You might have thought I would write about the Scottish open first in this blog post but technically the LPGA event is a major for the tour and the Scottish open is not a major for the PGA tour.

As a quick reminder The Open is next week at Royal Birkdale (July 16 to 19). If you are a golf fan, you know Royal Birkdale is famously where Justin Rose, as an young amateur at 17 years old, tied 4th in The Open and became a household name in England. There is a great video on YouTube titled “Chasing Forever: Justin Rose” from the R&A that interviews Rose and others about that day and his career.

Back to this weeks Scottish Open. All the big names are playing. I believe Golf Channel reported 33 of the top 50 players in the world are playing. And Chirs Gotterup who won the John Deer last week is the defending champion at the Scottish Open.

The Scottish Open is always fun to watch because it is at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick. It’s a hard course and there always seems to be times when pros have trouble getting out of the bunkers; which makes regular golfers, like me, feel better about their game. Watch this fun YouTube video titled “Golf Is Hard” to see some of the previous tough shots for the pros.

I don’t have a particular favorite to win the Scottish Open. It will just be fun to see some great golf on a links course as a primer before next week when I will be obsessed with watching The Open at Royal Birkdale; and yes, I want Justin Rose to win his Claret Jug.

How to Watch: It will be on the golf channel on Thursday and Friday starting at 11 am (after the Evian coverage from 6 am to 11 am). If you have ESPN+ you can start watching as early as 3:15 am. On the weekends again, turn in early on ESPN+ or watch Golf Channel from 10 to Noon and then CBS coverage from noon to 3 pm.

One thing is for sure, given how hot it is right now, I think a lot of golfers will be watching golf from the lovely air conditioning of their homes.

KPMG Women’s PGA Championship June 25 to June 28

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The third major for the ladies is this week at Hazeltine in Chaska Minnesota. It feels too soon for another women’s major; but the Solheim Cup is September 7-13 so I think the majors may all be earlier than previous years to accommodate the Solheim Cup.

Contenders: The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship was last held at Hazeltine in 2019 and the winner was Australian, Hannah Green. It was her first major championship win. I like Hannah Green and it would make a great story for her to come back and win at Hazeltine again. Another Australian you can’t rule out is Minjee Lee, defending champion. Lee won her PGA championship at PGA Frisco in 2025. But we all know that the fans will be cheering for Nelly Korda to win her third major of the year. Korda came in third in 2019 so clearly can play well at Hazeltine.

Other than Nelly Korda who might lift the trophy on Sunday? Charley Hull is always on my list of contenders (although she missed the cut in 2019 but Hull’s world ranking in 2019 was 24th and today she is the #4 ranked player in the women’s game). Of course, you can’t rule out world #2, Jenno Thitikul. Lottie Woad is playing well. Woad missed a very short putt and lost in a playoff to Japan’s Miyu Yamashita last week so she may be motivated to redeem herself.

Money: KPMG announced the purse for the championship would be $13 Million which is the highest purse in women’s golf (exceeding the 2026 U.S. Open purse of $12.5 Million). And more interesting is that fact that when the championship was held in 2019 (at Halzeltine) the total purse was only $3.85 Million. It’s nice to see the women’s purses continue to grow.

How to Watch: Check your local listings for Golf Channel times (Thursday, Friday, and weekend) and NBC (weekend). Of note, the final round on Sunday will be on NBC from 1 to 4 pm est.

I’m looking forward to watching the ladies play in Minnesota on a very green, tree-lined traditional golf course.

SIDE NOTE: Hazeltine will host the 2029 Ryder Cup.

Chevron Championship – 1st LPGA Major of 2026

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This week, April 23 to 26, is the first major for the LPGA at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston Texas. I’m always excited for any major in golf but I have to admit that I still wish this championship was in Mission Hills with Poppy’s Pond. However, when Chevron took over sponsorship, it became obvious the location would move to Texas. So let’s focus on 2026.

New Location for 2026

This is a new location for the championship in Texas. In the past three years, after the move from Mission Hills, the championship was at Carlton Woods in the Woodlands. If you watched the 2025 broadcast it was shocking how few fans were at the championship. The new location, Memorial park is closer to Houston and also hosts the PGA Tour event, Texas Children’s Houston Open; which was won by Gary Woodland this year. Clearly Chevron and the LPGA are hoping to increase fan engagement so that this event will actually feel like a major.

2026 Contenders

(1) #1 Player in the World: Jeeno Thitikul – It’s always an assumption that the number one player in the world will contend at the majors. That player is Jeeno Thitikul. She won the Honda LPGA Thailand in February but since then has a T31, T14, T50, T17 so not sure what her form is going into Chevron.

(2) #2 Player in the World : Nelly Korda – In 2024 Nelly Korda was the #1 player in the world and dominating the women’s game. Korda had seven LPGA victories; including winning the Chevron Championship.

In 2025 Korda lost her world #1 status and had zero wins in 19 events. It was well documented that Korda was dealing with a neck injury and took quite a bit of time off to recover.

Korda started off 2026 with a win at the first LPGA event and then took six weeks off (skipping the “asia swing” of the LPGA season). After her “break,” in the next three LPGA events, Korda finished second, second, and a tie for second. So I would say Korda with a win and three 2nd place finishes in four events is a nice start for her competitive eason.

Korda has taken the week before the first major off. Korda has made it very clear that she will play less events this year and not play more than four events in a row. Some in the press have criticized her for missing the “asia swing” of the tour but my opinion is she has a right to protect her body.

(3) Two Time WInners in 2026: Two players have won twice in 2026.

Hanna Green – Australia, Hanna Green, is having a great start to her 2026 season and won the JM Eagle LA Championship (the week before the Chevron). It was impressive because Green was six shots back and won in a playoff. Not only has she won two LPGA events but also has won twice on the Ladies European Tour (LET) this year.

Hyo Joo Kim – Hyo Joo Kim came out firing in 2026. She had back-to-back wins in February and it looked like she was going to have a “Korda 2024 year.” However the streak died quickly and she hasn’t been a big presence in recent events.

My Prediction:

There are a host of other players that are playing well including American Lauren Coughlin; and of course fan favorites like Charlie Hull and Lydia Ko. You cannot count out the young new LPGA stars like Lottie Woad of England or one of the IWIA sisters from Japan. Given that in 2025 the LPGA had 29 different winners (an LPGA record) and no truly dominant player; it’s hard to predict a winner for Chevron.

Yes, I said it is hard to pick a winner but what fun would it be not to try. I will go with Nelly Korda. First, I’m hoping her new plan to create a schedule that keeps her healthy works. Second, the fact she has won or come in 2nd in the four events she has played in this year can’t be ignored. It doesn’t appear that she is “rusty” after the breaks she takes from competitive golf. Of course, I have no idea what her form is and if we go off form, then you would have to say that Hanna Green has all the momentum to win the first major.

Of course, I picked Scottie Scheffler to win the Masters and said there was no way Rory would win back-to-back (in my defense, if I had known Rory spend the three weeks before the Masters playing Augusta National every week I may have had a different opinion). Bottom line, I would not bet money on my prediction. However, let’s hope I get the first major winner for the LPGA correct in 2026.

Women’s Golf – Top Five LPGA Player Moments in 2024

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If you are a fan of golf or like watching golf and you don’t watch the women play you are truly missing out on great entertainment.

Here are my top five for women’s golf in 2024

These players had big years and/or big events:

(1) Nelly Korda – The #1 player in the women’s world rankings had an incredible start to 2024. She won six out of her first seven starts on tour; five wins in a row and one won the first major of the year. And Korda, after not playing because of a “minor neck injury” comes back in November and wins the “The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican.” Of note, no LPGA golfer has had six or more wins in a season since 2013 when Inbee Park had six wins.

So it is no surprise that Korda won player of the year in 2024.

(2) Lauren Caughlin – a journey woman on the LPGA tour had the year of her professional life in 2024. Caughlin is 31 years old and has been on tour since 2018. In July, winning the Canadian Women’s Open was her first tour win in 103rd starts on tour. One month later she won the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open.

Caughlin with her excellent play met a personal goal to qualify for The Solheim Cup that was contested in her home state of Virginia just an hour from her home. The pressure of playing for a home town crowd and as a rookie on the biggest stage in women’s golf could have been too much for some golfers but not Caughlin. She showed up to the Solheim and once again had the “week of her professional life” winning all three of her team matches and garnering a tie for her singles match. This is a stellar record for a “rookie” Solheim Cup member.

(3) Lydia Ko

Ko had pressure all year with the golf analysts constantly asking will this be the tournament that Ko wins and get’s the one point she needs to enter the LPGA Hall of Fame. The LPGA Hall of Fame has the most difficult criteria of all sports hall of fame (it’s not voted on, it’s all points); requiring 27 points.

Per the LPGA website the criteria is:

1. Must have won/been awarded at least one of the following – an LPGA major championship, the Vare Trophy or Rolex Player of the Year honors; and2. 

2.Must have accumulated a total of 27 points, which are awarded as follows – one point for each LPGA official tournament win, two points for each LPGA major tournament win and one point for each Vare Trophy or Rolex Player of the Year honor earned.3. 

3. One point for an Olympic gold medal

Per Golf Digest, “Ko is a 15-time winner, including two majors and three season-ending awards. She earned 70 percent of her 20 points in two years—2019 and 2021.”

Her quest for the LPGA Hall of Fame was a storybook ending when she won the Gold Medal at the Olympics; and giving her the point she needed to be in the LPGA Hall of Fame.

(4) Rose Zhang – Zhang was the most decorated player in women’s amateur golf; including winning back-to-back NCAA Individual National Championships and winning the August National Women’s Amateur in April 2023. Zhang held the position of the #1 female amateur golfer in the world for over two-and-a-half years (or 141 weeks at #1).

In May 2023, Zhang turns Pro and she wins her first LPGA tour event at the Cognizant Founders Cup (she is the player that stopped Nelly Korda’s win streak of five wins in a row). After that 2023 was rather quiet and she did not perform well at the Solheim Cup in Spain with two ties and a loss.

In early 2024 she seemed to still be missing that spark but the spark caught on fire at the Solheim Cup in the USA. Zhang won all four matches. And she is the only player in Solheim history to win all four matches and never have to play the final holes (17 and 18). There have only been eight players to have a 4-0-0 record at a Solheim Cup and only two other American’s have achieved this accomplishment (Dottie Pepper in 1998 and Morgan Pressel in 2011). Zhang also won 28 holes only lost 8; no player has been that dominant in the last 20 years.

It’s worth noting the scores for Zhang’s four matches: She won 3&2, 3&2, 5&4, and her singles match was 6&4 (ending her match against Carlota Ciganda on the 14th hole).

(4) Soleim Cup Players – The 2024 Solheim Cup was everything a golf fan wants in a competition – great play and a competition that goes down to the end; which is stressful but fun to watch. The USA won 15 1/2 points to Europe 12 1/2 points.

The points don’t tell the whole story but for those that don’t normally follow match play. The current holder of the Solheim Cup (Europe) only needed 14 to maintain possession and the USA needed 14 1/2 points to win (take possession) of the cup. The last meeting (2023 in Spain) of the teams was heart braking because the teams tied (14 points each) therefore Europe “won” because they won the cup in the previous meeting in 2021 in Ohio at Inverness.

Along with Rose Zhang, Khang (3-0-0), Coughlin (3-0-1) and Andrea Lee (2-0-1) were the other Americans to go undefeated (since they tied and did not lose one match). It is the second time the U.S. team had that many undefeated players at one Solheim Cup.

So do yourself a favor and watch the LPGA in 2025.

Chevron Championship – LPGA’s First Major of 2024

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Another week and another major – I love Spring!

It’s a good thing that the LPGA moved the first major of the year so there is no conflict with the Augusta National Women’s Amateur or The Masters. Most people over a certain age will remember the first major as the Dinah Shore or the Colgate Dinah Shore, then it became the ANA Inspiration (which was held in Palm Springs) but with the new sponsor came a new venue in Texas at The Club at Carlton Woods, the Woodlands, Houston.

Last year was the first year at the new location and Lilian Vu won in a playoff against Angel Yin. I don’t think Vu is likely to play well enough to defend her title because she has been dealing with back issues. Perhaps if Angel plays well she may have a chance but my money is on the LPGA’s number one player.

Yes, just as I picked the number one player in the world on the men’s side to win The Masters, I am picking the number one female player in the world, Nelly Korda to win the Chevron Championshiop. Korda, like Scheffler, has won multiple times on tour this season.

In fact, if she wins the Chevron that will be five (5) consecutive wins this season. The last player to win five in a row in the same season was Nancy Lopez back in 1975 in her rookie year. The only other LPGA player to win 5 consecutive tournaments is Annika Sorenstam but she did it in two seasons (end of one season and beginning of another season).

The other players I’ll be watching are:

(1) Lydia Ko – if she wins that will give her the final point she needs to be eligible for the LPGA Hall of Fame. The most difficult Hall of Fame to get eligibility for based on a point system.

(2) Brooke Henderson – I always cheer for the Canadian star to win.

(3) Rose Zhang – came on tour out of Standford with a bang by winning her first professional tournament but hasn’t done much this season so maybe the first major will be the spark to get the 2nd win.

How to Watch the Chevron Championship

The Golf Channel will show the championship early (10 am – 2 pm and late 6 pm to 8 pm) on Thursday and Friday. And the weekend telecast will be on NBC from Noon to 6 pm.

Both Peacock and ESPN+ will offer steaming of the championship so if you have subscriptions there is an opportunity to see more of the event live.

Below are the dates, times, and options:

Thursday, April 18: 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; 6-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel/Peacock)
Friday, April 19: 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; 6-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel/Peacock)
Saturday, April 20: 2-3 p.m. ET (Peacock); 3-6 p.m. ET (NBC/Peacock)
Sunday, April 21: 2-3 p.m. ET (Peacock); 3-6 p.m. ET (NBC/Peacock)

PGA Tour and LPGA Tour Pros team up at the Grant Thornton Invitational

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This weekend I watched the inaugural event of the Grant Thornton Invitational which was a joint PGA Tour and LPGA Tour event with 16 teams. I really enjoyed the format of the event and seeing the camaraderie within and among the teams. Not to mention the fact that there was some great golf played.

The format was three days of golf. Day one was a scramble, day two were foursomes (alternate shot), and the final day was a modified four-ball where both players tee off, and then they switch balls for their second shots and play that same ball until it is holed. The lower score of the partners is then counted as the team score for the hole.

There were low scores and great shots. After day one the team of Nelly Korda and Tony Finau were leading, day two Lydia Ko and Jason Day shot 66 to take the lead and although other teams came on strong Lydia Ko made a clutch birdie putt on the 18th hole to win the event for team Ko/Day with a 26 under par.

The Canadian team of Brooke Henderson and Corey Conners finished second moving up the leader board by shooting an impressive 9 under, 63 total. And the Swedish team of Madelene Sagström and Ludvig Åberg shot 12 under to move up six places to finish third.

There were teams that every golf fan could get excited about whether it was because they were representing a fan’s country or whether it was a team with two of the most popular pros on each tour; and they did not disappoint. For example, the team of Lexi Thompson and Rickie Fowler gave the crowd a fun moment at the Par 3, 16th when Lexi made a hole-in-one.

I used to watch a ton of golf on TV but this year I just got turned off by the PGA tour/LIV news and really spend more time watching the LPGA, the Majors, Amateur golf (including college golf); and as I mentioned in a previous post YouTube golfers. I really don’t miss watching the weekly PGA tour events.

This mixed tour event is exactly what professional golf needs and I hope that the Grant Thornton Invitational continues for many years. For me, next year, it will be a must watch golf event.

Major Winners on the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour – A Review of Their Play in All Majors in 2023

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We all can remember the winners of the majors but I was curious how a major winner plays in all the majors for a year. It doesn’t feel like we have had a dominant player in majors for a number of years. Will we see another like Tiger, Jack, Annika, or Inbee dominate their tour’s majors?

This year only one player won multiple majors, Lila Vu on the LPGA won the first (Chevron) and last (AIG Women’s Open) major of the 2023 for the ladies. So I was curious how did major winners fare in all majors in a given year.

Below are two charts showing the winners for each major and how they played the other majors.

After a player wins a major we often hear the golf analysts make statements about the golfer being the next “big thing” or will now win multiple majors but the charts shows how hard that is to do in the same year. Lilia Vu has added her name to a very special list. So who else is on the list of multiple major winners in a single year? Here are some recent (within 10 years) stats:

(1) On the PGA tour Jordan, Rory, and Brooks have won multiple majors in a year.

  • 2014, Rory McIlroy: British Open, PGA Championship
  • 2015, Jordan Spieth: Masters, U.S. Open
  • 2018, Brooks Koepka: U.S. Open, PGA Championship

(2) On the LPGA tour Inbee Park, Jin Young Ko and Lila Vu

  • 2013, Inbee Park: Kraft Nabisco Championship (now, Chevron), U.S. Women’s Open, LPGA Championship (Now LPGA/PGA Championship)
  • 2015, Inbee Park: LPGA/PGA Championship, Women’s British Open (Now AIG Women’s Open)
  • 2019, Jin Young Ko: ANA Championship (now Chevron), Evian Championship
  • 2023, Lilia Vu: Chevron and AIG Women’s Open

To see the lists of multiple winners (by year) go to Golfer Compendium which lists multiple major winners in a single year for LPGA since 1946 and multiple major winners in a single year since 1922 for the PGA tour.

Lilia Vu – a New World #1 on the LPGA

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Congratulations to Lilia Vu winning the AIG Women’s British Open by six strokes! An even more impressive feat given she was six back of the leader when she started her round on the weekend. Vu is now a two-time major champion in a single year and the new #1 player in women’s golf. Another way to think of it, Vu has three wins in eight months and two of those wins are majors.

I doubt many had Vu on their radar to win the last major of the season given she has played spotty since her win at Chevron in April but her record on the Epson tour and her top 10s in 2022 on the LPGA tour were clear indicators of her talent.

If you don’t know much about Vu, she is 25 years old, is American (born in California) but her family comes from Vietnam (Grandfather moved family to USA in 1982). She played her college golf at UCLA and was on the winning Curtis Cup team in 2018. She graduated in 2019 and started her rookie year on the LPGA. Her rookie year was a disaster with 7 missed cuts out of 8 tournaments; only making $3,830. She almost quit but her mother encouraged her to stay the course and so she went to the Epson tour in 2020 where her journey to outstanding golf started to take shape.

Lilia Vu was a standout on the Epson tour (feeder tour for LPGA) in 2021 with four wins and 10 top 10 finishes; then transitioned to the LPGA tour in 2022 and she recorded eight top ten finishes.

Vu appeared to be on the way to great things when she won the first major of the year, The Chevron. However, after Vu’s win at Chevron, she missed the cut at the next two majors (The KPMG PGA Championship and the US Women’s Open) and had a T42 at the Evian.

During various press conferences, when asked about her game, She mentioned she was struggling with some back issues; and she also was learning how to juggle demands after winning a major because so much more is expected of winners with the sponsors, etc. For instance, before her win at Chevron she didn’t even have an agent. Now she has an agent to deal with all the requests of her time outside the ropes.

Prior to the win at the AIG Women’s Open, Vu’s world golf rank was 6 (Race to CME rank 7). Vu is now ranked the #1 player in the world (Race to CME rank 1). This season on the LPGA, Vu has 4 top 10 finishes and 3 wins (including two majors). That’s a very impressive 2023.

While being interviewed after winning the AIG Women’s Open Vu said she had felt (at times) like her first two wins in 2023 were a fluke. When asked if she believed in herself after winning the AIG Women’s Open, she said “Yes. And she mentioned that “the only thing that get’s in her way of winning is herself.” The players on the LPGA should watch out for a Vu who now believes in herself.

She is a talented golfer and deserving of her wins. You can read all about Vu on the LPGA website Player Profile

Crazy Rules Issues at the Amundi Evian Major Championship

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First, Congratulations to Celine Boutier for winning a major in her home country of France. Boutier, is 29 years old, joined the LPGA in 2019. Winning the Evian she jumps from 15 to #4 in the world golf rankings. She became “well-known” with LPGA fans because of her performance at the 2019 Solheim Cup at Gleneagles in Scotland as a standout on the European team with a 4-0-0 record.

Set aside Boutier’s win by six strokes and what else was news worthy at the 4th major of the year for the LPGA – the crazy rules issues that happened.

Rules Issue – Slow Play and Signing an Incorrect Scorecard

Carlota Cinganda from Spain received a 2-stroke (general penalty) for slow play on Friday. Cinganda’s group was given a warning, then put on the clock (which is the standard procedure after a warning if the group doesn’t get back in position with the group in front of them). So she was well aware that she was being timed; and ultimately she was deemed to be over the allotted time. She protested the ruling stating the penalty was on her last hole, her last putt and there was no way she took as long as the rules official stated. Cinganda was denied a reversal and the 2-stroke penalty was final.

The big headlines on social media implied that she was disqualified (DQ) for slow play; which was very misleading. She was DQed because she chose not to add the 2-stroke penalty to her scorecard and signed her scorecard without the penalty; thus signed an incorrect scorecard, with a lower score, see Rule 3.3b(3), which is what triggered the disqualification.

This penalty had a big impact on Cingada because without the 2-stroke penalty she was on the cut line and probably would have made the weekend; but with the 2-stroke penalty she was clearly outside the cut and would miss the weekend.

Cindgada is known to be a slow player and has been assessed slow play penalties in the past. She indicated in a statement she felt she was being singled out. My opinion is that she was given a warning, then told she was on the clock and given her past experience I would have thought she would have been aware of how fast she needed to pick up her pace to guarantee she was under the time allotment.

Rule Issue – Unplayable Ball from a Bunker

On Saturday, Gabby Lopez decided to take an unplayable in a bunker which is allowed; however, she clearly did not know the relief options available to her because she just took relief outside the bunker but not with the stroke and distance option (for one stroke). The rule gives the player 4 options (see diagram below)

It’s clear that Lopez needed to go with Option#1 if she wanted to play outside the bunker for one stroke. She took the option that had a 2-stroke penalty because of where she played from outside the bunker. The television analysts were shocked that Lopez did not have a Rules Official come over and give her the options once she decided to take an unplayable. What I would love to know is if she didn’t know the rule or if she just had a “brain fart” during the competition.

I’m also surprised her caddie didn’t stop Lopez from picking up her ball until they got a rules official over to help discuss her options. The fact that he did not intervene meant either he also didn’t know the rule (and therefore didn’t know to correct what his player was about to do) or he felt his player knew what she was doing so he did not question her actions.

Most of the time, I find it amusing how professionals on the PGA and LPGA call over rules officials for the most common rules (which seems to add to the already long rounds of golf on tour); but if you have the option to have an official walk you through the rule, why not. I’m guessing Lopez will always use a rules official in the future.

Unlike the Cingada situation, Lopez just took her 2-stroke penalty (once informed of her error) and signed her card and moved on to Sunday. I actually think she was motivated to play her best golf. On Sunday Lopez shot a 68 (-3); finishing tied for 3rd with a total score of 277 (7 under par) winning $283,278. And, the T-3 was her best finish this year.

Overall Reaction to the Rules Issues

First, I am very glad the LPGA actually takes actions addressing slow play on tour. I wish the PGA Tour would time more players and have a 2-stroke penalty as the consequence on their tour.

Also, I know that Cingada was “making a stand” by not signing her card but later on social media she stated, “Very poor performance from the LPGA rules official, they don’t understand what professional golf is about, they only look at their stopwatch like if 20 seconds is going to make a difference.” Now that seems like a ridiculous statement given she clearly knew she was on the clock. She takes zero responsibility for her actions. Unfortunately, Cingada’s response does not reflect well on her.

As for Gabby Lopez, I bet she will never forget the options for taking an unplayable from a bunker again!