The winner of the 2023 Chevron Championship may not be the best player on the LPGA Tour, it will likely be the one who manages the nuances of the course and the weather.
With the tournament switching from its familiar home at Mission Hills Country Club in California to The Club at Carlton Woods in Texas, the players are navigating a track for the first time, though some had their first-round play suspended because of thunderstorms.
I’m beginning to think that is becoming commonplace in pro golf, certainly it was a big part of the story line at the Masters and it has filtered into the first major for the LPGA Tour.
I’m also beginning to see a pattern that the players who tee off first always seem to enjoy favorable conditions compared to those who have the later start.
After finishing the opening round on Thursday with a four-under 68, Marina Alex (Titleist Pro V1x) was asked by the Golf Channel how the course compares to Mission Hills.
“Mission Hills was a special place, this is a tough, challenging place,” said Alex, who is ranked 50th in the world.
But she added it’s a “really level playing field for everybody.”
Alex has posted only two wins in her professional career that began in 2013. In five tournaments going into the Chevron Championship, her best finish is tied for 21st.
Most of the golfers said the course will favor the long-ball hitters.
World number-one ranked Lydia Ko (Titleist Pro V1x), who fired a one-under par 71, said she had come out the previous week to get a look at the course, but added “you never know (what it will be like) until you’re actually here.”
The last five winners of the tournament have been first-time major winners, so if the trend continues it could be someone least expected.
And because the thunderstorms halted play midway through the afternoon round, it’s going to turn out to be a long day on Friday.
Chien Peiyun (Titleist Pro V1x) has the lead with a five-under score 67. After starting out the seasons with two missed cuts, she finished tied for fourth in the LOTTE Championship last week. She jumped up to 189th in the world rankings off of that finish, moving up 29 spots.
World number 16 Charley Hull (TaylorMade TP5x) finished her round with a seven-over par 79 with seven bogeys and no birdies. She had three consecutive bogeys to start the round and four in her first six.
Reigning champion Jennifer Kupcho (Titleist Pro V1) played nine hole before play was halted and carded a one-under par.
The most surprising result of the first had to be the two-under par 70 carded by Thailand’s Eila Galitsky, who is an amateur.
Galitsky, 16, has dual nationality of Thailand and Canada. She is playing in her first-ever LPGA event.
LIV AND THE LPGA TOUR: Could the LPGA the next target of LIV Golf?
It’s something that has been floated around for awhile and has crept into the conversation ahead of this week’s Chevron Championship.
We all know what LIV has done to poach players from the PGA Tour, and after the first wave last year it started to cool off, so it seems logical that now the women’s tour could be targeted.
