A new champion will be crowned in the 2023 Chevron Championship, the question is whether it will be someone who hasn’t won it before, someone who hasn’t won a major or someone who hasn’t even won an LPGA Tour event?
Jennifer Kupcho (Titleist Pro V1), the 2022 champion, failed to make the cut.
She was not the only one of note who didn’t make it to the weekend.
Previous champions Lydia Ko (Titleist Pro V1x) and Lexi Thompson (Bridgestone Tour B X) also failed to make the cut. Ko entered the tournament ranked third in the world rankings, while Thompson was seventh. Charlie Hull (TaylorMade TP5x), ranked 17, was another one of the high-profile players who didn’t make it to the weekend.
Given that this is the first time the tournament was played at The Woodlands, Texas after it was moved from its longstanding home at the Mission Hills Country Club in California, there was bound to be some players who would struggle. Ko said after the first round it was more about managing the course than attacking it. Ko was the co-betting favorite going into the tournament at 11-1 with Nelly Korda (TaylorMade TP5x), who survived the cut and is hoping to the win the tournament for the first time. She heads into Sunday sitting tied for sixth at eight-under par.
Allisen Corpuz (Titleist Pro V1), playing in her second year on the LPGA Tour and looking for her first win, shares the lead going into the final round with Angel Yin (Titleist Pro V1). Corpuz posted a runnerup finish in her rookie year in the ISPS Handa World Invitational. She made 17 of 24 cuts and earned $721,135, which was 41st overall.
Yin is also looking to win for the first time on the LPGA Tour. She came into the tournament with less than $4,000 in earnings for 2023, so she is headed for a huge payday if she continues her solid play. Corpuz and Yin both shot five-under par 67 in round three.
Grouped in third at nine-under par are Amy Yang (Titleist Pro V1x), Megan Khang (Titleist Pro V1) and Albania Valenzuela (Titleist Pro V1). Yang is looking for her fifth LPGA Tour victory in more than four years. She is also seeking her first major. She was a runnerup twice in the U.S. Women’s Open.
Megan Khang (Titleist Pro V1), who is in her seventh year on the LPGA Tour, is seeking her first win on the Tour in more than 170 tournaments. She tied for 10th in the tournament two years ago. Khang started the tournament ranked 29th in the world. Last year she finished 28th in the rankings.
Valenzuela, who joined the Tour in 2020, is also seeking her first win.
Whoever wins will collect a whopping $765,000 from the tournament’s record purse of $5.1 million.
TACTICAL MOVE: Brooke Henderson (TaylorMade TP5x) did something interesting on her final hole in the second round. With the horn sounding to suspend play – rainstorms forced a two-hour delay to the round – Henderson had the option of playing out the hole or returning the following morning. She had an unplayable lie for her third shot and opted to come back the following morning because darkness made it tough to read the greens. She ended up with a birdie. She sits tied for 23 at two-under par after carding a four-over par in the third round.
